Umbra, Part I

- You've contacted Siren Command using the emergency line. What's the situation? Over.
- Sir! ....... reinforcements ha- ... rushed ... -llied lines! All un- ....... heavy dam- ........ completely destroyed. W- ............ back! Ov-..
- There's interference on your line. What is going on there? Over.
- ....... -my has depl- ... eral jammers. Th- prevent all comm- ......... -ing through. T-
[An explosion]
- Report, soldier!
- They'v- ............. artillery strik-.............. -osition! Ever-........ -all back! Fa-...........
[Another explosion, this one louder than the last]
- Status report! Can you retreat? How large is the enemy force?
- We wer-.......-ily outnumbered, at l-.....-en to one. W-........ lost seventy perce-.............. can't hold the area. Over.
- Sound the retreat! Salvage as many forces as you can and fall back to our position! Do you copy?
- ........-re breaking throu- ....
- I said retreat! Do you copy?
- ................
- Answer!
- It's no use, sir. We've lost the signal.
- Dammit!
- We're going to have to report this to the Commander. Your orders?
- ...Fine. He should be arriving any moment anyways.
- Understood. How should we.... sir, where are you going?
- What do you think? I'm going to tell him personally. I'm alright, but he'd eat you alive.
- But what are you going to say?
- The truth. Derych has fallen back into enemy control.


At seven in the morning, Lise Lemoize's radio alarm went off, playing her favorite song by Epoch-1006. After flailing about in her covers for a good minute in an attempt to shout off the all-girl rock 'n roll, she quickly dressed into a T-shirt and jogging pants and went downstairs to start her daily ten-minute jog in a garden nearby.


Before she set off, Lise turned back and admired the dorm she and her sister Treyle had been living in for the past seven years. The red-brick building had been their home ever since their father disappeared and their mother went abroad to work. Siren Academy's administrator at the time had decided to put the two girls, as well as several others who were in similar situations, into a "scholarship" program that allowed them to stay enrolled as long as they passed each school year with at least an 80. But that was a long time ago, and other things had happened since then...

As Lise jogged along, she looked around and took in all of the beautiful scenery. The sparkling light dew... the smell of the grass and flowers and trees... the faint breeze caressing the delicate blooms, it was a breathtaking sight. It's all so beautiful. I'm so lucky to attend this school. Aahhh... Siren Academy really is a wonderful place, Lise thought to herself. She also began to wonder about its past. Surely there must be someone or something that built this. Who founded it? Why is there so much space? Why is everything so big? And why here, away from all the bustling towns and sprawling cities?


When she finished her jog, Lise realized that she actually took twenty minutes. She hurried back up the stairs and into their flat only to find that Treyle had still not yet awoken. Silently, Lise crept up to her sister's bed and looked down. Treyle was an absolute mess, with her blanket and clothes half-off and her long brown hair fanning out in all directions. She was wrapped around her pillow and snoring very loudly. After some thought, Lise took the right side of the bed and lifted it up, letting Treyle slide onto the cold floor.

Waking up was a slow process for Treyle, even as she was right then. First, she noted that she felt as though she had been hit on her left side. After three seconds, Treyle noticed that the surface she was on was not the bed but something colder. As more time passed by, she faintly began to hear Lise scolding her for not waking up.

"Come on, Treyle! I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes already! Do you know what time it is? You know we have school again starting today. And we're gonna be late at this rate! Come on, get up!"
"...uunnn......"
"Hey, we're gonna miss the tram at this rate! Hurry up or I'm not making breakfast for you."
".....alright... I'll get out, Lise. Just make me something and I'll....."

Lise walked out of the room, knowing that her sister wouldn't skip out on breakfast for her life. She headed into the small kitchen area and began to make some toast and warm up the stove. Treyle, on the other hand, got out of her bed and straightened herself up a little. Her hair was still a mess, though. Drawn out by the smells drifting out from the kitchen, Treyle stumbled towards a dining table and sat herself down. Lise then brought their light breakfast to the table: a piece of toast, a fried egg, and some milk.

"What's with this breakfast? I can barely see it!"
"Oh don't be so greedy. It's your fault, anyways. If you had woken up earlier, I would have had more time to cook."
"Well, you could have started when I was asleep and then have gotten me."
"Hey, shut it! At least I'm actually making breakfast for you! You know, if you were a bit more responsible, I wouldn't have to look over you so much..."

As they continued to argue, their breakfast continued to not be eaten. Only after a good ten minutes or so did they realize how much time they didn't have left to make the tram. Abandoning their little squabble and stuffing the food down their throats, Lise and Treyle hurried themselves to their rooms to get dressed. Treyle put on a blue shirt with spagetti straps and khaki shorts, while Lise donned a green V-neck and jeans. They then rushed to the bathroom. After a little make-up time, Lise took her hair and tied it into a loose bun. Treyle brushed her hair only a little and let it retain most of its bedhead curliness. Wasting no time to admire themselves in the mirror, the pair ran outside to the stairs, then came back for their bookbags, and left again, leaving the door unlocked for the janitors. All this, excluding breakfast, took fifteen minutes and left only five minutes for them to get to the 7:35 tram's last call.