I wish I could tell you not to walk out .

Gazing upon a metal table with a natural finish, a pair of blue eyes in a world devoid of beauty, did they stare in wonder, reflecting their own wondrous and mysterious presence, but the voice that spoke, reflected the world more so.

I wish to tell you what would happen if you do..

Yet the path that pushed forward, led not for somewhere, yet unto nowhere did it lead, falling and falling ever did it dive. As one plunged into the darkness, so rose the fear of the unknown. Dwelling in her thoughts, the memories echoed through her, but even on the morrow, she looked back......

But knowing myself...I would have ignored my own feelings

An alarm clock sang to thunderous annoyance in early hours of a bright morning on a planet named Gantun. This world of dunes and rock, would surprise those who gaze upon it, for it seeped with life. White colored bipedal creatures roam outside of the city, riding in their vehicles of war, shooting one another in the name of their ancestors. Restless rumblings thought to be earthquakes end up being giant worm-like creatures that sprout for a moment of fresh air before diving back into the oceanic dunes beneath the sun, and that is not all which traverses Gantun. Though one might expect to be introduced to such a character of a background, they would instead be brought to a softer-toned hand, one that reaches out from under the covers of a blanket, breaking the mundane to shut off the 'alarming' noise. In the City of Gantun, rising from the covers, and to the shock of anyone, an Elf, named Aradi. She yawned....... gracefully as Elves do. Her arms rose towards the ceiling as if she wished to lie her hands against the hardened material, they then retracted as her shoulder blades squeezed in to touch one another.

On this planet, it is not the savages outside the exterior of the city that rule the planet, but a coalition of planetary members, together they form the "Galactic Council", the truest form of perfection.

A soft burst of air blew from her puckered lips to move a bit of her naturally colored blue hair as it had laid over her face. The Elf slowly brought herself up to a sitting position upon her bed. A cool feeling greeted the bottom of her feet as she touched the floorboards. After a wiggle of her toes, she took herself to the bathroom.

The Elf met her own stare in the reflection of the mirror, her fingers gripped a toothbrush and pressed it against her palm, the grip was strangely tight, but not so strange to her own mind. Aradi pressed a symbol which looked like a play button located in the middle of her brush, a micro-sized tube extended out over the bristles and liquid came out covering it. Her reflection met her gaze, youthful looking woman, yet oddly enough she yearned to be tired, and asleep. The Elf waved her hand over a sensor near the mirror, at first it did not respond, her eyelids lowering in quick annoyance, she waved her hand over it once again.

The bathroom lights dimmed, bright lights around the reflective glass turned on, a reflection of Aradi's face into a real time rendered x-ray. The x-ray highlighted her jaw and teeth, the other half showed diagrams of all areas of her teeth, the display showed detailed message boxes, with tips and advice for teeth betterment. A sudden face capture error occurred, she pressed a recalibration button, a bright horizontal light emitted from the screen, scanning from the top of her head down to her shoulders.

Despite the effort to brush her teeth, she never needed to, the Elven body miraculously healed any damage it received, whether it be the after effects of bad hygienics to horrendous injuries such as losing a foot or hand, it was in a constant state of rebuilding itself. Aradi had been told of her body's incredible regeneration process at a doctor's appointment when she was younger. To this day she just brushes her teeth out of a strange proper etiquette she developed. After swishing mouthwash and spitting it in the sink, she glanced at her teeth, smiled for a moment . The screen suddenly glitched once more and changed back to a mirror, with an error message saying "Please contact your manufacturer". She sighed for a moment.

The graceful yet lean figure began to unveil itself before the eyes of none, as her foot dipped into the warm water of her bath, she felt the sensation of comfort and relaxation take her. The Elven body embraced the water as she sunk herself in, leaning back on a soft padding at the edge of the tub, and relaxed her woes away.

It was an odd thing to be subjected to being chased by echoes that don't seem as distant as yesterday. It would appear that Elves have a habit of being able to remember most things as if they had just happened, which is exactly what she was doing. She felt rather strange when she greeted old friends, they too felt strange, for they had aged to the use of canes, wheelchairs, while she happily smiled in embarrassment for not being able to display what she considered a staple of maturity. Sometimes she even found herself at headstones upon graves of those she swore she had thought to have spoken to the other week. Though some Citizens may live much longer than others, mainly those who are endangered such as the infamous "Golgua" (who live up to 450 years, population >24 thousand), there was no other Elf, period. There was none like her, not in the Galactic Council, not in the Outer Territories, seemingly nowhere. Sometimes she thought she was the product of some accident. Aradi took a deep breath and released her air. Mayhap a clue lay in her memories somewhere. She looked to her early childhood memories, but she managed to only capture images of the friends she made on the slave planet; they had gotten separated at one point during the Galactic Council's invasion. She never saw them again.

She quickly leaned forward, pressing the drain button on the wall, the water quickly began to dissipate, after drying herself with the automated heating system built into the shower. She made way to her room.

Aradi approached her wardrobe, her fingers grazed an interface that stuck out from it. The display loaded a menu of outfits that she customized beforehand. There was a favorites bar, and a "Create Outfit" bar, after selecting her favorites, she picked the usual: long jacket, baggy pants. Fittingly named, "Casual Fit 1" . Now she was ready to start her day.

- Galactic Protectorate HQ -

Aradi works for the Galactic Protectorate, their outfits and gear are designed to immediately neutralize threats to the authority that oversees its planetary members. A neutral green combined with black made their authority stand out, after she buttoned the top of the torso fatigues, she strapped a walkie-talkie to her left shoulder, linked to her S.I.M. (Service Integration Manager), she pressed and held a button on the comms device, a sound emitted from the device notifying Aradi that she was connecting to the main dispatch channels at HQ. As she closed her locker, a loud bang echoed in loneliness in the room. She looked around for a moment, her eyelids lowered, her eyes then peered downward.

The Galactic Council ensures every citizen's needs are met, but this also means accommodating citizens who are different in terms of biology. For instance, a citizen of Tars moves at a lesser pace than a citizen of Kien, or Gantun. Therefore a "changing system" was created, for example: all citizens of Tars are granted 1 hour of change time, and all citizens of Gantun are granted 30 minutes. Since Aradi is an Elf, and to Council's knowledge, the only one. She was assigned to the first Change Time of the Protectorate, which is just before the morning shift starts. But none of that would sate her ears as they picked up all the sounds she made echoing all by their lonesome. It was a reminder that no one was like her, and she too, was like no one. To herself, she became a ghost that wanted to leave the veil that the dead walled up before the living.

Another sound came from her device notifying her she was connected, an automated female voice spoke through her SIM,
"You are now connected, welcome, please enter authorization code" the device said. Aradi took a deep breath, exhaled. Her lips parted, her voice moved in a commanding in nature, yet this morning was all one who commanded,
"GC Antara zero", the Elf said. The device emitted a static like dance of waves in her earpiece,
"Please wait.......thank you for authorization, Lieutenant Aradi, we thank you for serving"
And like every morning, Aradi responded,
"It is an honor to serve"

The Elf's light feet swept her to the exit of the locker room, a small lizard like creature sat behind a desk, managing his name was Rico, he looked up at the Elf passing by, it was quite strange for the 4 foot citizen to see something as mysterious as and Elf walking by. Oddly, wherever she walked, things felt different, but not a welcoming presence you see, it was more out of place, but it wasn't tugging for attention, one could not explain it properly if asked.
"Have a good one, Lieutenant" Rico said. Aradi turned with a smile as pure as one might think, though to her it was common courtesy.
"Thanks Rico, you too" she said as she turned back towards her destination. Rico made a suspicious face as she walked away, he then turned to his computer screen, flicking a window back in focus that was...well, that was for gaming, not work. He knew all too well what Aradi meant, as well as anyone who knew the Elf during her work hours......

When the Protectorate gear came on, Aradi became a different person, cold, precise, and anyone trying to deviate from their duties were met with a less than blank stare. It was no secret that Aradi carried an exemplary record, some of her cases were so notable that they are used in not just classes, but referenced in action films as well. Her popularity seemed to be unwavering, every few decades, journalists, school students, documentors. At first it was quite strange, they would all approach for the same reason: to speak to the Council's first, and only Elf, to uncover the secrets. Many seeking a thrilling tale were surprised to find out that fact is more mundane than the fictitious depiction of her kind, others would do the opposite, being in total awe of her presence, as if she was an other-worldly like creature. Daily, to her dismay, she is mistaken for another endangered citizen: Humans.

City of Gantun

Aradi's occupation within the Galactic Protectorate is the Standalone Field Operator (S.F.O) class, which meant she would be handling orders from dispatch on her own, cases on her own, vehicle oversight, etc. - which she preferred. Her stagnant dedication to the prosperity of the Council proved her to be an effective officer that was dragged down by having what was essentially deemed a "ride-along".

Her eyes moved left and right as she drove, untainted by distractions, like the vehicle was hers to drive, so too was she; the vehicle of the Galactic Council. Radio communications emitted from the dashboard, giving life to the city she drove in,
"Dispatch I got a uh - uh got a naked citizen trapped in the Virt, headset seems to be stuck, over"
"Dispatch here.... routing tech-set to you now"
"Dispatch, I'm on third, got a citizen that's... a bit too heavy for me to pick up"
"Sending a special unit over"
"Got multiple shop lifters, NC border district"

Aradi quickly pinched the button on her walkie, allowing her to response,
"Antara-zero on route, channel open", she toggled a power switch, lights shot on top of her police cruiser, a switch was then flicked, and what felt like a distant siren quickly faded in and grew annoyingly loud.

The Elf's foot ungraciously stomped on the gas pedal, the cruiser shot off from the side, taking a route exclusively designated for authority.

The vehicle Aradi drove was known as the "Tact-Hornet", a standard sized cruiser manufactured by Galactic Prime Industries, the main engineers of warfare for the Council. It was built for speed, and made to take a beating. The quiet engine makes it a silent killer. As she sped down the street, she maneuvered quickly through traffic, there is no wrong side of the road for her, a voice emitted from her walkie,
"Got 2, 1 down the alley, I can't get to him"
Aradi quickly replied as the vehicle turned to the corner, she hit the brakes, the vehicle came to a screeching halt, but she didn't wait for the full stop, she flew out door and began running past the other officers that held the 2 suspects down,
"He's already down the block! Just call -
"I'm faster!" shouted her interruption. She nearly glided across the pavement down the alley, with 1 step occasionally being louder than the rest, her eyes locked on like a predator as soon as she came within grabbing distance of the suspect. The suspect sweated and panted as he ran, he was completely unaware of the boot that was flying to greet the right side of his face.....

Aradi swept the might of her leg, the metatarsals of her foot side swiped the suspect's face, he flew instantly, his back slapping against concrete, then falling into a trash bin. Aradi stood there for a moment, hand ready to unholster her weapon if need be. She then walked over, slowly. Aradi peered down to the garbage, the suspect was knocked out, likely suffered some injuries,
"Dispatch this is Antara-zero, requesting a 10-16, suspect appears to have multiple injuries"
"Copy that"

Prisoner Holding area, Transfer Station 05

A voice emitted from a speaker in a low lit enclosure, a window to the outside revealed a large empty area, in the distance, the origin of the voice: a control spire,
Clearance node authorized, you may begin system initialization,

A lever was pulled, and the lights turned on, a pilot seated himself in a chair, grabbing his flight control systems, he pressed a button, then patched into a channel as he gave a thumbs up to the spire.
"This is P.T 5, ETA 15"

A giant dropship steadily lifted upwards, leaving the station, its engines subtle, then to a roar when ignition was pushed forward. It flew over hundreds of different other stations, each one deploying or receiving prisoners. Surveillance drones flew, constantly scanning the area, one drone in particular locked in on a transport that Aradi called in....