Prologue

If anyone were to tell you that a picture is worth a thousand words, you should tell them to shut up. Or, in the very least, slap them in the face with a baseball bat.

A picture isn't the same thing as words on a page. At least a picture is interesting; I mean, your eyes gloss over words far more than images, and the more cryptic the image, the longer you look at it. No, a picture is not a mere blurb on a page. A picture is like a movie without motion, or a still portal, an empty doorway, and I'd know that very well. Too well. But I digress. After all, you're reading words on a page for the heck of it. Weirdo. My name is Veridian, and what I'm about to say is going to sound crazy. I'm one of the Wanderers. It sounds insane, I know. I'm only, what, nineteen? And yet, I'm the youngest Wanderer there is. I didn't even realise I was one until the Great Merging happened.

But I'm probably getting ahead of myself. I'll go back to when it all started, right after the Merging, and then we can take it slow. You're going to have to know this stuff in order to keep up with me.

The Great Merging isn't really a "merging" at all. We only call it that between those of us who know what actually happened. In reality, most people call it the Grey Era. I know that sounds fancy and stuff, but it really isn't - that's the name the bigwigs gave to the time period when people started falling into an unconscious or comatose state for almost no reason. In homes, in parks, in cafes, libraries, schools - wherever there were books to read people fell unconscious. Granted, they were either really old people, unhealthy students or middle aged, less-than-athletic folk, which meant it was first believed to be a byproduct of an unhealthy lifestyle, but as time passed the government started to get worried.

Some citizens weren't waking up, causing accidents and forcing families to euthanise their beloved members simply because of the sheer volume of cases that arose. This wasn't just some small-scale occurrence either; this went beyond national to a global scale, and no one had a clue as to why. Neuroscientists had given up long ago, since the neural activity of the brain mimicked the natural sleep states, and psychologists labelled them as Grey Cases because they could provide no plausible explanation either. In the end, citizens were officially advised to eat well and sleep regularly, and if someone didn't happen to wake up within three days, only then to contact emergency services. At least, that's the reported story. What I'm going to tell you now is the reality of what actually happened right after the Merging, what I had to learn the hard way. After you hear my story, maybe you'll be able to help me get out of here. Just whatever you do, don't tell Uncle Romford. Please.