Edge of the Ocean

Orion and Cole are speeding around the back of the island in the small motorized boat.

Cole looks up in awe at how the sun bleeds through strangely in the atomic sky.

"So you were around before?" Cole asks over the sound of the boat and ocean.

"Yeah."

"You look young."

"Some of us do. Some us aren't aging. Strange things happened," Orion says, watching the current.

"Did the sky always look like that?"

"No. It's getting better though," Orion says, looking up himself. "Is your menu still up?"

Cole nods.

"My knowledge is going up. That is good, right?"

"Yeah," Orion says, smiling. "Do you know how to minimize it? It might drive you nuts. Mine is in the bottom right corner of everything I see."

"I just fade my out. It is kind of always there. But I like it," Cole answers. "I think it makes us special, Orion."

They soon turn into the port, as Orion's boat comes speeding up.

Cole has seen it many times before, but this time it sticks. He nearly stands, but Orion pushes him down.

It is the most built up society on the island, besides the small village.

Floating businesses and boats. Palm trees and rocks are still covered with water. Small broken wood piers connect boats and huts, with everything having the vibe of a tree house.

Like a pirate fishing village and a waterway market all put together. Each little wooden bridge and dock going to somewhere else, with little paths spreading like a spider web.

Pulleys and ropes and platforms are high above, as some islanders swing from place to place.

It all connects to the lowest part of the water and land, with a small hillside sinking into the bay.

Orion pulls his boat and ties it off.

"We need ammo. And some food. Be careful around here. You never know who can trust. Don't bring up the menu, okay?"

Cole nods. "So I've been here before, yeah?"

Orion points to a random low piece of wood near a pier. "This is where we found you. You were hanging on to a piece of the pier. Right there. Half dead. I knew you had to be some kind of sailor, because you swam from who knows where. A ship or something."

Cole stares off, wondering how it all went down. "I didn't know I could swim."

"There is a probably a lot in your head that is going to come out, my friend. Come on. Walk with me."

Orion and Cole start walking quickly on the wooden bridges over the water, past all the huts and small ships.

Howl comes dancing towards them.

"What are you so happy about?" Orion asks, annoyed.

"Oh, some of that junk you found was priceless. So I'm a rich man!" Howl dances more.

"So why don't give your mate some more coin?!" Orion nearly yells.

"That's not how it works, mate! Hi Cole! Remember me?"

"I remember I don't like you," Cole responds as he keeps walking with Orion.

Orion laughs. "Oh, getting ripped off is worth it for that."

Howl makes an obnoxious noise and runs off.

Orion soon comes to what looks like is the weapons cart. Swords and guns and harpoons are all hung in a weird fashion, but the ammo is behind the desk.

The gunsmith immediately starts screaming at Orion in another language, and Orion screams back.

Cole walks by, seeing a hut near the land.

The hut is a little more organized, but still has a mad scientist and laboratory vibe. Maps and worn and torn and burned books and magazine articles and photos are around the open faced hut.

An elderly man is staring at maps of the old world, and writing things in his books. He is the island's wise man who goes by The Scientist.

He smiles when he sees Cole.

"Hello Cole. How are you doing?" His voice is gentle and kind.

"I'm fine."

The Scientist nods and goes back to a list of charts and mathematical equations, while also looking a temperatures from years before and rising sea levels.

"What are you doing?" Cole asks like a child.

The Scientist does not look up but answers. " I am trying to see where I went wrong. If my science was off. If I could have been more accurate. Clearer. I knew we were killing the environment. I didn't think of what would happen if everyone decided to kill each other at the same time. Look at the sky, Cole. We shouldn't be out here. It is changing. We should go indoors for a year at least. Yes. A year would do it."

The Scientist keeps talking, but Cole is done listening. But he walks around, staring at the photos and posters, albeit damaged, that hang around the hut.

Icons and photos of the old world. Landmarks all over the world.

Leaders. Musicians. Films. Animals and wildlife.

Some glimpses of where technology was going.

Cole looks at all of it, amazed. All of it. Gone.

KNOWLEDGE XP - 25%

Cole then turns his head, interested by something he sees.

The corner of a photo is blocked by a tree branch popping through into the hut.

Cole pushes the branch back and it shows a picture of a large canister or pod, much like what Orion saw a room full of.

Almost identical to what Orion saw, actually. But Cole does not know this.

His menu starts to get hazy, like with overload.

"What...what is that?" Cole asks, pointing with a shaking finger.

The Scientist looks up briefly. "What is what? What are you pointing at? Oh. That. That was some experiment they came up with before everything was ruined. Do you recognize it?"

"Maybe," Cole whispers.

The Scientist looks at him a little longer, wondering what is different about him.