IПƧƬIПᄃƬ || 𝙰 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝙵𝚒𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗

Prolouge

The chattering of humans amidst the large, bright civilizations full of tall metal towers and many, many thin alleyways and streets could almost overpower any and all other senses if it weren't for the rich and tempting aroma of street food being cooked in stalls that seemed to encapsulate the attention of many.

It's the year 2798, and humanity has transcended into what everyone assumes to now be the 'advanced stage'. Things weren't as different nearly 1 thousand years ago, well, for the most part. Humanity still refuses to acknowledge the climate crisis, leading to shocking online headlines such as 'tsunami kills millions!' or 'mass extinction of 39 species!' which gained traction for a few weeks, simply started to slowly fade away to nothingness and suddenly everyone is continuing about their day as if nothing was wrong.

What was once a clear blue sky dotted with fluffy cotton white clouds several hundred years ago was now nothing but a smoking orange sky with thick gray or red clouds sometimes, bathing the land below in a golden hue..

Despicable, how humans could live like this. How years of pure, unsolicited ignorance could lead to this catastrophe, how long will it take, however, for them to realize the extent of this issue? Perhaps.. When their own lives are on the line?

Aurlon made an annoyed popping sound with her tongue, feeling the rough, external organ rub up against the roof of her boney mouth before releasing, causing the air sucked in to be pushed back into the mouth and then released.

'No matter.' She thought, leaning forward in her seat to speak into the intercom, a clawed metacarpus grasping around the cold metal handle of the device to pull it closer to her mandible. "Attention all personnel designated in sectors 2, 6, and 8, prepare the cannon. Target, the planet of Gaea."

'If these primates won't take care of this planet, so be it. After all, whether they'd like it or not, this mass of land will soon belong to the ownership of the Interstellar Galactic Space Organization and would be used for colonization.. Due to the current state of the planet Gaea, however, looks like it probably won't be used for housing or food plantations. They'd probably build a factory or something here.'

There was this whirring sound that had started to build up a few seconds after the announcement and Aurlon sat up in the seat, removing the limb from the microphone and placing her left hand upon a series of buttons, pressing away while the left rested atop a lever-like device.

"Firing in three.. Two.."

The whirring grew ever louder as the scene suddenly pans from the Medusa to Gaea, or as the humans called it, Earth.

News of a strange alien spacecraft had sent people panicking and staring up into the sky in fear. What was going on? Were they going to die?!

Their worries only grew as soon as the camera broadcasting this live caught something- A bright glimpse of light coming from the object, once that appeared to be a concentrated ball that had turned into a beam.

Everything felt as if it was in slow motion as the light suddenly widened and shot down at an alarming rate towards the cities below..

-

It was the year 2798. That was the beginning of what felt like the end, all previous catastrophes couldn't compare to what had already happened to this world.

A child frowned as they closed the book before shakily getting up and pushing a light blue chair across the smooth tiled floors of the white room and climbing up onto it, peering out of the barred windows.

Outside was lush, if you could even call it that. But it couldn't discern the rest of the outdoors due to the limited view-

"ų̸̻͕͓̱͍̜̟͖͎̊̾ʎ̸͇̹͇̟̖̏̃̎̑͘l̶̨̛̺̻͙̞̮̙͍̪̳̺̠̄̒̇͛́̀́̐́̐̑̿͠ǝ̵̢̛̛̩͇̝̣͓̭̰̞͇̖́̓͆̔̑̂̏̎̕͘ʌ̷̪̼̏̽̈́̍̓̄͝Ǝ̴̛̖̉̈̀̓! Get down from there, this instant young lady!"

The harsh voice of one of the caretakers snaps the child out from their tired daze, looking back and quickly hopping off the chair before watching silently as the taller woman took the chair, pulling it away with a frown.

"This is why your chair privileges have been taken away, don't you remember what happened last time?!"

"..."

The young child was silent as it looked down at the floor, fingers clasped together anxiously, all the while outside the sounds of other children playing could be heard.

".. But, Miss Laurel, why can't I go outside and play with the other kids..?"

Its voice squeaked and Miss Laurel could only look down pityingly at the ravenette. The woman, dubbed Miss Laurel, leaned down on one knee before pushing a pair of rectangular glasses further up her nose bridge- The child with black hair sniffed and started to tremble a little bit from anxiety as the brunette rested a gentle hand on its shoulder.

"ų̸̻͕͓̱͍̜̟͖͎̊̾ʎ̸͇̹͇̟̖̏̃̎̑͘l̶̨̛̺̻͙̞̮̙͍̪̳̺̠̄̒̇͛́̀́̐́̐̑̿͠ǝ̵̢̛̛̩͇̝̣͓̭̰̞͇̖́̓͆̔̑̂̏̎̕͘ʌ̷̪̼̏̽̈́̍̓̄͝Ǝ̴̛̖̉̈̀̓, I guess you can say that there's something about you that's different from the other kids.."

Miss Laurel's voice sounded soft and sympathetic but the child saw right through it. Sniffling a bit, they rubbed their eyes.

"Is it because of what happened with Tommy..?"

Miss Laurel's smile faltered as she stood up, fixing up her white coat before clearing her throat.

"And that too, I guess. Well, ų̸̻͕͓̱͍̜̟͖͎̊̾ʎ̸͇̹͇̟̖̏̃̎̑͘l̶̨̛̺̻͙̞̮̙͍̪̳̺̠̄̒̇͛́̀́̐́̐̑̿͠ǝ̵̢̛̛̩͇̝̣͓̭̰̞͇̖́̓͆̔̑̂̏̎̕͘ʌ̷̪̼̏̽̈́̍̓̄͝Ǝ̴̛̖̉̈̀̓, I'll be going now. Make sure to do well on your studies, you have a test coming soon."

Miss Laurel started to make her way to the door again, carrying the small blue chair in one hand before glancing back at the child.

"Oh and by the way, lunch today will be meatloaf and mashed potatoes. Don't be shy to ask for seconds, I know how much you like it. Don't get in trouble and be a good girl, alright?"

And with that, Miss Laurel exited the room. The child watched as the metallic doors slowly shut before making an audible click and soon, the child with black hair was all alone again in what had been their room since they were 4 years of age.

It knows its sister is here too somewhere in the building, but for that reason, Miss Laurel won't reveal it, they aren't allowed to see her.

Their russet eyes lowered slightly as it frowned before walking to the bed and flopping down onto it, their short legs dangling over the edge. It's rather lengthy locks of black hair cascaded over their shoulders and white.. Dress shirt thingy. Honestly, the kid didn't know what it was exactly, all they know is that they were given it when they arrived here.

It turned to their side, shifting a bit before feeling the hard corner of something poking its side- ų̸̻͕͓̱͍̜̟͖͎̊̾ʎ̸͇̹͇̟̖̏̃̎̑͘l̶̨̛̺̻͙̞̮̙͍̪̳̺̠̄̒̇͛́̀́̐́̐̑̿͠ǝ̵̢̛̛̩͇̝̣͓̭̰̞͇̖́̓͆̔̑̂̏̎̕͘ʌ̷̪̼̏̽̈́̍̓̄͝Ǝ̴̛̖̉̈̀̓ rolled over, looking down to see the object was the book they were reading earlier.. Right, it was 2798, six years ago.