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Story; How everything started
Topic Started: Apr 14 2012, 09:11 AM (104 Views)
PureDark006
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The story begins in a world much like ours, in every way. Humans lived in cities, within countries, within continents, within their planet. A long time had passed since the last war, and technology seemed to finally be advancing to the point where it could provide all the comfort and luxury that humankind could wish for, without damaging or polluting the environment. Anywhere you looked, there was celebration, laughter, happiness. Until, without any sort of warning, it all changed one day.

It started like a usual morning, with the sun rising, the birds chirping, and the people waking to their daily tasks. But, for a certain town, what followed wasn't a usual afternoon. Around the time when the men were still out working the fields, but the children were already back from school, the sky started to turn darker. At first, no one thought much of it. Yes, it was unusual for a bright summer day to darken like that, but it wasn't something to be overly aware of. The fear only started when the darkened sky slowly took a purple hue. A deep feeling of unsettlement took hold of everyone, even though no one was sure of what was happening.

The next morning, the purple clouds almost touched the ground. The first towns-person to be buried under it because of an "unknown sickness", and the first signals of panic, both came during that same day. By nightfall, two elderly people, one adult and one child had perished.

As would be expected, by the next morning there were investigators from all over the country gathering at the town, trying to identify what the purple mist was, and what was its connection to this new sickness. The only thing they could find out was the mist was some kind of poison, and a highly lethal one, the kind that would kill within the day. It was a completely new chemical, so complex their machines couldn't analyze it properly, and so dangerous their protection meant nothing against it. The scientists left with samples, and the townspeople were evacuated. They all died at different places within a week.

Analysis of the mist at all countries proved fruitless, while it continued to advance towards other towns and bigger cities. It continued to multiply within the samples that were brought to investigate, to the point where it was soon out of control. A month after the first death, all cities where samples were brought and their surroundings were completely covered by the mist, with about half of their population deceased.

Within half a year, over half of the planet was engulfed, and about one third of the human population was extinguished. No one knew what to do. The poison didn't seem to be that deadly for animals and plants, but no scientist could figure out how it distinguished human cells and tissue from all of the others, or how to cure the sickness once it came. It soon became obvious that they couldn't fight the mist, whatever it was - their only option was to run away.

Another half a year later, the prototype for a set of floating cities was completed. Humanity was reduced to less than half of their original number, all grouped up in settlements as far away from the mist as they could be. The technology to make the cities float was completed, and a system to keep a constant inflow of energy to maintain it was devised. Five months later, the prototype was able to keep itself afloat for undetermined periods of time without any signs of energy shortage, and a system to maintain air-flow, and food supplies was added. Two years later, the cities were complete. Only one settlement remained, with about one million humans living on it. Leaving the infected behind, about five hundred thousand humans boarded the cities, and left what had once been their home below them.

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Fast forward a few centuries. Humans had gotten used to their new lives on the sky. Everything worked just as planned. The ecosystems kept in one of the cities provided enough oxygen and supplies to maintain everyone, and if needed, the cities could be extended further. The poisonous mist had become more of a story to tell children, just a bad dream that was already starting to be forgotten. More interesting things had started to happen, after all. Humans with small powers were being born more and more often. That is to say, people who could do things others couldn't, however small they were, had begun to appear, and were progressively increasing in number. A few decades later, about one third of the people were born with these special "gifts". However, no matter how hard they trained, their abilities remained small. Some saw this as a good thing, since it kept all humans relatively equal, and reduced the chances of the "gifts" to be used for evil. Others thought that given more time, they would evolve to be more powerful, and then humanity could also advance as a species. Scientists couldn't find an explanation for the powers, but because no matter how many decades passed, the abilities remained weak, not much attention was paid to them.

Another handful of centuries later, a young scientist made what would be considered the greatest discovery in the history of the floating cities. While scanning the planet's surface trying to gather information on the poison and to scan for any life signals, he accidentally found a small patch of earth that remained unaffected by the mist. A small machine was sent to explore. It followed a big stream, not quite big enough to be a river, to the inside of a mountain. After many twists and turns, mostly leading downwards, a pale blue shimmer could be seen in the distance. It belonged to a small cave, lined by crystals which were the ones emitting the light - but more importantly, in-between the shimmering minerals, there were many different eggs, of various colors and sizes, all scattered across the cave.

Work started almost immediately, with the aim of connecting the cave with the cities. Perhaps if it was studied, the key to defeating the mist could be found. What was actually discovered though, was thought of greater than that by some.

As it turned out, the eggs found in the cave belonged to dragons. Even more, they seemed to respond to humans with powers, calling out to them. When a person and an egg that had called to them stayed together for a year, the egg hatched. A year later, the small hatchling would mature into a young dragon, armed with intelligence, certain abilities that depended on the breed, and the ability to communicate with their chosen human.

The first dragon to be born was the egg that had called out to the young scientist who found the cave. He explained that humans and dragons could amplify each other's powers to great lengths if they formed some kind of symbiosis - a pact. The contract could only be formed with an adult dragon, and only if the dragon had called to the human. The process itself was fairly simple. The dragon just needed to drink some of the human's blood. But the results given were simply amazing. The powers of people who formed contracts with dragons increased to unbelievable lengths, although always depending on the person.

The young scientist, along with a group of colleagues, decided to form an organization for people with powers, having seen the endless potential of these gifts. Ten years later, the Crystalwing Army was formed - a military organization without the purpose of war or conflict. It was made for the people, both to ensure the safety and order within the cities, and to keep all the humans that had formed pacts with dragons under strict vigilance. That way, it could be guaranteed that the power gained by making a "bond" with a dragon would not be used for the wrong purposes, seeing how only the highest ranks within the army had access to the cave.

From that point on, if anyone starting developing powers, they had a right to ask to be admitted into the Crystalwing Army, where they would go through a process of tests and training to determine their worth, only after which were they eligible to be taken into the cave.

The young scientist and his dragon became the first General of the Airforce, a rank which soon became known locally as the Crystal General. The title was decided to be passed on to his children, much like a monarchy, seeing how everyone thought there was no one more appropriate to raise the future General but the bright, talented, and kind man. Just as the people thought, the next General of the Airforce was just as good as her father, just like the one after her, and the one after that one. The Army grew to the point where an entire city was dedicated to their facilities - Zhey, the biggest city of all five, also the one located in the center. It had been used for scientific and investigation processes, but scientists now belonged to a branch of the army, so they didn't need an entire city to themselves. All in all, life had become peaceful within the cities.

Now, moving a few more centuries into the present. Not much about the Crystalwing Army has changed. The ranks are kept the same, and its purpose stands. However, crime has risen in the cities, as was expected from humankind. Most of it consists of small, petty crimes, such as robery or pick-pocketing. However, from time to time, incidents that could be compared to terrorism could happen. With technology still advancing, weapons started to somehow leak into the black market - that is, shady people selling them in small alleys. The lower and middle ranks in the army are more than enough to take care of them, while the upper ranks are seen as mostly administrative. After all, the army acts as a form of government, making the important decisions regarding the cities, such as measuring the population and the supplies, or determining if an expansion of certain cities is necessary. Do not be mistaken though - the higher ranks of the military, these being the General of the Airforce, Generals and Lieutenant Generals below them, are still usually conformed by the strongest people. All Generals are appointed directly by the General of the Airforce, based on their performance, behaviour, personality, and many other criteria. But the talk about the military's system can wait for another ocassion.

The actual story begins with another groundbreaking discovery, again made by a young scientist. A gaseous compound that acted like a "repellent" for the poisonous mist could be fabricated in small quantities. This meant that if a person were to have a constant supply of this compound around them, it would keep the poisonous gas within the mist away from them, thus uncovering a real possibility to explore the planet's surface. That day, the discovery was announced, along with the military's intention to invest in this project, with the aim of descending onto the earth, exploring, and finding a way to make it habitable once more.

The people rejoiced, seeing how there was finally a chance for humans to return home. The project advanced smoothly, until a few years later the first anti-poison prototype was made. The components that formed the gas were kept inside a small device, which would mix a small quantity of them every certain period of time, releasing the gas that would be formed. Said gas was also modified so it had an affinity to the temperature being recorded by the device - in other words, if a person was in constant contact with the device, the gas would have an affinity to their body temperature, and cloud around them for certain periods of time.

With all these new paths now open for humanity to take, a new story has begun.
The two parts of life, the beginning and the end
The two sides of a story, the sun and the rain
The two courses of life, the right and the wrong
The only end for a story forgotten long ago
My wings are broken, you can fly
Don't you see, this is you and I
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