PROLOGUE

March 3, 2004

A team of scientists led by Dr. Lola Z. Gormley are able to create the astrophysical phenomenon believed to be "Dark Matter" in a controlled laboratory setting. Researchers from around the world are able to visit the lab answers many questions previously thought unanswerable, resulting in technological breakthroughs in the field of clean energy generation.

July 4, 2004

The first documented case of actual "psychic powers" by a young woman named Miriam Stockley. Numerous experiments are undertaken and the authenticity is soon accepted by a stunned scientific community. It would be months more, however, before the connection is linked back to the unusual energy released by the annihilation of the artificial Dark Matter.

September 17, 2004

The effect coined "Void Energy" begins to show influence all around the world. Many people demonstrate an affinity and develop enhanced natural abilities. Others acquire the ability to subtly manipulate energy in what had previously been considered a "supernatural" fashion. Science attempts to retake the ground lost to these new phenomena by studying the people affected, colloquially known as "Voids".

June 29, 2007

Most developed nations enact legislation that citizens and newborns are to be tested for affinity and all Voids are required to be registered. While most people continue about their normal lives, there is simmering tension from many Voids who object to being the object of scientific study.

July 14, 2010

Tensions run deeper when police attempt to pacify a Void protest. One of the protesters, known only as Tonio, uses his powers to immolate responding officers, killing three before he's gunned down. The event set a new mark for what people knew Voids to be capable of. The resulting fear of Void abilities causes tension and a rapid escalation in Void-related laws.

December 17, 2014

Government bodies worldwide collaborate on strict anti-Void legislations. All people and newborns testing positive for affinity are taken from their families and detained. Most, with small affinities, were sent to live in internment camps. Those with higher affinities were taken away for study or disposal.

December 12, 2015

Present day...

Chapter 1: The Girl who Sees Herself

The night air was filled with noise. Huge raindrops beat furiously against the earth in a tumultuous downpour. A peal of thunder ripped down from the sky and shook the ground below like a blow from a great invisible fist. But below the surface, a young girl sat silently on her bed reading a book, completely oblivious to the goings on above.

In her chamber, it was silent. Instead of the periodic rumble of thunder, there was the crinkling of pages turning. Today was what they called "Saturday". It was her day off, and the girl loved her days off. There were no tests. It wasn't that she hated the testing, it was just that she loved to be alone. Here she could read, and she could practice. Without taking her focus from the text in front of her, she took a deep breath and concentrated. Slowly, she could feel her awareness splitting in two, and a part of her rose up from the bed, floating up, and turned to face herself reading the book.

This was her ghost. This was what the doctors said made her special. She'd had her ghost for as long as she could remember, and to her, it was completely normal. But apparently, none of the doctors could do it. It made her feel special when they praised her during the tests. Most of the tests were easy; they would hide things in various places to see how long it took her to find them. She was very good at finding things; that was her favorite game. They would check to see how quickly she could pass through different walls, how well she could feel hot or cold. Sometimes, they would even open the shielding on her chamber, and allow her ghost to wander the halls.

Of course, there were other shielded places where her ghost couldn't go. She couldn't leave the facility, and she couldn't go into any of the other chambers and visit the other girls, though she knew the names on all the doors. Anne, Uni, Xin… And one with her own name; Lily. She'd asked the doctors if the other girls had ghosts, too. The doctors said no, but they never told her what made them special enough to have their names on doors.

Lily was alone in her chamber, and about to try the new trick she'd been working on. She reached the end of the page and watched herself… Lily concentrated… And was able to turn the page without completely returning to her body!

She was so excited! She could hardly wait to tell Dr Ueda about her latest trick!

But then she frowned… She hoped it wouldn't turn into another weird test like the button test… She didn't like the button test.

A few months ago, she'd found that if she shifted her concentration enough, people could see her ghost. And if she focused hard enough, she could speak. And if she focused so hard that she stopped breathing, her ghost hands could move things. So the doctors made a button with a countdown and made her sit in a cold chair. She had to find the button with her ghost and press it before the countdown was 0, or else the cold chair would hurt her, and she'd come crashing back into her body. And it was hard… It was even harder the further away from her body the button was.

Lily hated the button test.

But today was her day off, and though the doctors had left the shield up, she was happy because she could read her books by herself.

All by herself. That's why her heart nearly stopped when she heard the voice in her room.

"Lily… Lily…"

Lily looked around. There was nobody there. And the voice was far too clear to have come through the speaker that the doctors used. Where was it coming from? Outside the walls? But that was impossible; the doctors said the walls were made with Avoidium. They said it was impossible for any ghost to break through.

"Lily… I need your help…"

"What's wrong?" Lily asked, fearfully.

"Lily… I'm trying… To write a story…"

Lily immediately brightened up; she loved stories!

"What's it about?"

"It's about a lost princess… A princess chained up and locked away in a castle, sealed with an iron door, and filled with monsters."

"That sounds terrible!"

"It was terrible, Lily. But one day, the princess' mother the Queen was able to sneak her way into the castle, break the chains, and unlock the iron door for the princess."

Lily's eyes widened "but what about the monsters?!"

"The Queen was able to trick the monsters so they couldn't see the princess, and she was able to escape from the castle!"

Lily clapped her hands "That's wonderful! What happened next?!"

"The princess ran. She ran into the night, through the forest, as far as she could. But then she found herself in a scary place, filled with darkness and hard shapes. She didn't recognize anything, and she was alone and lost and scared!"

Lily leaned forward "But where was the Queen? Couldn't she help the princess?"

"The Queen grew tired and couldn't follow the princess… But she found a little yellow bird, and told the bird a secret! A secret that she could share only with the princess"

"What was the secret?!"

"Can you keep a secret, Lily?"

Lily nodded

"I knew you could. Listen carefully… We'll write the next chapter together..."

Many miles away, a girl with long blue hair slipped out a door and ran into the cold, noisy rain.