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After Al finished talking he looked down at the floor, locking eyes with Mr. Cannier's intricate woven rug. Fantasy stared at him before suddenly wrapping her arms around him. Al winced in pain.

"What's wrong?" She worried, pulling him into a tighter embrace.

"It's just you're smashing a big metal prong against my bruising flesh. I've been trying to keep pressure off of it."

"Bruising, what bruises? How did you get them?" Fantasy fired off quickly, detaching herself from Al.

"Some from this belt," Al pointed to the chunk of metal wrapped around him.

"Let me see them," Mr. Cannier commanded.

Al lifted up his shirt to show the large dark purple bruise on his lower back right by his left kidney. It faded out into a sickly yellow that seemed to reach across his back. Mr. Cannier could see a metal rod that seemed to have charred the skin where it had touched him. From this perspective they could also see how thin Al was, his ribs clearly showing through his sickly pale skin. He must have had less to eat than Fantasy did in these long five years. Taking her eyes off of his current injury, she saw lots of faint white scars that must have been remnants of other crazy tests that had happened through the years.

"How long till they heal," Fantasy asked softly.

"From what I was told, six months," Both Mr. Cannier's and Fantasy's eyes widened at his answer. Just a belt rubbing against someone's skin couldn't cause that much damage, even if it was metal.

"So why did you come to me? I'm not a doctor."

Al let the shirt drop over his chest, "I was hoping you knew something about my family. Maybe they had passed this way before. I just want to know if they're alive."

"I'm sorry Al, but I haven't been in contact with anyone from the old world. I can't offer you much, but you can always stay here with me if you want. Just whatever you do, don't try to go to the town of Berjast."

"Why not?" Fantasy asked, "I haven't even heard of the place."

"Well Berjast is made up of a fleet of private submarines and some small ships that survived the rough waters, they must have been built for the apocalypse. People react to the end of the world in many ways, but the ultimate goal is always to survive. I think it would make more sense if I started from the beginning. The arcs were built so the human race could survive in the water if necessary. For all we knew the rising water and the constant and simulations eruption of volcanoes combined with each other would make land uninhabitable. Unfortunately, only a select few were selected to be placed on these half city, half boat structures we called arcs. There were a fleet of the rich, but the private submarines just show there were other people out there. Here where we settled was the first strip of inhabitable land we saw.

"Nora was the first to arrive and went with the isolationist approach, cutting themselves off and trying to build a town for themselves based on self-betterment and hierarchy. Because of Nora all the other arcs established separate towns. Ellensburg is just trying to start over with what they have and create thriving society, and here in Lighten everyone turned to a greater power, thinking that they were saved for a greater purpose. Berjast was a little more extreme. They were left behind by the arcs and felt the need to prepare for anything. This great concept was twisted by fear and sense of injustice, so that now they have everyone walking around with a gun in their hand ready to shoot anyone who poses a threat. You can imagine this doesn't lead them to treat visitors kindly. All of them have been struck with a serious case of paranoia."

"Yeah, but why would I want to go there anyway? Would my family really be there," Al questioned.

"They won't be there, that's just in case you wanted to find a place to run to."