Stars

---December 17, 2429---

--Orion's Perspective--

"So, he's the one that woke up this time around? Hello there, my name is Zeal. Do you remember your name?" I shook my head at the boy's question. He looked weird, with brown eyes and white hair.

"Hm..." He said as he looked up into the sky. I waited, staring at my hands. I felt around my body. It was weird... as if I didn't belong in this body. I couldn't remember anything before this exact moment.

"Well, how about Orion? It's the constellation in the sky right now, right above us." He told me. I looked up at the stars. I had no idea what it looked like, but the name sounded fit for a ruler.

"Sure. So, who are you? Why are you here?" I asked him, stretching out my body after what felt like a long rest.

"If you'd look down at your hand, you'd see a White Stone, right? Well, I'm here because I wanted to see if there would be another one of us." He told me. I tilted my head in confusion.

"Us? Who is 'us'?" I asked. From behind the strange figure who called himself Zeal, another man stepped out with a White Stone on the back of his hand as well. Zeal had one, and I did as well.

"So, is this like some sort of cult?" I asked, but the two men laughed.

"No! We're much more than that... we're destined leaders, to put it simply. These are my people, in that base over there." Zeal told me as he pointed over to the jungle. People... I could use some of those.

"There are many things we need to tell you about, but let's skip the politeness or whatever and just be friends. Sound good?" I nodded at his request and followed him inside his home. People were all working together on various tasks within the small wooden base on the beach.

"Where's your defense?" I asked him, but he looked at me strangely.

"Defense? From what? There are only a few thousand people on this Isle, not enough for an attack, and pretty far apart. We're just building up civilization. Don't worry about stuff like that." Zeal told me. He stepped over to a group of people and turned their shoulders toward me.

"Here we have Moonlight, Alba, Dante, Dexter, and Jake. These are my main friends. Guys, this is Orion, he's the new White Stone on this beach." Zeal introduced me to his friends. They all stared at me in amazement.

"What's it like to have a White Stone?" Dante asked me.

"Well, it doesn't feel like anything, why?" I didn't feel like answering his question when Moonlight was right here. She was a beautiful girl, completely stunning to me. I wanted to talk to her out of everybody else.

"Well, I just wanted to introduce the new Stone, he's probably not very sociable... say, what do you think about staying with us for a while? You don't seem very interested in people, but we can help you start a new life, can't we?" Zeal offered to me. I thought about his offer and agreed to it.

I wanted my group of people like Zeal had. I felt envy constantly when looking at the people around me.

"Why don't I just stay with you guys for a long time? After all, you were waiting for me, right?" I asked him. Zeal agreed to my counter-offer excitedly and we all went back to his larger group of people.

"So, what's so amazing about this base where nobody wants to leave? What do you have that's keeping everybody?" I asked him.

"Well, there's no crime, we're nice to each other, and there's nothing we need to worry about. I can tell you more later. Can you help us gather some food from the forest?" Zeal asked me. I followed Zeal into the forest with Moonlight and Dante.

We walked past a statue with an opened door and some other cut-down trees. Once we approached a cliffside, Zeal turned around at the three of us.

"So, Orion and I will split off this way, and you guys can go the opposite way. Sound good?" Zeal offered the idea to his groupmates, and both Dante and Moonlight nodded and split off in the opposite direction when Zeal began talking again.

"You sense it too, right?" Zeal asked me. I look at him puzzled.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." I meekly responded, walking up the cliff in front of him.

"Like we don't belong here. Like something is amiss. It's not something I expect you to understand right away, but I've had this feeling for about 4 years now since I woke up. Isn't it strange to you that you can't remember anything before this day, yet you have so much prior knowledge? If I asked you to spell your name, could you do it?" He asked me again. I stood silent.

I could spell my name out easily. I agreed with Zeal, it was strange that this entire time I knew so much about spelling and speaking... yet I don't have any memories of a life before this one.

"Well? What do you plan to do about it?" I asked him. Zeal turned and pointed at the statue, explaining the message on the note lying against a podium within it.

"I have to get down to Earth, and I know how to do it thanks to the man who wrote the note. He left instructions on how to make a transporter, so I've been working on it ever since. With your help, it will be easier." He told me.

"And how will it be easier with my help? I don't understand." I asked him. Zeal pointed to the stone in his left hand.

"The blood of a White Stone is a pretty powerful thing. Our blood is infatuated with something strange, something that promotes healing... or something. I'm not entirely sure, but blood transfusions that come from me heal all injuries." He explained. I looked to my stone, then back to Zeal.

"So, you want my blood? Sure, I'll give you some, if you can hook me up with one of your people. I like the way Moonlight looks, I want her to be by my side." I told him. Zeal looked at me dumbfounded.

"Sure, I can tell her that you're interested... but I'm not going to force her to be around you more. That's not my job as our leader. I need to keep everybody safe, and I have no idea who you are as a person. Maybe you're evil, maybe you're a White Stone with bad intentions." He questioned me.

Zeal kept a locked gaze with me, watching me move up the hill more and more as we reached the peak.

"If that was true, wouldn't I have hurt you already? Sure, I have my own goals, but nothing sinister. Just like you, I wish for things as well." I told him. I sat down on the hill and stared off into the ocean.

"So, we're not on Earth, then where are we?" I asked Zeal.

He explained that this was an Isle floating above Earth, riding in its atmosphere. Such a weird thought, but the four Isles in Earth's atmosphere were 'the only remnants of human life left'. Hard to believe, but I had nothing to counter his point, so I had to accept it no matter how ignorant it sounded.

"Then we need to keep humanity alive at all costs, right?" I asked him. Zeal crossed his arms and shook his head. I could tell he felt conflicted about something.

"We're not humans. We're Arkians. Beings built for physical, emotional, mental, whatever kind of damage you can think. We're durable beings meant to change the world for humans. But that doesn't mean we have to help them. We need to take care of our kind first." Zeal explained to me. I could easily understand where he was coming from. I cared more about myself than anybody else... well, maybe not Moonlight.

"And why do you have all this information? How do you know so much?" I asked Zeal. He seemed puzzled, staring at the floor.

"Because I have some of my memories from before. Before all of this. Would you even believe me if I told you the things I remember?" Zeal asked me. I nodded in response.

"I have no other choice, do I? What do you remember? Were we friends? What happened before all of this?" I replied to his question with another question.