Prologue

“...there on a quiet street in Arai nobody expects anything to be out of the ordinary. Even the silence itself has become the norm. Day by day and night by night, nothing distinguishes it from the next. One presumes that at some point in history, life flourished here, yet its pristine condition makes you think otherwise. There are no trees, no animal life forms – they’re myths now, only read about in story books, just as time itself. What little remains we find of our predecessors only covers the knowledge of who we are or what we were.

Humans or some variation of… Perhaps they still exist till this very moment, for we have lost track of the days, months, millenniums. What we do share in common with our ancestors is the belief that we are not alone. I know that we are not alone, for I have seen – the Bridge.”

His tale ended there, leaving his listeners in awe with wide gaping mouths. It was time to visit the Luna capital, a place of stark inspiring beauty, or so he had been told. It had opened up to the surrounding districts only a month before, but now he had a chance to visit it himself.

The journey took no longer than a few hours by train. It stopped outside the hundred foot high walls that surrounded the inner city. He made his way through the shuffling crowds, arriving along the embankment and it was there that he saw it. The beauty Mother Nature had failed in creating.

Dusty silver waters remained untouched as its rising tides breathed in the sandy shores, like icing on a cake. The steady crystallized tides reflected the heavens, capturing the lost falling stars. It had a deep, unsatisfying hunger to fill the lifeless bay, and took back anything it could reach; air, light, sand and even flesh. Oceani – the light matter.

Scattered across the shallow sanctuary were the remains of grand remnant buildings and faceless beaten relics. Their skeletal frames rested heavily along the subterranean seabed. Since the times of yore they had succumbed to the eternal suffering of fading away. The soft waters acted as knives, incessantly scratching away till it reached the core. Some lay inside the ancient monuments protruding from the thin waters while others had drowned. Time had etched into their crumbling walls and all the restless secrets died along with the last of them. It was an Enigmatic metropolis, hiding away the undiscovered knowledge of a life before us.

Brutal whisks of air danced off the faces of unresponsive wanderers, faceless like those stretched out in the distance. Timed to perfection a healthy breeze hit his tightened chest and head, whipping back the long strands of his saffron hair. A gloved hand followed through, holding it tightly in place out of annoyance, as the light hairs combed its way between his strong fingers. He laid his arms across the cool steel, grateful to calm itself against the heavy beatings of the suns glare. While the air continued to whistle around the morning rush of bodies, the tide receded back out into the mist.

His right hand sunk down to his side as he flung his head back, drinking in the view. No clouds or birds, only mechanical floats against the backdrop of an endless magnolia sky. A smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth as he stepped up onto the lower bars of the railing. Lowering his gaze once more he flung himself over the side of the barrier. With great speed his bangs pushed far back away from his face. It was in that instant that he knew he had misjudged the height of the fall and landed with an uncomfortable tug in his calf muscles. The sand clung instantly to his skin, making him look like a sugar donut.

A drilling alarm sounded in the distance as many of the once faceless bystanders gathered up above to watch. This didn’t leave him much time and he had to act quickly. He carried himself to the edge of the shore and stepped out into the cool calming ocean. He sank down till his knees fell beneath the tide and plunged his head down into the icy depths. His gills opened, allowing him to breathe as he drew his hands together to pull himself along the shore bed. The pace quickened as the Authority drew nearer behind him, swerving through the ancient relics and spears that lay embedded at their sides. Opened air bullets dove past, missing his body by an inch. The race to find it drew in closer, it had to be nearby or else all was lost. He would never be able to finish his story.

A xeonic luminous glow shone dimly several yards ahead, he was almost within reach before a hand clutched his ankle, preparing to pull him from the water. He struggled underneath the blanket of water until a net shot down around his torso, holding his arms in place. It was too late. His head arched back in defeat as they pulled his body from the water.

It was in that split moment when he gasped in his last free breath. He saw her, in the light. Waiting on the bridge.