It was nighttime; the weather was warm. The commander and director find themselves in what appears to be a research building. "Director, I wish to see further progress on Exodus," the commander speaks.

A lot of machinery could be seen behind Director Weiss; she was preparing something for the commander, "I am aware, Meirius; however, patience is key. This is a marvel left to us by our ancestors that we shall use for our own advantage in war," Director Weiss explains. 

The director laughed, "I am so proud of Lyririe for successfully attaining this goal. I love my blood, I love you, Meirius," Director Weiss continued to laugh uncontrollably. 

The commander stands next to the director, "I am proud of you as well. I shall head out and scout for them," the commander declares.

Director Weiss grabbed the commander with her shirt unbuttoned, "We shall marry upon the war's finale, correct?" Director Weiss asked.

***

Luitol's desire for war stems from the fact that they want supreme power and control over Choshire and the further unknown. Their ruler, Lady Shamhat, believes in a world where only those of royal blood exist. That is why the town of Luitol was divided into two separate sectors, the main sector being the imperial sector.

The imperial sector is where all of the royalty reside, all of those descendants from royal blood, all of those who could be considered true-blooded humans by Lady Shamhat. This left Luitol to create a border separating themselves from the secondary sector, where the subservient people or those without royal blood were thrown. 

The secondary sector would later be nicknamed the outlier sector, which is said to be in terrible conditions. Luitol would have strong laws guarding the borders between the imperial and outlier sectors. Attempting to cross into the imperial sector would very likely result in their execution. 

Life in the outlier sector was harsh, unforgiving, and painful. The imperial sector and the committee would offer no assistance to the outlier sector. Instead, the outlier sector had to give up a set amount of its resources to the imperial sector. The people there had to make their own places to live, harvest their own food and minerals, and attempt to survive the harsh colds of Luitol. 

The people living in the outlier sectors were called outsiders by those with royal blood. The citizens of the imperial sector were not even allowed to visit or aid those in the outlier sector. Despite all the treatment they received, they were still officially recognized as part of Luitol, and it would be the entrance from the Luitol bridge.    

Lady Shamhat and the committee overseeing Luitol were in place to create and enforce laws. The committee's makeup is about 5 members; these members debate what to change and enforce. 

Lyririe and Kens had been publicly against Luitol's segregative policies, but they had no control over what happened in Luitol. Conflict in Choshire could only be resolved by war, and Lyririe would choose not to involve themselves with the living of those in Luitol due to that, until now, that is one of the many reasons the royalty of Krester is choosing to wage war against the force of Luitol. 

Kezdar, Enkita, and Lilian had finally made it to the end of the bridge after their detour. The bridge led to the outlier sector of Luitol. That detour only filled them with curiosity, more mysteries to unravel, and an increased need to resolve them. While the discovery earlier that day was disturbing, they had to push through. 

After their encounter with what appeared to be a revived armored Eve, they wondered many things, "is Eve working with Luitol? Or was she sent by Lyririe?" Enkita wondered as he walked toward the gate leading out from the Luitol bridge. 

"No fuckin' clue man, I don't got a clue on what's going on here anymore," Kezdar exclaimed. 

A man and a woman stood by the entrance, seemingly waiting for something or someone. The man and woman had long hats complimenting each other, and their clothing was formal. The clothing of someone who would be part of a royalty.

 "Marvelous!"

Lilian jumped from the scare of the sudden comment.

"The rumors stood correct! Enkita, Kezdar, and Lilian. The name is Edmund. We're pleased to see you here in Luitol," Edmund declared.

The group stood in place, questioning who these two were. "Edmund? I don't recall meeting prior. I think. I have bad memory," Lilian spoke. 

The woman fell on Edmund's arms as if they were performing some sort of act, "You shall call me Iria! We are members of the prestigious Luitol committee."

The group was shocked at the revelation, they were trying to avoid any contact with Luitol officials, and this is who they first met.

"Lady Shamhat has given us the order to execute you three upon stepping into Luitol; however, we enjoy a little entertainment - we'll let you go ahead, and we've even let go of our soldiers. It is up to you what you do from here," Iria laughed while she got back on her feet. 

Enkita walked up to Edmund, "Wait, wait. Lady Shamhat? The Luitol ruler?" Enkita questioned.

Edmund spawned a void portal, "Yes, yes. The only Lady Shamhat. Tell you what, we must leave now. We'll see you soon!"

"Wait!" Lilian exclaimed, trying to get their attention.

Edmund and Iria rushed through the void portal as it quickly disappeared. "What the hell was that," Enkita exclaimed. The group had even more questions in their mind; it all felt convoluted. Instead of getting answers, they were getting more questions. 

Kezdar pointed toward rundown cabins; they were covered with snow. The markets in the area also appeared to be closed. Everything seemed lifeless. "Damn, this place is fucked up," Kezdar said as he walked toward one of the cabins. 

Enkita followed Kezdar. Suddenly, a girl bumped into him with a box. "Ouch. I'm sorry!" she exclaimed. 

The girl crouched and started picking up the box of supplies she dropped. "Wh- who are you?" Enkita questioned as he helped the girl put everything back in the box.

"I... My name is Noora," she replied.

She was Noora. She had long brown hair and wore only a long shirt and boots. She definitely lived around this area, "Thank you, er... I've never seen you here before," Noora questioned.

Enkita stood up, "I am Enkita. His name is Kezdar, her name is Lilian. You seem like you've been through some rough stuff here... We're from Krester, looking for something," he explained. 

"Something? Well, I am happy to invite all of you in here if you'd like! I am the outlier sector leader after all..."

"Woah, a happy leader, that one's rare," Kezdar laughed.

The outlier sector selects a leader to help make important decisions for their town. Whether it be resource management, assisting with challenges the sector may have, or dealing with the imperial sector.

Lilian clapped, "WOW! You do a lot... I wish I was like you, go girl!"

The imperial sector recognizes the outlier sector leader; Noora stands as a representative for any major decisions. 

"Would you give us a tour then? We just went through that whole bridge and have no idea where to go from here," Enkita asked. 

The outlier sector chooses a leader simply by selecting a few honorable and trusted people to be nominated. The vote is a simple popularity vote. Whoever has the most votes becomes the outlier sector leader. 

"I'd be more than happy to do that!" Noora exclaimed.

"How can she be so cheerful in this place?" Enkita thought to himself while Noora led the group forward.

And so they tour the outlier sector. It looked like a ghost town, the cabins were nearly falling apart. Cabin maintenance couldn't be done by them, especially during the winter. The group wondered where the outlier sector people even took refuge during this harsh weather. 

 It was hell on earth, all of those living in the outlier sector were forced to live there; only due to the type of their blood. They say life is unfair, but to some, it goes beyond unfair.  

A long graveyard covered a big portion of the outlier sector and in the center of it all, there was a building bigger than the rest. There was not much left in the outlier sector, "Yoo, what's up with this building?" Kezdar questioned.

Noora walked toward the entrance, "This is what we call the Temenos. A building where our people refuge, where we keep our joy, and try to outlive the expectations of this world!" she exclaimed.

The group followed Noora as she led into the building happily. While she remained excited, the building was also seemingly in poor condition, but it certainly did a better job than the cabins. Many people taking refuge in the building seemed out of it, sicknesses, starvation, you name it.

But Noora remained the light as she led them up to the stairway. The building was tower-like, it had several rooms and hallways. "We made it to your room! We have unoccupied rooms next to mine, I- well, let's say I used to have people helping lead the outlier sector, but. Sorry, I got off track!" Noora exclaimed.

"This place looked big... but you only showed a portion of it," Enkita questioned. 

Noora sighed, "The rest of the outlier sector is ruins now, going there in this weather is asking for danger," she said while opening the door to the group's rooms.

Lilian hugged Noora, "Thank you. You're an amazing girl." Noora blushed while trying to get Lilian off of her, but she was hugging too tight to let go. Noora was the remaining light that the outlier sector needed, it was a no-brainer pick for a leader. But things didn't go well, even under Noora.

***

A debate occurred in the imperial's sector committee board, "Don't you see the consequences? It would kill them all!" the impaired woman cried out to the committee board. 

A shady man with documents on hand stared, "That is the point, is it not?" the man laughed while he continued to go through the files. The committee had a majority opinion on the law at hand. "Of course. To us, to Lady Shamhat, and the rest of our people. They are merely vermin, figuratively and literally," the committed woman declared.

"The goal of the law is to reestablish resources where they are most needed, within the imperial sector. A royal town cannot live a poor lifestyle," the enriched man spoke.

The impaired woman stood up from her seat, "Do you all even see life in them?" she continued crying out. The impaired woman poured her efforts into delaying the law as much as possible.

The shady man looked at the impaired woman, "Appears as if the majority is in agreeance, we shall move on from debate and vote," he laughed. 

"Fuck you," the impaired woman yelled. She was kicked out of the building, invalidating her vote for inappropriate speech during the debate. The vote ended with swift approval, the law passed, and shortly after Lady Shamhat gave it the go.

The law being debated was a crucial hit to the outlier sector. It began the prohibition of trade and sale of harvests within the outlier sector. All transactions of harvests could only be done with imperial sector officials. However, the law also had additions hidden within the script. All sales to the imperial sector would be made for cents, and the imperial sector would be allowed to trade anything they wanted for harvests. 

Harvesting rates had greatly lowered within the outlier sector. They would get a mere cent for days of work and would be thrown rocks in trade for months of hard labor. On top of all that, they'd be required to meet a trade threshold with the imperial sector, or they would face consequences. The outlier sector still had people willing to harvest resources, both to meet the threshold and to provide for their own families.

"The goods law has been enacted. You must shut down all the markets, our deadline is tomorrow," an imperial soldier explains to Noora.

"Understood," Noora said while holding back tears. She had tried a lot to keep the law from becoming reality and being told all her efforts were for nothing - made her feel at fault. 

The world before her.