Beneath Infinity

The Bones of Centuries Past

The journey did not tire Jacob. He was surprised at this. He had been dead for near three hundred years - judging by the short history lesson the Ghost had given him - but didn't feel stiff or sore in the slightest. His body felt brand new; full of life and electric energy. It was an odd but empowering feeling.

During their hike, the Ghost had done a decent job of explaining what had happened. She had told him of the Golden age - of which he had been a part - and how the Darkness had come during the peak of humanity's evolutionary arc and annihilated everything they had accomplished. This, Jacob remembered. It was during his attempted escape from the creatures known as the Fallen that he had been killed. According to the Ghost, the only thing the Darkness could not defeat was the Traveller itself, though it had been gravely wounded. Apparently it still floated just above the surface of the Earth in the same place it always had, casting what little protection it could still offer in a tiny net over the broken surface below it. The humans had become aware of this protection and came together, building the last City of Earth beneath their original Guardian.

The City had drawn everyone to it; any scattered Humans looking for respite; the new species of people known as Awoken who had apparently been created by something called the 'void' during the collapse; the legions of war machines, called Exos, who had lost purpose when their masters had fallen to the hordes of the Darkness, losing their war-mindedness over the years and developing perfect artificial intelligence - or so most theories stated. Supposedly the Exos were now indistinguishable from Humans and Awoken in everything but appearance. Jacob had seen the original Exo program before the collapse. He remembered the sheer power they emanated from their thousand-strong ranks as they abraded the onslaught of genocidal creatures on Earth's doorstep. At the time they had filled him with hope, but they too were brushed aside by the Dark commanders and their armies, flattened in one foul sweep. Jacob shuddered at the thought.

He was unsure as to what would be expected of him when he reached the City and its Tower but he assumed it would involve fighting the same creatures, serving the City to keep the people safe, and - if what he remembered about the Darkness was still the case - likely dying in the cold once again. He pushed the thought to the back of his head. He had been given a second chance at life, there was no use trying to predetermine what it was that was going to happen in the immediate future. He would just try to take his new existence as it unfolded - one step at a time - and make the most of the new life given to him.

After hours of trekking over rolling hills and overgrown roads, through crumbling ruins of ancient  settlements, the Ghost was satisfied that they had put enough distance between themselves and the Fallen scouts who would almost definitely be hounding them across the plains.

"I think we can slow down here," she said, aware that Jacob had been running for somewhere close to three hours.

The relief in his sigh said it all as he slowed to a walk, his armour now smeared with splatters of mud from the wet turf he had been moving over.

"Any idea where to go from here?" He asked the Ghost, still catching his breath.

"The Guardian signal is not too much further. Over this hill, I imagine. I can't quite tell exactly what is emitting it; it could be anything to be honest - a Guardian, a Ghost, a Sparrow, even."

"What's a sparrow?"

"A land-based Guardian vehicle. Something that would come in incredibly useful just now, actually."

"Huh." Jacob scanned his surroundings. There was not a huge amount here. They stood in the middle of another tarmac road, lined with bollards and rails used by the old electric MagLev train system. It was an old and decrepit area, though Jacob found it very oddly familiar. He very quickly realised why.

"I know where we are."

He began making his way up the hill in an aprehensive half-sprint, fairly sure of what it was he would find at the top. The Ghost followed close behind him, intrigued.

The incline was steeper and longer than Jacob had first anticipated and he was tired again by the time he reached the summit. Looking out over a valley and the mouth of a great river, there lay a huge red carcass of twisted metal and blackened struts. It stretched across the entire river, bent and warped out of shape by what were presumably air strikes. Another two bridges, or what was left of them, lay slightly further up the river, running in parallel. Jacob felt a lump rise in his throat. The Ghost hovered by his shoulder.

"This is the river Forth with its three bridges. That one," he pointed to the crimson wreck as it snaked its way over the river, "used to hold the rail and MagLev trains as they crossed the river. It was hundreds of years old; a real Scottish landmark. It's just... hardly even there anymore."

He sat on the grass and dangled his armour-clad legs over the edge of the hill. Removing his helmet, he breathed the fresh coastal air deeply, scenting the familiar smell of the beach and the sea beyond.

"You were right about them pulling it all down."

The Ghost turned to him, resonating in his sorrow and feeling his loss.

"Earth is a mess, a total wreck - from the bits I've seen in the last few hours at least. I'm amazed anyone survived, to be honest."

He sat for a few more minutes, not long enough for the Fallen to catch up to them, but still aware that they were a danger. The Ghost never left his side. Is this what it means to be human? She was grateful that the Guardian she had found was so full of selfless thought and appreciation of loss, but saddened that he had to be.

Exhaling deeply, Jacob rose to his feet and replaced his helmet over damp eyes. Digging into the turf, he leaned over the edge of the hill to peer into the valley below.

"I see something," he said, pointing to a glinting object moving below them.

"Looks like a Ghost, let's go and find its Guardian".