Principle:R U S T (i)

[Prolouge]

"Where to begin?", it was a solid question to ponder on thought, Jean-Clary Dumos. The highlights of the past 100 years haven't been pleasure. For starters mankind decided to tear all down the last 5000 years of building up. Jean could recall from his splendid youth, those 2 weeks from the cataclysmic day. Walking through his little town square, he had heard the news of politico-military tension. He had also learned that the U.N. had disbanded. Each world power scurried off to their respected bunker ready to delve out death at a moment's notice. Jean also remembered the peculiarity that no ground fighting had begun. There were no troops on the ground, no arms being moved en mass, and sadly no delegation among the world's nations. The world had been lulled into a most bloody silence. It was during those two weeks that man's desperation obtained man's place of reason.
Jean also recalled the turning point, the day the laser-particulates and micro-nukes were free-fall detonated over every major populated area on earth. Suspended in the air till each world leader pushed their respected key to initiate the destructive ends. No, the rich didn't ty to cull any heard of lesser wealth. It seemed to Jean that the shepherd had culled himself. He was merely 13 years old when he saw the fire and blood rain from the sky in necessary motion. The leaders sending one final memento mori as a token toast. Though, not all was lost.
These are the events that delegated the life Jean lived to the very moment. Yes, to a tee, Jean had been raised as an 0btainer & 5eeker in the aftermath of global suicide. Yet, small groups of people with mighty different aims and focuses sprung up on the face earth. The small nomadic band of Jean's were religious- minded, as well as classically minded. Much like hermits, Jean's band moved from place to place not only hunting physical resource, but that of the mental as well. It was upon finding a copy of Plato's Republic, among other texts of religion and thought, did Jean ask to go on more expeditions with the group. There much was learned about the vastly different yet distance past. The leaders may well have wanted society and community destroyed. They did not succeed.
What did prevail was small bands of life, entangled with the search for peace and truth. Two very difficult states to grasp. Though some band did focuses on the ending point of life, in the most negative fashion. Before he was allowed on expedition, Jean did recall when a neighboring band raided his kin's food store. Before the raiders were fully detained/disposed, some had run off with minor rations of crudely grown version of rice and grain-type kneads, plus a few pounds of salted rabbit. The bands of today had little talk between them, it was just on the cusp of socio-political peace with outsiders of any region. It was a rarity, but some bands did in fact work in coalition. Mostly the work was in trying to sustain the land, and also in the sharing of relics/knowledge.
He learned that though many bands of people still yet existed in the continental United States, he found that there was little more than hunter-gatherer status among the groups. He mulled over the reasons for this time to time. First and foremost was the ruinous condition of the landscape. The shockwaves of the bombs in the initial denotation zones through everything in the paths 1000's of miles from the initial point. One could follow the huge ditch-like buckles in the earth as they span for miles themselves. The destruction was utterly manic. The lasers, employed from special orbital satellites, rained forth toxic light and heat from space. The coding was peculiar, Jean didn't know exactly what the process was, but the sporadic nature of the light dumps from the lasers seemed chaotic and random. Though, this assumption he knew wasn't exactly fair. The tipping of society at this point was so rushed that there was much subtleness hidden in mans demise. This was principle every obtainer knows, and a seeker seeks both the beginning and the end of things. Jean knew it was the final spin of the top. Yes, that final glow of the burnt candle, the purposed extinction burst of humanity. He also knew that this was the oldest and most violent way of thinking, mankind had changed little, but that little did show worth.