27 years ago...

The darkness gave way to confusion, the distant sound of voices, and blurred light. Then came the realization: "It's over! We're awake."

Charlotte looked around. She saw her husband, Jeremiah, in the pod next to her. 

They had made it. The promise of a new world they were building under Geeryo's supervision was in full reach. They were married and allowed to go into the project together, as certain key personnel were. Jeremiah was an advanced engineer who would be able to help with the rebuild.

Then they noticed there were not as many survivors awakening as they expected, only around 100 out of a thousand in their vault. Jeremiah also noticed that, with maybe the exception of 2 or 3 others, there were no other men survivors. 

The vault itself was dilapidated. Something had gone wrong; Geeryo was not there to welcome them. 

It was chilly, but their Ponu-suits kept them warm. 

At first, it was just a cough. Jeremiah assured Charlotte that he was ok. Little did he know that it was the beginning of his succumbing to the sickness. 

That evening, still in the vault, they made love in a secluded area. In the middle of the night, the sickness had started to take hold of him. He was bent over in pain and vomiting. Charlotte didn't know what to do. Geeryo was not here to help; they were on their own. 

That's when the attack began. The creatures, sky reapers, had been drawn to the vault opening and, after not seeing Ponus emerge, had entered the vault. The attack was fast, brutal, and merciless. 

The other ponu men were struck down with ease. Whatever they could find to use as weapons was ultimately useless. Charlotte begged, pleaded with Jeremiah not to attack the monsters, instead to sneak out. They did as the chaos reigned. Each step felt like his body was going to shut down. They made it out the same entrance the monsters came in. A few other Ponu women escaped with them as well.

Realizing he was slowing her down, Jeremiah told her and the others to run; he would slow down the monsters if they tried to follow. Charlotte had to be pulled away. The Ponu women survivors, now numbering 7, made their way to an old lighthouse. They would survive there in hiding over the next months.  

After a couple of months, Charlotte realized she was pregnant. This was not supposed to be possible, she thought. The Geeryo conditioning in her pod must have failed. The Ponu women were to be altered, unable to conceive a child of their own.

As the months passed, the other Ponu women took care and pride in taking care of the pregnant Charlotte. When the day of delivery came, they realized they would need a location that might have the tools needed to help. There was an old, ancient, abandoned hospital. They would try there. 

Making it there was fine, the delivery was painful and intense as expected. A baby girl was born, but sadly, Charlotte expired during the delivery. The other Ponu women, now down to 4, were stunned and saddened but determined to protect this new little Ponu at all costs. 

Their dedication would be put to the test sooner than either of them expected.  They heard the shrieking sound; a couple of sky reapers had been drawn to the hospital. 

Panic ensued, but they quickly came up with a plan, a sacrificial plan. Knowing the sky reapers would find them and the baby if they hid, they decided to use themselves to lure the sky reapers away. They would hide the baby and then draw the sky reapers away. They knew not all of them would survive, but what they didn't know was that none of them would survive. 

The sky reapers were brutally efficient. The baby was left alone. 

Hours later, a scavenger couple found the hospital and hoped to see if it would make a good shelter for the night. That's when they heard a small cry. The wife, JaKel, rushed forward at the sound, followed by her husband, a hardened warrior named Kunan. The sound was coming from a drawer with air holes on the side. He opened it and saw a baby, smaller than any baby he had ever seen. Jakel asked, "Is that what I think it is? It's one of their children." Kunan was confused; he had never seen a Ponu child before. "We can't leave it here," he said. He and JaKel made a pact then and there to take the child with them; they would raise it as their own. Jakel mused, "It's a girl, she's so cute".  Kunan smiled. 

18 years ago... 

Kunan was happy, about as much as a stoic warrior like him could be. In their tent, JaKel told Janeda that her husband's old friend, his protege Kallian, was coming by. 

Nearby, JaKaelath played with her little toy wooden warriors. She smashed the enemy warriors, painted a shade of pink. 

The horses approach with the rough-looking warriors. All wearing jackets with a red band on the arm. A young man in his 20s leading them, this is Kallian, with black hair, no scars, handsome as much as he is brutal and clever. 

His men, about 10 of them, arrive in the center of the camp. He loudly proclaims with a smile, "I hear there is a bastard here named Kunan; send him out. 

Kunan comes out of his tent with a big smile, and the two men embrace. 

Kallian turns to his men, "This is the bastard I told you about. He saved my life in battle at the super Vault." Kunan looks down. "He took down 4 Ponu men. These ain't like those sickly ones we see. These were all healthy, unaffected, and fast, quick as lightning. He just corned them one by one and bear hugged them, breaking their back. That's one way to stop them. Gave the rest of us a chance to get out of there."

"Those days are gone now, Kallian," Kunan responds. "How goes the battle?". Kallian looks with a plea in his eye, "We could use your help. We wipe out 100, and 100 more pop up. I don't know how many more there are; it feels never-ending sometimes. Damn vaults appearing almost from out of nowhere. If it's science, I sure don't understand it."

"I don't do that anymore, Kallian, I am a family man now. It's been too long since we saw each other, ever since the super vault.". Kunan looks towards his tent, "Jakel, JaKaelath, come out here."

"Well, about time I see your daughter, bet she will be a warrior just like......" Kallian cuts off; he is stunned. He looks back at Kunan, "Why?......." he says with his eyes pleading for some explanation. 

"Why what? Why did JaKel and I decide to have a child? I am tired of fighting, I can't fight Ponu anymore". 

"I see why," Kallian sneers. "What is that supposed to mean?" Kunan snaps. Kallian's men look on with shock and disgust. 

That night at the welcome feast, Kallian's men enjoy the drinks a little too much. He, however, remains sober, staring at JaKaelath. Finally, he has had enough.

Kunan is sitting with Jakaelath next to him.

"This is what happens when you become soft, weak: you let an abomination run loose. You know how many of us they have killed; they wanted to kill us all. Now you raise on. That little bitch should have been killed the moment you found it."

Kunan rises up. "What are you going to do, old man?" Kallian replies. 

Kunan swings but misses, his age no match for the younger, more athletic Kallian. Another swing, another miss and Kunan falls to the ground enraged. JaKaelath breaks free of her mother, who is holding her just as Kallian is about to kick Kunan in the head, ending the fight. She grabs a glass that one of the men was drinking from and dashes it into Kallian's face. 

Temporarily blinded, he quickly turns his attention towards Kaela. Kunan, recovering, grabs Kallian's leg. This was the opening Kallian couldn't afford to give Kunan. In close quarters, he was never letting Kallian go. He battered the warlord without mercy. Jakel covered JaKaelath's eyes. The other little children present, such as Kragon and JaMaya, all had their parents do the same. 

Kallians' men watched on without interfering; the strongest would survive. Finally, one of them had to beg Kunan to stop, have mercy, before Kallian is beaten to death. Kunan stops within an inch of taking Kallian's life. He looks down at the man he once called a friend and goes over to embrace his wife and daughter. Kallian is taken away by his men in shame; he will need months to recover from the brutal beating and even longer from the humiliation. 

Present day... 

Back in the Cave City, Lana raced to speak to Dana. She found her reviewing an inventory report from Cassandra. "Dana, I have something to tell you. Kaela, who was here a while back, then abruptly left. I had performed a test on her. I should have looked closer at the results, but I didn't think of it until just recently. There's something I found out that you really need to know."

Dana said, "Let me guess, she's not really a Ponu? I heard too many things that just didn't add up. Is she a Geeryo colonist?" A look of grave concern came over her face. "If she's a Geeryo spy and they know our exact location now, we could all be in danger." 

"No, that's not it," Lana said, her voice filled with panic. "I mean, I don't know where she's from or who she could or could not be a spy for. She's a Ponu, that I am 100% certain. In fact, sit down for this, how do I put this, she's the most Ponu of any of us. If these indicators are right, it's almost as if she were born a Ponu."

"Born a Ponu?" Dana's eyes widen. "That's imposs...", she cuts herself off. "Is it possible her parents could have been from a vault that opened earlier, years and years ago? If this is true...where did she come from? We need to see her. Where's the girl that she was friends with, the one who looks like her?".

They both find Francesca watching a movie with other Ponus. It's a spy thriller, ancient, from the 1980s called "No Way Out". Francesca follows them so they can talk privately. They ask her about Kaela, if she knew where Kaela went. She is not sure.

"Do you think she could be Geeryo, a spy, perhaps a Ponu still under their service?" Lana says. 

Francesca rejects the idea, "No, I don't think so. I don't think Geeryo would send a spy; we owe them our lives, we would be dead if it weren't for them. "

Lana and Dana exchange looks, and Dana looks down, then back at the young Ponu woman.

"Francesca, it's ok if you feel loyalty to Geeryo. We all did. I won't ask you to change your opinion, but just keep in mind that sometimes people can do honorable things for terrible reasons."

She glances down, "You spent time with her, is there any insight you can give us?"

"She was very nice. I think she was a scavenger, though."

Lana and Dana both look shocked. "I know she doesn't look like it," she continued, "but just the little things. If she hadn't left abruptly, I would have probably not had time to think about it. She asked my thoughts on Geeryo, but it was almost like she didn't know what Geeryo was. She seemed not to recognize technology. Some common everyday terms I used, she seemed lost on. If she were sent by Geeryo, she wouldn't be that lost. If she were sent by the Thinkers, she also would have some knowledge of our ways. If she were part of a lost colony of Ponu somewhere out there, she would also have our knowledge. That only leaves one choice to me: what other group is not familiar with our ways and technology? She has to somehow be a scavenger. If I had to guess, I would say she's from that camp that's nearby. 

Lana and Dana are shocked by Francesca's deductive abilities, but they remind themselves that at this point, it's still all speculation. 

"What do we do, Dana?" Lana asks with a real look of concern on her face. "If whoever she is spying for knows about the cave and also that we only have a few Dowath currently while the rest are hibernating, we could face an all-out attack," Dana says she can't send Emma again to the Scavenger camp. If they did send her, it would be too risky. "Get all the leaders together; we need an emergency council meeting immediately. We don't know how much time before they attack, we have to assume our clock has reached zero."

"Dana," Lana says as they are walking away. "There's one more thing." Dana looks as if she can't believe there's even more. "The Geeryo equipment doesn't lie. It showed something else, that Kaela is very closely related to one of the women in the cave, not directly like a sister, but close enough to maybe be a child of a brother or sister. More than that, I think I know which Ponu she is related to. She looks back towards Francesca."