Setting
There is a prolonged civil war in an unnamed country. Outside of this region, the world remains largely identical to present-day Earth. The conflict has fractured the country between multiple factions, and no one fully controls the urban centers.
As a result, certain districts, usually centered around schools, have become neutral zones. These areas are too politically sensitive to openly occupy or deliberately destroy. However, because they are neutral, they have also become havens for syndicates, smugglers, covert operatives, and other illicit actors, as conventional forces cannot enter them openly, which creates a power vacuum.
Early in the conflict, several schools organized self-defense and medical groups after law enforcement collapsed. These grassroots groups proved effective because attacking them would be widely seen as targeting civilians and minors, something the factions wanted to avoid for propaganda reasons. Over time, this developed into a more formal system in which each school district hosts an independent corps composed primarily of students, supported by a small number of adult advisors. Most able-bodied adults are already serving in the conventional forces of one faction or another.
Officially, these corps are classified as civil defense and emergency response units. In practice, they are heavily militarized. Their responsibilities include maintaining order in the neutral zones, peacekeeping, law enforcement, and emergency medical response. The students still attend classes, but they also patrol, respond to incidents, and carry out missions. Technically, the self-defense corps are considered extracurricular clubs. Participation is voluntary, though there are strong incentives, including class credits, stipends, and various institutional privileges.
The corps are primarily made up of girls. Many boys were heavily conscripted into the surrounding factions, leaving the remaining student population skewed female. Public perception also made girls' corps appear less threatening and more purely defensive, which further discouraged direct attacks for propaganda reasons.
These corps are formally independent, and no single faction directly controls them, but many try to influence them through funding, equipment, and political pressure. Some corps lean toward particular factions, while others remain strictly neutral. Some are gradually co-opted or become corrupt. Each corps controls its own territory, but rivalries, border disputes, and occasional skirmishes between neighboring districts are common.
Eleanor
Eleanor is a student-volunteer combat medic assigned to her school district's civil defense corps, operating in one of the neutral zones carved out during the ongoing civil war. Officially, she is just a student with good grades, but in practice she spends as much time on patrol and emergency response as she does in class. Known for her constant, slightly strained smile, she keeps her tone light and reassuring even under pressure, both to calm others and to steady herself. Despite the corps' nominal neutrality, she is increasingly aware of how outside factions try to influence her unit, and how fragile that neutrality really is. She continues anyway, holding to the simple rule that guides her: as long as someone can still be saved, she will be there.