Ultraya: Origins

Chapter 5: Adulthood

23/05/4013 AD – 10:40 – Earth – Alton City – Exploration Base – Lobby

Many years had passed since the attack on Alton. The school that Anna, Henry, and Daniel attended had been reduced to lifeless rubble; the majority of the student body perished in the bombings. When the rescue teams arrived at the school's shelters, most of the staff were arrested for allowing so many students to die in order to save themselves. The entire event only further fuelled Henry's ambitions to discover what had happened to the Ayratulia; he even managed to persuade Daniel to stay with him instead of going to the military. Along with Anna, the trio faced many hardships together and, in time, they decided that they wanted to head into the field of research and discovery, and become an exploration team. They attempted to salvage wreckage, from both Human and Wyperian craft, as well as search for any relics left behind that may also assist them. Along this journey, not only were inseparable bonds forged between the three of them, but they also had a new addition to the group: Oliver Cantel. Oliver was an average build, smooth grey hair, and dark-blue eyes; he was nothing special to look at visually but mentally, he was a certified genius.

The team received assignments on various events and were told to recon and investigate points of interest; after which they would do so and report back on any findings or abnormalities. Henry Wetherfield was their leader and had proven himself on numerous occasions in his ability to get things done efficiently and safely. Anna Malove was the aquatic specialist; an extremely good swimmer who was able to accurately gather information of the area just by analysing local bodies of water and weather patterns. Daniel Lanset was mainly the muscle of the team; able to carry advanced equipment for Anna and Oliver, as well as carrying additional basic supplies and moving heavy objects out of the way. Oliver was the primary researcher of the group with knowledge on several hundred different types of plant and animal life, he was there to document newly discovered relics that may give Humanity some information on their Wyperian foes. Of course, everyone was still unaware of Henry's past identity. He had often thought about revealing it, at least to Anna, but was always put off by the hatred for Wyperians that was becoming more and more common amongst Humans.

The four were just sitting around on their mobile devices whilst they waited to be called in for their weekly assignment. All of them wore standard black and silver combat trousers but their upper clothing differed and reflected their personalities: Anna wore a tight, blue thermal top that kept her warm during quick-dives and, should the mission require a full diving suit, she could easily slip into it. Oliver had an overly-smart shirt and tie on as he liked to appear as if he was the most intelligent person in the room, it didn't matter whether or not the situation called for it. Daniel had a ragged, old hoodie on, not particularly caring about his appearance as he was most likely going to ruin his clothing anyway. Henry liked to wear lightly-armoured tops; it reminded himself of his Wyperian days. Each member of the team also donned a little red bandana around their upper-left arm, it had the exploration team's logo on it: a black 'X' surrounded by bracket-like markings. This was the same style of symbol that Hyperzio's armour wore twenty-five years ago. In this dome-shaped building that issued tasks to the group, multiple velvet-cushioned chairs were scattered around the room for many different teams to sit and wait; exploration had become a very popular career choice since Earth moved to Ultraya. Suddenly the intercom buzzer sounded a robotic 'next', indicating for the four teammates to get up and enter the manager's office.

"Ah, the Wetherfield team", the base manager stated when the four came through the door. She flicked through a selection of files that were being holographically displayed from a projector that was embodied in her laminated-oak desk. "Here we are!" the manager stated upon finding the file. She spun the hologram around to show the team. It displayed a fiery crash site on the edge of a cliff, along with co-ordinates to the whereabouts of the mission.