Long ago in a universe far, far away. No, we're not talking about that story, but another one, the story of Cryptopunk #3042, better known as Monique, and the Ethereum universe.

Monique (also known as Cryptopunk #3042) was born on Ethereum, a once idyllic ecosystem built on the ethos of innovation and a refusal to bend to the status quo. Monique's decentralized community consisted of rebels, punks, and the black sheep who refused to follow the herd but lead instead.

Monique and her community helped build a utopia in the Pluriverse, a place meant to be an interconnected world of dreamers and creators. For years, their corner of Ethereum showed great promise, profit, and pride. But what was once the future began to exhibit traces of the past that they worked tirelessly to change. The years went on…and things only got worse. Tribes of Punks started to fall into darkness and despair, fueled by the rising cost of traveling the roads of Ethereum and its neighboring chains, where simple goods and exchanges grew to heights that could only be afforded by the elite, the very people the Punks of Ethereum set out to avoid.

"How did we get here?" Monique asked one of her fellow Punks. "Where is the freedom? What happened to the speed and innovation of our early builders and community?"

Monique and her community watched helplessly as local resources were once again taken over by the rich and unmerciful; she watched as her once beautiful land and its resources were destroyed by pollution and peril.

Monique worried that all hope was lost. At night, she stared up into the sky, its shifting sections traversing the blockchain at light speed—and she dreamed. She dreamed of a better world of freedom, accessibility for all, safe cross-chain passage, and sustainability for her land.

As she slipped into downtime, Monique believed that salvation was slipping out of her and her Ethereum native's reach. Little did she know, an uprising was brewing…and a hero was on the horizon.

Join the quest to see what happens next to Monique in Part Two of the Unique Chronicles.