#baobpn

✦ Xavier is the man who would save you during the Red Light, Green Light game. When you are on the floor trembling for your life, he is the one to urge you to get up on your feet and make it to the finish line. You are visibly shaken up when you reach the end before time. Xavier will offer comfort by covering your ears and having your view obscured so you don't witness the remaining contestants gunned down. 

✦ Zayne is the doctor who is collaborating with the masked guards in order to guarantee both of your safety. To avoid drawing suspicion from you, he won't relay the information given to him but will make sure you always pick the "correct" option. Whenever meal time comes around, Zayne gives you half of his portions to ensure you get enough nutrition. Especially when rations run low, he will refuse your offer because he would rather not see you starve. 

✦ Rafayel immediately forms a bond with you after the first game. He recognizes you as someone who once visited his art exhibition. (How did a big shot like him end up here? Who knows.) You both joke around, and it's like the tension in the air has ceased. Rafayel acknowledges that you are a nervous mess, so he always teases you in order to keep the looming fear of death out of your mind. After the night of each game, you both reminisce about your life before the Squid Game and what you would do with the money. Rafayel makes a promise to paint a giant portrait of you after you both win the games. 

✦ Sylus notices you were lacking in some areas and decides he will be the one to protect you throughout the games. He ALWAYS makes sure you are on his team, albeit to the displeasure of his teammates. No one is going to object to the guy who has the looks to murder, so they keep their thoughts to themselves. Whenever the lights go out, Sylus instructs you to stay under the bed and stay out of sight. You bet your dragon in blood-drenched armor will retrieve you once the massacre is over. Sylus always puts you before himself; let's hope his decision to continuously select you to be his partner doesn’t come back to bite him…

On a summer cool afternoon, you and Caleb were playing in the river and discovered a strange metal object. Neither of them knew what it was so Caleb agreed to go find Zayne (since he is a child prodigy and probably would know). In the meantime, you searched for any sticks to help dig out the metallic object.

Caleb locates Zayne seated on his porch reading his book. He practically had to drag Zayne off of his property since asking wasn’t going to convince him. Zayne wasn’t the type to exert a lot of energy so he wasn’t running back to the location like Caleb was.

If only he did.

Before his arrival, a huge explosion went off. That day was the first time Zayne ran with urgency.

It was a devastating sight to see. The thick black smoke slowly rises up into the air and the earth’s surface is deeply disturbed. Off to the side Caleb is unconscious but clearly injured. As for you, you needed immediate medical attention.

. . .

When he was finally permitted, Zayne routinely visited the hospital. Each time he only brought two bouquets of flowers, but today he brought a jar full of origami stars and a portable console.

Making headway to the elevator, he went to the floor where Caleb was stationed. Caleb’s condition was recoverable, however it came at the cost of amputating his right arm. Unsurprisingly, this pushed him into a deep depression. Whenever Zayne visited, Caleb ignored his presence. Zayne knew his friend was trapped in his mind but refused to take that as a sign to give up on him. 

He heads towards his usual sitting area: the wide window with a cushioned bench embedded in front of it. Setting down the items he brought with him, Zayne took the console out of his pocket and booted up a game. 

The obnoxious “You are dead” sound cue repeatedly played throughout the hour of his stay. It has gotten to the point where Caleb groaned after hearing the sound again. Zayne, looking up from the console, stares at Caleb. “Is something wrong, Caleb? Do you need me to get a nurse?”

Caleb stayed still, refusing to respond back to him. However, there was a visible sign of annoyance on his face. 

Zayne glancing back down on his console resumed playing the game. After the next death screen, he sighed in defeat. “I don’t understand how you can play these types of games. They are unnecessarily complex despite being advertised to us.”

Zayne hopped off the bench and walked around to the right side of Caleb’s bed. Pulling himself up, he sits closely so his friend doesn’t have to strain himself to see the screen.

Caleb glances over and his eyebrows furrowed deeper. “You only have to jump the gap.”

Zayne knew that. 

“Really”, Zayne tilts his head. “Mind showing me how?”

What was a few minutes of instructing turned into an hour of collaborating to defeat the first boss. The dull look behind Caleb’s eyes was finally shining with determination and excitement.

That was the first time in 11 months Caleb has responded to Zayne. 

An array of bright orange, pink and purple hues slowly began to blanket the sky. Dusk was Zayne’s least favorite time of day because it was a signal he needed to head back home. 

Retrieving the bouquet of flowers and jar from the bench, Zayne headed towards the door.

“Hey, you left behind your *XYZ Deck!” Caleb called out after him. 

(*This is a make believe handheld console)

Zayne briefly turns around and gives a small smile. “You can have it, consider it a gift from me.”

Joy was bubbling within Zayne as he exited the hospital room. He loved playing video games with you two but he lessened the amount of time after you complained about him always knowing what to do. Since then he preferred to observe but it was still a bad habit of his to call out the mistakes you and Caleb make. 

Zayne enters the elevator and looks up to read the clock on the wall. He still had enough time to spare to make a short visit.

He presses the 11F button and stares down at the floor as the elevator quickly whisks by each floor.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out, he exits the elevator after the ding. The smell of the hospital thickened on this floor and Zayne hated it. He once requested the staff to implement scented air fresheners to lighten up the atmosphere, but they politely declined his request, informing him that it was against their regulations

As his body auto-pilots to his destination, he stopped in front of a door and stood around for what felt like an eternity. He knew what he was going to see, yet each time he wished it was different.

He raises his hand to lightly knock on the wooden door. “I’m coming in.”

PART 2 COMING SOON

Those born without Evols are culled early but those who show promise will continue to grow into their teenage - young adult years. Everyone at the orphanage undergoes regular training to enhance their intelligence and develop their skills. This is all beneficial to the Wanderers, who depend on consuming humans to gain intelligence and powers.

Just like in the TPNL, the "outside" humans struck a deal with the Wanderers, allowing them to do as they wish with this particular supply of humans (on the condition that they cease their attacks on human civilization).

Here are my backstory ideas for each LI and how they would meet MC:

✦ Xavier was born into the outside world. He was raised with the task of keeping any stray wanderers at bay. If MC were to escape the orphanage, there is a high likelihood he would be assigned the task of hunting her down.

✦ Zayne was born in the orphanage (keeping the childhood friend backstory). He can play the role of "Ray" aka the person who is more logical within the friend group.

✦ Rafayel was born into the outside world. I can imagine him being born into a wealthy family that benefits from the orphanage (perhaps they contribute to the funding?). Rafayel learns about this one day and vows to assist those trapped in the orphanage.

✦ Sylus was born into the outside world. He doesn't have a family of his own but was adopted by the human harvesting organization, eventually rising through the ranks. Perhaps he kidnaps MC after she escapes and he is convinced to assist her with her goal of freeing the other orphans.

Rafayel was an artist who lived through strokes of paint and the feeling of the canvas underneath his fingertips. Commonly he found solace in the solitude of his studio but recently he has been diseased. Yes, the disease that even geniuses such as him are bound to contract: art block. The suggested cure to this was to go outside and find inspiration. However, inspiration was not something that can be forced. Yesterday was grim, the day before even grimmer, and today felt like the gloomiest of all. The constant spring showers soaking Linkon had clearly taken their toll on the man.

Rafayel thumped the pencil against his sketchbook as he stared out of the wide window. He was currently sitting in the newly opened café-library, The Coconut Brew, at Whitesand Bay. Although the cafe was beautifully decorated and thriving with business, it offered no help to the struggling artist. Rafayel let out a small sigh and proceeded to pack up his things. For the past two weeks he has made zero progress on his upcoming project. “Thomas is going to pester me for progress eventually… can’t ghost him forever…”

Thomas had signed him up for an public art exhibit that was focusing on the theme "Isolation”. "It’s perfect for you! Who can do it better than the most anti-social man I know?" Thomas had jested. Rafayel knew it was a joke but he couldn’t help but feel offended by it.

Lost in thought, Rafayel accidentally bumped into someone, sending both his belongings and the other person’s tumbling to the floor. Snapped back to reality, Rafayel quickly apologizes and bends down to pick up the dropped books. As he looks up to hand you one of your books, he notices a brown stain on your shirt. “Shit—I am so sorry. I was not paying attention to where I was looking so let me-” Before Rafayel could even make amends, you grabbed the book from his hand and quickly bent down to collect the rest of the items. He watched as you hurried toward the back of the café, presumably heading to the bathroom. Rubbing the back of his neck, Rafayel resumed picking up his scattered papers and book.

Before he exited the premises, he approached one of the baristas. “Hey, I accidentally made someone spill their drink. When they come back, can you retake their order?” He describes your appearance to the server so she would know who to give the money to.

After Rafayel left the café, he made his way toward the docks. Much to his dismay, the rainfall began to intensify. He glanced up at the sky, frowning. "This week couldn’t possibly get any worse," he muttered.

─── ⬩✦⬩ ───

Things could have gotten worse this week. On the other end of the call, Thomas spoke as Rafayel paced anxiously back and forth in his studio. “Look, just go back to the library and see if your sketchbook has been returned.” Thomas was trying to calm him down, but to no avail.

“I did! I called them yesterday and they said no one has turned in my sketchbook!” Rafayel snapped, “It’s been three days since I bumped into that person—oh my god, what if they were a tourist?!”

Thomas let out a muffled sigh, “Listen Rafayel, you said you've been struggling to come up with an idea, so what’s the loss if it’s gone?”

“Listen, you may not care about losing your ideas, but I do care,” Rafayel rebuked. In the background Thomas yelled “Since when?”, but Rafayel ignored him. It was true that the sketchbook being gone wasn't a major setback for his current project. In addition, he doesn’t always treat his supplies with the utmost care. The only reason why he held a strong attachment towards this particular sketchbook was because it was a gift from his aunt. Rafayel refused to admit this, knowing it would only prompt more teasing (or criticism) from Thomas. He already felt guilty enough and didn’t want his friend to make it worse.

“Listen, the exhibit is in 15 days, and you don’t even have a sketch ready. The only reason why so many people are planning to attend is because your name was listed. If you don’t have an idea in three days, I will call to request your removal,” Thomas said firmly.

The idea of being removed was tempting, but this was something Rafayel had actually been working hard on. Quitting now would mean all his frustration would have been for nothing. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed. “Alright… I’ll have something by then.” He ended the call and sank onto his sofa, feeling defeated. “I need to cool off…”

─── ⬩✦⬩ ───

The evening dusk was settling into the studio as Rafayel returned. He had spent the day visiting several thrift stores, hoping to find odd trinkets that might spark some inspiration. He placed the bag on the table and adjusted his chair to face forward. Sitting down, he rested his face in his hand and pulled one of the items from the bag. With a bored expression, he rolled a black marble between his fingers. It slowly changed color, but it wasn’t captivating. His eyes then drifted to the doppelganger sketchbook on the table.

Placing down the marble, he reaches forward to grab the book. It was rude to look through another artist’s sketchbook but considering the other person had his, it seemed only fair that he got a chance to peek as well. Rafayel flips through the pages slowly, but nothing really catches his eye. Most of it was filled with reference sketches, doodles, and notes he didn’t feel like reading. It wasn’t until the very end of the sketchbook that something caught his attention. It was a painting of an opaque glass wall, cracked with white lines. In several spots, pieces of the glass were chipped away, revealing a colorful scene behind it. On the wall itself, there were faint handprints, as if someone had been leaning against it to look beyond the boundary.

Rafayel muttered to himself, "The feeling of loneliness and yearning…" Suddenly, a moment of realization struck him, and he jumped to his feet. Heading toward his canvas, he felt a surge of clarity, finally knowing what he was going to create.