Chapter 1 - I... woke up?

Chapter 1

Reynold thinks he is in heaven.

It was strange. He had seen many people pass away right in front of his eyes, but the prospect of dying never actually came to mind. But now that he thought about it, the idea of dying and floating peacefully around in darkness was appealing. Death means that there is no longer anything to be worried about, there is nothing to fear.

It was nice.

But how did he die? Why was there a sniper in that alleyway? There was no one that Reynold made upset, was there? Perhaps it was the government. Reynold, through his life, has seen governments come and go, and the latest was the most corrupt yet, they took bribes and gave positions of power to those that have the money to provide. Perhaps this corrupt government was merely dealing with one of its loose ends. Having someone around that does not die by age is a little bit of a bother, after all.

Or maybe it was just random harsh luck, but that was not probable. Running into a sniper with a vacuum-powered sniper rifle in a city alleyway randomly? Highly, Highly Unlikely.

But that was not something for Reynold to worry about now, he is dead now, and he can fully relax in this dark void of peacefulness, and enjoy this limbo to its fullest.

He can enjoy this... darkness?

Reynold's eyes flung open.

He looked at his hands and then around him, he was in a desert.

'What?'

There were hardly any deserts or even open space left on the planet anyway, most of it had been developed and citied, so how could there be such a vast desert? Is this a dream?

He looked around once again and saw something shining in the sand. he moved over to it and pushed the sand on top of it away.

'This is... Kaldarium?'

Kalderium. It is the most important part of the rapid technological advancements made on the planet, it was extremely rigid, one hell of a power source, and could survive space. This, as told before, contributed to technological advancements. Had Kalderium not existed, the humans would still be stuck using coal and gunpowder, and the like.

Kalderium also guided humans to prosperity in another way. Places where Kalderium formed were perfect environments for humans to live. It, along with a few other elements and metals, is one of the most important and useful elements to ever exist.

So why is such a rare and revered element in the middle of nowhere? Places where Kalderium could form were usually perfect places for humans, not some desert in the middle of nowhere that shouldn't even exist!

Saving this query for another time, Reynold once again looked around in order to find a container that he could put this Kalderium in. He looked down at his body and saw the most hideous thing to ever exist.

WHAT IN THE LIVING HELL AND TWO SHITS IS THAT?? IS THIS SUPPOSED TO BE CLOTHING?? The piece of... cloth that Reynold was currently... draping across his body looked like an old military uniform. It was something that an old man lamenting about the great old times would have hanging on his wall. Even at the ripe old age of 500 years, Reynold still found this... outfit to be absolutely ancient and disgusting.

It was dusty, crusty, and overall... what is a good word, fucked... These types of clothing have long been abandoned by humans because using Kalderium, they created actual clothing that was flexible, comfortable, and encouraged agility, on the very, very, polar opposite, this... rag absolutely encourages INagility, is UNcomfortable, and has the most pathetic flexibility to have ever existed.

After nearly puking at the sight of his "clothing", Reynold made the difficult decision to keep the... rag on. This was because as people say "Something is always better than nothing.", and although Reynold hesitates to apply this quote to his piece of cloth, he still dictated that, even though this was shameful and completely, absolutely embarrassing, keeping it on would be the better choice, as he did not see any other clothing around for him to wear.

He looked around and found a similarly disgusting-looking "bag" to put the Kalderium in. Reynold sang a quiet prayer for the piece of Kalderium ore, as he felt that it is an absolute disgrace to Kalderium ores to be put in such a disgusting "container".

But he overcame his disgust, and, although confused, decided to move on to his next objective: water.