Prologue

A group of miners is heading down an elevator, into the deep coal mines in central Rhodesia.

"Wasn't this mine a'ready cleared?"

"No idea, but y'shouldn't question the boss. He sent us here."

The year is 1888, and Britain has colonized large parts of Africa, making new states named after the officials that found them, like Rhodesia, which would presently be known as Zimbabwe.

"Where're we headed?"

"Left, right, and the second hallway left. Then, a lil bit further ahead and on the left wall. They should've marked it already, and we need to break it open."

"What'd be behind that wall?"

"How'd I know? There's no way they'd tell us."

"Y'two should go, we will wait here."

The two appointed miners frown while grabbing their pickaxes, bags, and shovels.

"Why us? You three're slacking all day while we did all the work."

"Well, whadoes it matter, we'll go."

One of them is already on the move, while the other one sighs before following him.

"We'll keep any riches we find!"

"Aight, if you can sneak 'em past the guards that is!"

The remaining three miners laugh and settle down on the ground to sleep. The other two walked through the mineshafts and ended up at the marked location. It was marked with an orange circle. Both of them put down their shovels and bags and firmly place their pickaxes in their hands.

"This should be it."

"Could've just used red, 'tis cheaper than orange I think."

"Couldn't care less. Let's go at it!"

Tough as the rock may be, they break it down into pieces with their reinforced pickaxes slowly but surely. They chip away at the gray rock and orange paint and dig forward. It only took mere minutes, before they found something.

"What'dis? More orange?"

"'Tis glowing beneath the rock. Let's take it! Maybe we can sneak 't past the guards, it looks valuable."

Hastily, they swing their way towards the glowing orange rock. The taller miner chips off the final piece, revealing the orange stone.

"We need to get it out. Can I strike it?"

"No, not yet. Let's dig around it a little."

Hours pass as they carefully open up the smooth stone. It seems to be a perfect sphere, without any rough edges. Growing as bright as it does, it lights up the entire hallway.

"It's way too large. No way we can pick this up."

"Splitting it is a good idea then. You do it, yer tougher than me."

"Aight, stand back."

The shorter miner lifts his pickaxe and strikes the stone with full force. At the moment of impact, the stone increases its brightness ten folds.

"Wha-"

It explodes. Energy gushes upwards out of the stone and sideways into the mines. All five miners and other miners within the shaft are evaporated instantaneously, as the orange-colored explosion reaches the surface in mere seconds. The energy flies up into the sky, while not damaging the area around the mine at all.

The energy reaches high up in the stratosphere, and the wind takes the particles all around the earth. Microscopic particles are diluted in the vast atmosphere of the planet, covering almost every city and village. No one can see them, but everyone breathes them in. They are breathing in the orange particles of the 1888 Rhodesia Catastrophe, and while the effects were unnoticeable at first, they would change society forever.