The night was as still as stone. The streets, devoid of all cars and pedestrians, were clean and neatly arranged between urban blocks of buildings, each having six stories or more. The moon hung high in the sky, shining a dim light over the sleek and rigid landscape of the White Sector.

At the edge of the city blocks was a grand gate, barring off a separate road that trailed up to another tall building, this one more ornate and opulent than the others. A wide veranda blocked out a square section of the rolling hills beyond the gate, with the tall, pillar-like building standing in the middle. And air duct jutted out of the back of the main building, nearby a set of power generators that quietly hummed.

The vent slowly opened. As the grate that blocked off the opening of the vent swiveled downward, a head poked out of the now open duct. Dark black hair swished left and right over the figure’s face as it looked to either side of the vent. After looking left and right, a hand poked out of the shadow of the vent and moved the figure’s ponytail back behind her neck, where it hung downward. A second hand adjusted an angular domino mask over the figure’s eyes, and quietly the figure slipped out of the vent and planted its feet softly on the grass.