The Rise of Venice Short Story

The Rise of Venice Short Story was a small script the Rise of Venice prior to VALORANT's open beta, written by an unknown author, and was datamined from the game files by players shortly after VALORANT's full release.

This story was written a considerable amount of time before the open beta, with scrapped Agents and Kingdom's old name, Atlas (not to be confused with ATLAS, another organization on present on Omega Earth), being incorporated throughout. For these reasons, the story is considered completely **non-canon** and it has no impact on the VALORANT universe.

## Story

The story reads as follows:

- Eva 'Crusader' Clarke
"I'm sorry— I didn't mean— I can't control—"
- Allegra Moretti, age eight (Atlas Radiant Classification XR-002)
"You're telling me there's somebody out there who can lift an entire city into the sky? Hell, I've GOT to meet her."
- Kang-Dae 'Shatter' Pak
"There's a scared little girl in the Basilica and a bunch of people who want her in handcuffs. What are we doing here? Let's go be heroes."
- Li Min 'Zephyr' Zhang
"This is how it starts. The city sings into the sky, as if yearning to escape the horrors that will soon engulf the world below."
- The Wraith
"She is Radiant. She is ours."
- Mirai 'Thorne' Kimura
"Get her outta here! No brightbloods in Venice!"
- Unidentified Protestor
"Atlas cannot keep sequestering people like us away because they are scared of what we represent. Grab a gun — we're going to Venice."
- Eva 'Crusader' Clarke
"A Radiant locked herself in the Basilica. She's eight years old. She's scared. Let's make sure she doesn't hurt anyone else, yeah?"
- Douglas 'Clay' Clayton
"Venice was like my perfect woman. Beautiful, but out of reach. Shed caught my eye...and maybe the eye of my dad's murderer. I had a lead."
- Decker, PI
"New Dawn stole a chopper. They're headed here. That means Radiants. Radiants mean trouble. And lots of it."
- Douglas 'Clay' Clayton
"A bunch of terrorists want to induct that powerful little girl into their army. No matter the cost, do not let them into that church."
- Atlas Director Julia Maclaran
"(nefarious giggling)"
- Atlas Radiant Classification SR-064 (colloquially known as "Necro")
"A buncha terrorists wanna capture a little girl and raise her in one of their training camps. There's time for talk — a time for politics — but this ain't it."
- Grant 'Phoenix' Galloway
"The cobblestones will be slick with Atlas viscera. The city will erupt in a chorus of fear as their lungs revolt against them, as they drown in their own blood."
- Atlas Classification SR-023 (colloquially known as "Pandemic")
"Don't care why the city's in the sky. Don't care why New Dawn's on their way. Only one question dead, or alive?"

## Breakdown

This section is highly speculative, due to the lack of knowledge of VALORANT lore prior to its release, as well as how far removed it is from the known canon.

### Overview

According to the story, the Rise of Venice took place when an 8-year-old Radiant named Allegra Moretti, unable to control her powers, accidentally suspended a part of Venice high above the ground. The story takes place shortly after this, covering various reactions to this event, with characters from the VALORANT PROTOCOL, Atlas (an early version Kingdom), and other bystanders and characters.

Most of the quotes are from VALORANT PROTOCOL members, who plan to extract Moretti from the 'Basilica' where she is being held. This location likely refers to the Basilica di Santa Maria della Salute, the same basilica seen on Ascent, that is now destroyed by a rift.

An organisation named New Dawn aims to capture Moretti with their own Radiant strike team and use her as a weapon. The VALORANT PROTOCOL and Atlas aim to stop New Dawn and extract Allegra Moretti in a safe and passive fashion, however, Atlas and VALORANT have conflicting views on how to deal with her afterwards.

### Characters and Organisations

#### Atlas

Atlas was a name used for Kingdom prior to VALORANT's full release. This version of Atlas is completely non-canon, and was simply a prior name for Kingdom. It is not tied to ATLAS, the secretive organisation present on Omega Earth with ties to the VALORANT LEGION and Kingdom Industries.

Atlas seems to classify and use Radiants, and similar to current-day Kingdom, likely has ties to the VALORANT PROTOCOL. They may have less worldwide presence than Kingdom, with their main focus possibly being the classification and suppression of Radiants.

#### New Dawn

New Dawn is a terrorist organisation who uses Radiants to carry out their motives. Little is known about them due to the lack of traces seen in the current canon, however, they seem to be a significant threat.

#### Allegra Moretti

Allegra Moretti is an extremely powerful young Radiant who lifted Venice into the sky after her powers went out of control. Atlas has given her a classification of 'XR-002'. The 'XR' status likely means that she is a more powerful Radiant, as compared others with the 'SR' status. 002 either signifies that she is the second most powerful Radiant of 'XR' status or the second Radiant of the 'XR' class found by Atlas.

#### Eva "Crusader" Clarke

Crusader is a scrapped Agent whose kit mainly consisted of melee abilities. She was partially reworked into Breach, however, his kit is not focused on using melee weapons in combat. Crusader has a Radiant daughter who was allegedly imprisoned by Atlas, and she aims to stop Allegra Moretti and other radiants from meeting the same fate.

#### Kang-Dae "Shatter" Pak

Kang-Dae "Shatter" Pak is a scrapped Agent whose kit consisted of flashes and decoys, and was likely reworked into Yoru's kit. His personality seems to reflect Yoru's, with an edgy and cool exterior, however, Shatter's real name indicates that he is Korean rather than Japanese.

#### The Wraith

The Wraith is a previous version of Omen, as indicated by Omen's development name being 'Wraith'. The Wraith seems to have poetic yet existential view on the situation, stating how the repercussions of Venice's rising with be deadly.

#### Mirai "Thorne" Kimura

Mirai "Thorne" Kimura is a previous version of Sage, as indicated by Sage's development name being 'Thorne'. Thorne's real name, Mirai Kimura, is Japanese, meaning their nationality must have been changed when this character was adapted to Sage. Thorne's abilities are not known, however, they likely manipulated nature.

#### Douglas "Clay" Clayton

Douglas "Clay" Clayton is a previous version of Raze, as indicated by Raze's development name being 'Clay'. Douglas Clayton is a male European name, meaning that, along with their skillset, Raze's gender, nationality and character was altered.

#### Grant "Phoenix" Galloway

Grant "Phoenix" Galloway is a previous version of Phoenix, as indicated by them sharing the same development name. Grant Galloway is likely British, shown by the English lexicon he speaks with, however, his name was changed to Jamie Adeyemi.

#### Atlas Classification SR-023 (Pandemic)

Pandemic is likely a previous version of Viper, as indicated by Viper's development name being 'Pandemic'. Pandemic is a Radiant of the 'SR' class in Atlas's Radiant classification, with the number '023', likely meaning that she is either the 23rd most powerful 'SR' Radiant or the 23rd Radiant of the 'SR' class found by Atlas.

Unlike other characters, Pandemic was changed from Radiant to Human when they were being adapted to Viper. The excerpt 'as their lungs revolt against them, as they drown in their own blood' may indicate that Pandemic does not use toxins, but rather manipulates the bodies of others, however, drowning in their own blood may be a result of her toxins.

#### Andressa "Hunter" Dias

Andressa "Hunter" Dias is a previous version of Sova, as indicated by Sova's development name being 'Hunter'. Hunter is another Agent whose nationality and gender changed when adapted to Sova, with Andressa Dias being a female Portuguese name. Hunter likely had a similar ability kit to Sova, with their ultimate abilities being the same.

#### Li Min "Zephyr" Zhang

Li Min "Zephyr" Zhang is a previous version of Jett. Both the names 'Li Min' and 'Zhang' originate from China, indicating that she was previously of Chinese nationality. Her motives seem to align with the VALORANT PROTOCOL, aiming to save Moretti from both Atlas and New Dawn. Zephyr is one of many codenames for Jett, with others including 'Wushu' and 'Hawk'.

#### Atlas Classification SR-064 (Necro)

Necro has not been seen in any other VALORANT content, and their abilities and lore are not known. Necro is another Radiant under the Atlas classification, with a code of 'SR-064'; with 'SR' indicating their class and '064' indicating either their power or that they were the 64th Radiant of the 'SR' class found by Atlas.

#### Decker, PI

Decker, Private Investigator has no further mention outside of this short story, with him seemingly having no affiliations with any organisations. Decker imitates the classic detective seen in 19th and 20th century detective novels with his masculine, mysterious personality.

#### Atlas Director Julia Maclaran

Julia Maclaran seems to be ordering a group of people to fight New Dawn. It is not known whether she is addressing the VALORANT PROTOCOL or her own soldiers, however, her quote indicates that she may actually care about Moretti and does not intend to lock her away.

## Notes

* The term "Brightbloods", as used by the unidentified protester, is probably a slang term for Radiants, seeing as 'Radiant' literally means bright or light-emitting.
* Atlas's Radiant classification may take inspiration from the Foundation's system seen in the SCP franchise.

## References

1. ↑ The original Reddit post about the datamined short story Go
2. ↑ PlayerIGN's tweet about Andressa "Hunter" Dias Go