EPISODE 1
1934.
The barren battlefield stretched out into a desolate horizon, choked by dust and the heavy silence of anticipation. On one side of the field stood the Vandalian soldiers. Their chests heaved with shallow, anxious breaths as they waited for the Siennan forces to arrive. Every single eye was wide, staring intensely at the opposite end of the field. Among the ranks, some soldiers looked utterly scared and terrified, trembling under the weight of the coming clash. Others stood rigid, filled with a fearless resolve, while a few burned with nothing but blind rage.
They had been waiting for fifteen minutes in the suffocating stillness.
Commander Wilson of Vandalia scanned the empty landscape, breaking the tension. He turned to his men and said, "Looks they aren't showing up. They finally got to know they can't defeat us after all." He lowered his hand, gesturing toward the path behind them. "Let's go, soldiers."
The men began to turn, preparing to march back. But one soldier suddenly stopped in his tracks. He turned around, his ears straining against the wind. In the distance, the faint, unmistakable sound of horses neighing cut through the air.
At the other end of the field, the Siennan army materialized through the dust, stopping in a massive formation. The air filled with the sharp sound of horses neighing and swords clanging against armor.
The soldier pointed a shaking hand toward the horizon, calling out to his superior. "Commander, look!"
Commander Wilson turned. His eyes widened at the sight of the massive force, but he instantly gritted his teeth, his expression hardening. "Siennan Commander Mike and his army..."
He raised his sword high into the air, facing his troops. "Soldiers! Be ready, we strike now! For Vandalia!"
As one voice, the army roared back, the sound echoing across the barren earth: "For Vandalia!"
The two forces charged, sprinting across the distance until they collided violently in the middle of the battlefield. Steel clashed against steel, cries of agony mixed with the roar of war, and the ground drank the blood of both nations.
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When the dust finally settled, the battle was over. Sienna was victorious; the Vandalian forces had lost.
Commander Wilson and what remained of his army were on their knees on the ground. Half of them lay dead in the dirt, and the other half were heavily injured, clutching their wounds. Commander Wilson stared down at his own hands in horror, his mind entirely filled with a soul-crushing guilt for not leading his country to victory.
A shadow suddenly cast over him. Siennan Commander Mike walked over, looking down at the defeated leader. "What a shame you have brought upon your own country."
Commander Wilson slowly looked up, saying nothing, and just stared at him. Commander Mike turned and walked away, leaving the defeated army behind.
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Among the wreckage of the defeat was Arthur, a Vandalian soldier deeply saddened by the loss. He was heavily injured, his body broken from the clash. All around him, the grim reality of their defeat played out. Medical nurses moved through the dirt, wrapping white cloth around the dead people, while the heavily injured were lifted onto stretchers and carried away toward the infirmary tents.
Arthur was carried into one of the tents and carefully laid onto a cot.
Suddenly, a nurse walked into the tent, carrying a glass jar. Inside the jar floated a single human kidney. She walked over to Arthur's bedside and kept it on the bedside table beside Arthur's bed. Arthur stared at the organ in the jar, his stomach turning as he tried not to gag.
The tent flap opened, and Commander Wilson walked in, standing over Arthur's cot. "You have suffered kidney damage, one of them isn't functioning. We'll let you have a week of rest after the surgery. We have to win the war, we can't afford to lose any more soldiers." Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked out of the tent.
The nurse followed closely behind him. Outside the tent fabric, their voices carried inward. Arthur lay perfectly still, overhearing the conversation between the nurse and Wilson.
The nurse asked, "Whose kidneys are those?"
Wilson’s voice was cold and dismissive. "They're from a woman who works for us. That's all you have to know."
The scene cut away from the dim infirmary tent, leaving Arthur and the mysterious jar behind.
Inside the quiet, underground dorm room of The Haven, Melissa's men were moving efficiently, carefully placing the unconscious teenagers into their respective bunk beds. After a few quiet moments, the kids slowly began to wake up. They sat up, looking around the unfamiliar room, their faces filled with confusion and unease as they took in the sterile walls.
Suddenly, the sharp static of a PA system echoed through the dorm room, and Melissa's voice filled the space, sounding warm yet deeply unsettling.
"Good morning, my little bees! Welcome to The Haven. We're an organization designed to keep you all safe from the war above."
The teenagers listened in silence, looking up at the speakers on the wall.
"You will be provided food and water and all basic necessities so you do not worry. For your physical well being we will conducting specific surgeries to ensure you are healthy. At the corner of the room you may see specific black clothing with numbers on them... I will announce your number so please pay attention."
The nine teenagers, all around fourteen and fifteen years old, looked toward the corner where the neatly folded black outfits sat waiting. Melissa Clarke’s voice began reading the list, introducing them for the very first time.
"Subject 7. Juliette Laurent." The view shifted to Juliette as she heard her name.
"Subject 3. Mia Schimdt." The focus turned to Mia, who looked around anxiously.
"Subject 4. Buddy Bennett." The camera showed Buddy reacting to his designation.
"Subject 5. Vianna Mienna." Vianna was shown next, absorbing the strange rules of the room.
"Subject 6. Michael Roux." Michael Roux was highlighted as he stared at the speaker.
"Subject 8. Yuri Kim." Yuri Kim’s face appeared on screen, silent and guarded.
"Subject 9. Akatsuki Yujino." The scene showed Akatsuki looking down at the numbered clothes.
"Subject 1. Michelle Krisa." Michelle was shown, her expression already filled with deep suspicion.
"Subject 2. Landon Mcwadden." Finally, the focus shifted to Landon, the last of the nine.
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Slowly and quietly, the characters took their assigned black outfits and walked into their respective washrooms to change.
Once they emerged wearing the heavy clothing, the armed soldiers entered the dorm room, ordering them into a line. They escorted the group out of the dorms to take them to the cafeteria room. As they walked down the cold, metallic hallway, Michelle's eyes narrowed. She stopped briefly, looking through a window into a room clearly labeled "SURGERY." Inside, through the glass, she could see long, human-sized boxes lined up next to shelves filled with glass jars.
Before she could look any closer, the soldiers nudged them along, and they were taken into the cafeteria, where they were given bowls of warm food and cups of juice.
The teenagers began to eat, but the quiet was broken when Melissa herself walked into the cafeteria. She glided over to the tables, stopping right beside Buddy. Holding a handful of garlic, she suddenly dropped it directly into Buddy's juice.
She looked down at him with a warm, chilling smile. "Its good for your organs to grow healthy."
Without another word, she smiled again and calmly walked away, leaving the teens to exchange uneasy looks over their food.
“That’s weird, I don’t know why but something is just so off about her, don’t you think Vianna?” Yuri says, her voice as firm as a statue.
“She looks perfectly fine to me, yuri maybe you’re just stressing.” Vianna smiled at her
“Yeah! Don’t say that about melissa. She’s just like a mother to us” and looks at melissa with adoration. Watching her back
Melissa was walking out of the cafeteria before going, she turns out and smiles and says “bye, my little bees! Enjoy your food, and don’t forget to sleep on time! The surgeries are tomorrow!”. And walks away.
“Melissa is so kind, she knew what was good for my body” Buddy smiles to himself and says “I’ll drink the whole soup!” and chugs it down.
(TIMESKIP.)
“Is anyone interested to play cards with Mia and Me?” Vianna speaks to cut the tension in the Dorm Room.
“No, man I’m so sleepy..” Landon yawns.
“Don’t stay up for too long” Juliette says.
“We’ve got surgeries tomorrow and we need good sleep, so no I won’t” Michelle goes to her bed and removes her specs on the bedside table and goes to sleep.
“Good night, Buddy!” Akatsuki says while smiling.
“Yeah, good night! ”..Buddy says with his joyous smile.
Soon by 11:30, all seven were sound asleep. And Mia and Vianna were awake playing cards.
“Hey! That’s not fair, how are you winning so much, Vianna?” she softly pouts.
Vianna Laughs and says “Its called being smart, Mia”
Mia laughs too and says “You better teach me how to be smart like you”
They both laugh softly, knowing they shouldn’t awaken the others up. .
Suddenly, the sharp CLANK CLANK CLANK of Melissa's heels echoed down the hallway outside.
Mia and Vianna froze, panic immediately taking over. They dropped their cards onto the bed in a hurry. Mia dropped a ten of spades along with the other cards she was holding, and Vianna dropped a jack of spades with the other cards she was holding. On the mattress, the two spade cards lay face up, stark and ominous beneath the dim light.
Outside the dorm room door, Melissa began to speak. Her voice was soft, yet it was perfectly loud enough for Mia and Vianna to hear every chilling word through the wall.
She spoke to the guards, demanding answers. "Why isn't the surgery room ready yet? The surgeries start at 7 AM."
The guard stuttered over his words, his voice trembling with fear. "We—we're sorry, Ms. Clarke—we—"
He was cut off abruptly when Melissa grabbed his collar, pulling him close. Melissa's tone turned razor-sharp and deadly. "If you don't have the room ready within 30 minutes, I will personally make sure I harvest your organs myself and send it to the Vandalian Ministry as a peace offering, just like how it is planned for those brats sleeping their asses off behind this door."
She violently released his collar and added a cold, final order. "You're dismissed."
Melissa walked away, her heels fading down the corridor. The terrified soldiers immediately scrambled away to get the surgery room ready in time.
Inside the dorm room, the camera focused closely on Mia and Vianna's eyes widening in pure horror. Because Mia was a Vandalian who had been brought up in Sienna, the revelation shattered her world completely. Her eyes immediately welled up with tears.
She looked at her friend, her voice shaking with disbelief. "Vandalia? They're selling our organs to my home country? Even—even mine?"
Mia broke down, heavy, silent tears streaming down her face as the crushing weight of the betrayal hit her. Vianna rushed to her side, holding her close to comfort her as Mia sobbed silently into her shoulder.
After a minute of crying, the two girls pulled away. They turned their heads, looking across the dark dorm room at a sleeping Michelle, Landon, and Juliette. Realizing they had to act immediately to save their lives, they nodded at each other and went to wake them up.
