Sion: Year Zero

Morning light glows through Neon City's protective dome as Sion arrives at Galactic Police Overseers HQ. The hangar smells of ionized air, coolant, and polished metal.

In uniform, Sion crosses the launch deck toward a compact hover police patrol car. Its blue hull reflects the hangar lamps, while the deployment console confirms a clean systems check.

The patrol car lifts smoothly from its cradle. Magnetic stabilizers whisper beneath the cabin as the vehicle clears the hangar and rises above the layered streets of Neon City.

Traffic streams between towers and old Earth construction, guided by luminous lanes beneath the dome. The city is busy, orderly, and briefly calm.

A general patrol route scrolls across the console, carrying Sion over the eastern districts. Below, pedestrians move through market plazas and transit platforms under pale morning light.

Then the patrol scanner gives a soft chime. A low-priority disturbance marker appears three blocks ahead, tagged as an unresolved public-safety call. The console requests Sion's attention.

Sion follows the marker through the eastern air lanes and reaches the disturbance above a suspended transit avenue.

The scene resolves below: a compact commuter shuttle slews across its assigned lane, its nose dipping while traffic-control lights flash around it.

Through the rear cabin glass, a male passenger grips the seat frame and struggles for each breath. A faint oxygen warning pulses across the shuttle's interior display.

Sion's patrol car settles beside the shuttle, close enough for the driver to see the GPO markings. The unstable craft now blocks two active lanes, and nearby vehicles begin diverting hard around it.

The driver looks toward Sion's position as the shuttle tilts another few degrees, awaiting an immediate response.

Sion edges closer in the patrol car and gets a clear view through the shuttle’s rear window. The passenger is a white man with long black hair, cybernetic implanted eyes, black pants and boots, and one cybernetic arm. His fingers slip against the seat frame as the oxygen warning intensifies.

The hover car slides alongside the shuttle, overhead lights strobing blue across its hull. Sion’s command cuts through the traffic alarms.

The driver angles toward the emergency shoulder and reduces thrust. Diverting traffic clears a narrow path as the shuttle leaves the active lanes.

The shuttle settles against the shoulder, but its oxygen warning continues to pulse. Inside, the passenger claws at the vent while the cabin air grows thinner.

A red service indicator flashes beside the shuttle’s sealed rear hatch, and the passenger’s cybernetic eyes fix on Sion through the glass.

Sion bangs hard against the shuttle glass. The impact rings through the stopped vehicle and leaves his knuckles scraped.

The Breathless Passenger lunges for the emergency release. The sealed rear hatch unlocks and folds outward, exposing the failing cabin to the avenue.

A harsh burst of stale air spills from the shuttle. The oxygen warning changes to a solid red emergency code, while the vehicle’s disabled controls twitch back to life.

Sion grips the back passenger and hauls toward the avenue. The passenger's boots scrape across the shuttle floor, but the pull stalls before he clears the doorway.

A dormant safety harness snaps tight across the passenger's black shirt as the shuttle's systems wake. His cybernetic arm reaches toward the release, but the mechanism stays buried beneath his ribs.

The shuttle noses forward against its emergency locks. The passenger remains wedged between the cabin and the open hatch, exposed to the avenue but still tethered inside.