DISCLAIMER: On the first chapter, bub.

BEYOND HEROISM OF MEN

Chapter 1

Concealing

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"Ok, so we're all set for the Anniversary of Peace, then?"

"All set, Governor. You'll see. This will be the greatest celebration Hillys has ever seen!"

"Excelent, then. Oh, wait, I got a call."

Hillys' Governor answered her phone right in the middle of a private meeting with the Official Celebration Council. Little did she knew, the call came from quite the most inopportune person at quite the most inopportune time.

"Hello, Governor" The voice, clearly male, came out from the phone's speaker.

"Oh, Representative!" The Governor answered, clearly astonished, motioning the council to wait a minute. "You know, this isn't really a good time to talk. I'm in the middle of a meeting right now, and..."

"Don't worry, I will not take much of your time." The Representative said plainly. "Have you spoken to her yet?"

"No, Representative, not yet." The Governor replied, attempting to not divulge anything to the memgers of the council in front of her. "I will do so once I have finished the current task at hand."

The other council members could only wonder what happened as they listened and watched the Governor stumble about the phone call. Never before has the Governor been so flustered when attending matters with anybody about anything. She could be in great danger and still keep a level head, but this... this was not the mayor everybody knew.

"Yes, I know." The Governor continued answering the Representative's constant inquiries. "No, don't worry... There is no problem here, just... I will certainly do something as soon as I have some free... But there are more pressing matters to... I understand, but... Yes, yes... I will certainly do so... There is nothing to... Ok, then... goodbye, representative... bye!" The Governor hastily hung up the phone, and began all sorts of idle animations to try and get a bead on the situation. "Hehehehe... that Representative. Always the kidder!" She tried to laugh it off. Much to her surprise, she was the only one laughing.

"Eh... anyway... where were we?"

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Hillys, once a decrepit and rapidly deteriorating city, now one of the most productive around the family of planets. In only a year, they have grown so much, thanks in great part to the heroic efforts of an underground team called the IRIS Network. Now, the IRIS Network in Hillys is no longer underground, having moved out of the Akuda Bar and into the main street, having countless propaganda and inciting the population to join and help the other planets still being blindfolded by the Alpha Sections.

Now, one year after that glorious day in which both the Alpha Sections and the DomZ were driven out of the planet and its moon, Hillys was set to throw the first Anniversary of Peace Celebration, in which everybody would remember when they were freed from a horrid and gloomy fate by the IRIS Network... among music, dancing, booze, among other things. One of the major events in the celebration is set to be a memorial to the one person who showed that even the littlest speck of sand among a desert can make a difference: Jade.

Right now, everyone was setting their own diversions for the festivities. Nouri had a bullseye game set up in which whoever hit the bullseye won a pearl! (Imitation pearl made of glass ®) The Hillyan Word booth had a dancing contest, and had shirts for everybody who participated, as well as a special secret prize to whoever won. Ming-Tzu set up a fishing tank in his store and gave people the opportunity to catch and eat some fish. The IRIS Network had a hacker's game, with some credit money to the first three ones who cracked the code. Even the Akuda Bar was in on the festivities, with a paddle tournament in the day, and a drinking contest in the night! Practically everybody had a special event planned for the festivities... except for one person: Jade.

Jade was sitting in the living room of the Lighthouse, eating her breakfast. Her mind was a total blank right then. Sure, that dream she had last night shook her pretty badly, but she honestly had bigger things on her mind. After the events that happened a year ago, she was increasingly running into an identity crisis of sorts. Pey'J had told her she was not like the others. Even that DomZ Priest had told her she was not human. After that day, no more was said in the matter. In fact, phenomena like Pey'J's revival had not happened ever since, and she even has decided to let it slide for a while. However, such a thing can't be ignored for long, and sure enough, those thoughts crept back on her head. The mere thought of not being human scared her witless. 'Then what am I?' she asked herself repeatedly. 'Is my life a fake? Who am I in reality? Could I be...?'

Just then, her SAC started ringing, takig Jade out of her thought process. She promptly set her barely touched breakfast aside and checked her e-mail, only to hear a familiar female voice on the other side.

"Hello, Jade. This is the Governor."