The world is a horrible cold place to be in alone.




It was nearing midnight and soon the bar was going to close - for good.
Little Domain Bar and Grill was a local restaurant made most famous for it's existence before the cluster.

2012, The Cluster
Now a days the cluster is seen more of as an event. But back then it was an idea.
The idea, the assumption, that if if evil was taken away, humans would naturally breed into a peaceful environment.

The government tested it, isolating a group of newborns onto a small island built to be a normal piece of land, like any typical town. The person in charge of raising the children was a man with chemically forced amnesia.


  The island project was a success, and soon it escalated into larger scales.


Bringing us to today. The entire world's population was almost completely wiped away, only "new" humans with no memory of the past. Naturally there are still those who remember the old days in the government, and a few survivors living in hiding.
  With this new world cam fresh laws. Everyone obeyed the government, now dubbed "The Holy Law". It's an giant organization that watches over the entire world.
  The 'continents' as they once were called were forced together, now sitting only miles apart, connected by hundreds of thick bridges.

Guns are illegal, and forgotten, and weapons are vague memories belonging to the dead.




  "The Cluster" was when everyone was wiped away, the "new humans" given birth to, all the mothers killed after birth, or kept in the Holy Law to breed more people when necessary.









Little Domain, a bar in North America, East.
It's planned to be demolished tomorrow afternoon, tonight was it's final night.

The only person left inside was mulling over his last drink. Ten minutes to closing, and not a single person had arrived. Two weeks ago the bar had announced their closing. They were the last piece of the world before the Cluster, and held sentimental reasoning for people who remembered, or believed.

The man who sat sullenly at his table, unmoving, still believed. In a world where people didn't follow mindlessly, where things felt far more real. Where there was love, balanced by hate. Calm balanced by chaos.

In this world there was no balance. Everything felt synthetic and cold.


"It was a good run, Albel." a man with a gray beard and squinting eyes patted the oaken bar one last time while he was stacking chairs.
"It shouldn't have ended so soon, Ulysis." the man sighed, standing and laying a bill beside his drink.

"Oh really Albel, keep your money."
The man simply shook his head and sighed. "You know it's not like I need it. Not in a world like this."

  There was a sadness in the silence between them as the older barman nodded.
"Did you ever get any attractions to that add of yours?"

All over town there had been posters strategically placed to attract the less than innocent of eyes.
A poster trying to rally the people, the ones left who remembered, and those who believed.


There was war on the horizon, and he was starting it.


"Nope, no bites just yet. I'll have to go change them all soon though. All of them say to meet me here for those who are interested." Again the silence was sad, leaving the two men with no goodbyes. The barkeep said his final parting to his bar, as the other male left him to do so.

But only one heavy boot was out the bar's front door before he was stopped.

A forceful hand was placed on his chest, stopping him mid-step. His eyes glanced up, peering over his sunglasses to gaze at a tall male with a cold stare. They stayed like this in silence before Albel reached down, brushing the other's hand away. He took two more steps before being stopped again.
This time by a tug at his sleeve. He glanced to the sleeve of his heavy canvas jacket, seeing a new, much smaller hand holding onto it. Turning around he spotted a girl close to his age standing there, face twisted up, trying to look threatening and serious.

"Hey, don't just walk off. You're Albel Salithsa, right? You put the posters up?"
The man looked to the girl dully, not taking her seriously. It was true, some women were fit for war. But this girl was far shorter than him, and didn't look to have any sort of combat skill known to man.
Now, the one who had stopped him first, there was some believable power. Just the force of his hand was enough to stop him in his tracks.
That was saying something.

"Perhaps I am, why? What interest would a girl like you have in fighting?" he said coldly, not interested in hearing out an angry child who didn't know what real war even was.
Really, neither did he, but he'd heard enough stories and seen enough illegal pictures.


"Plenty, actually. What interest would a man like you have in putting inciting posters up all over town?" she stared at him just as dully, crossed her thin arms and putting on a very insulted face.
"Touche..." he sighed, looking to the man with her. He was tall, and Albel figured there was maybe a two inch difference in height between him and the man. Sadly it was the other who was taller.
They really did contrast, as even though both were tall they looked nothing alike.
The hair was the first difference that was easy to notice. The stranger was blonde, his hair short and cut along the neck. Albel on the other hand had dark brown hair that, despite being short in the front, went down in length in the back.
  Although Albel's eyes were hard to see from behind the sunglasses it was known to several around town that they were a striking golden sort of shade. Though no one was precisely sure as to why they were that color, especially since his mother told anyone who asked that his eyes were indeed green.
The stranger though had bright eyes, that even in the night were an undoubtable shade of bright blue.

"Amy Locke." the girl said suddenly, breaking the intense stares the two men were holding at one another. She held out her hand and Albel took it smoothly, shaking it without too much interest. He turned to her male companion expectantly, but wasn't exactly surprised to see his hands were to himself.
The girl sighed, obviously frustrated by her friend's attitude. "And that would be Christopher Corona."

The men shared another hard glance, but both broke off before it yet again turned into a meticulous staring match.
"You still haven't told me why you're interested in my poster." Albel said dully, not showing even the slightest worry of being overheard.
"Really, it was for this one line on it..." the girl turned, petite frame shifting in the vest and dress she had on. She reached into a small bag she had over her shoulder, pulling out one of the posters she'd taken down for personal use.

"See? Right there...." she held it out, pointing to the line that read 'And reawaken the old world.'
"What about that line? Let me guess, it touched your soul." the man sighed, handing it back to her. "No, actually it shows to me you don't know what the hell you're talking about."
"Excuse me?!" the girl put her hands on her hips, not moving as the man clenched his fists at her.

"The dead can't be brought back Mister Salithsa, that's rule number one of the commoner's law." the girl sighed, shaking her head and looking back to stare at him. Something in her eyes as she said that, without any doubt or lie in her tone, showed a person far older than what she looked.

"Well then I suppose i'm going to break the law then, aren't I?"




















  That night had been two days twenty-two hours and three minutes ago.