Rebirth

The System recognized the inherent unfairness in sending an infant mind to the shattered Earth. Dumb and incapable of understanding, how would she survive, especially since Earth had been remade?

The continents, fractured by chasms tens of miles wide and saturated with radiation and broken wrecks, were gone. Decimated cities of charred metal and bleached concrete filled with the shadows of humans were no more. Beaches of glass that bordered the cratered and dry oceans, now nothing but basins holding what little water remained, had been erased.(The sentence structure seems a bit off, and doesn't really make sense) Blackened spots on the Earth, the ember and bone filled remains of forests, they all disappeared.

Earth made anew by the System, with one purpose. To challenge what little remained of humanity. To see if it could work together, chose leaders, and rise to the top of this new world. The System would not allow weakness. And if humanity fractured apart, formed factions, and wiped itself out? There would be no more chances.

The new world was different. Islands hundreds of square miles were the new landmasses. The material that surrounded the islands was not water, but black, jagged volcanic stone. Beneath the inch-thick stone was a deadly sea of lava and radiation, survivable by only the most powerful and extreme creatures. The islands moved dozens of miles per hour, tearing the stone around them and releasing the lethal heat and radiation. This made them tempting targets for those that fed off heat and light. The islands were uninhabitable by humans.

But that wasn't the only hazard of the remade world. The island-filled area of the world was where the old continents had been. Between the distant continents was an uncrossable ocean of lava. Massive rafts of obsidian sailed the oceans of lava, manned by short, red-skinned creatures that rode birds of ash and obsidian. Living winds filled with microscopic shards of stone filled the air over the oceans. Colossal humanoids of magma and rock slumbered further beneath, closer to the inner core. An obsidian serpent the size of the moon wrapped around the core of the Earth, absorbing immense quantities of heat, light, and radiation. As it fed, its power grew.

Due to the consumed heat by the serpent, the high atmosphere was freezing cold with the abrupt temperature changes lethal to most creatures that entered it. The elementals born of the cold killed anything that survived. The Storms caused by the clashing heat and cold could block off parts of the world for weeks and could give birth to new creatures of lightning and water. Anything beneath the storms died quickly, whether it be from thermal shock, the creature that controlled the storm, or the creatures born of the Storm.

The two glacial bands on the surface were even more dangerous than the islands and the lava. A powerful creature ruled the northern band, freezing it further and dropping the temperature into the negative two-hundred degrees Celsius. Endless snow fell from the overcast sky, constantly blanketing the continent-wide band while erasing all evidence of the creatures that inhabited it. The continent-sized band was a death trap.

The second band was far different. Instead of near absolute-zero temperatures, this band was about five degrees Celsius, warm enough for liquid water to occur. This band was filled with apex predators. One of the creatures that controlled the storms had stopped directly over the band, because the climate was perfect for keeping the storm alive. The lightning that struck was hotter than Sol, Earth's star. The continuous bursts of heat caused large quantities snow and ice to instantly melt, turning to steam. As such, the entire band was covered in a thick fog, making it near impossible to see.

But to balance the scales against the infant mind and its impossible odds, the System made a world. A world of Earth before the meteorite had been detected and exploded.

Her first memory was that of the cold. The blanket that kept her warm had fallen off. She grasped around herself, feeling for the blanket. Not finding it, she wailed because it was frigid, the cold painful for her. Fat tears pooled in her eyes and rolled down her chubby face.

One of those incomprehensibly large beings boomed a series of noises. The loud sounds terrified the baby and she cried louder.

Another being made more noises, softer this time. It pulled the other back and moved the warm fuzzy from a place out of the baby's sight and gently layer it over her.

With an exhausted whimper the baby fell asleep.

She woke with a start, intense pain gnawing away at her stomach. She cried out, her tiny voice screaming out nonsense. She was very, very hungry.

Attracted by the racket, one of those massive beings, cold and dark in the faint silver light approached. It made more noises, and left.

A few minutes later the being came again, carrying some colored objects. It set them down on the tall brown nightstand next to the cradle. It grabbed one of the shiny things, a long black and white speckeled handle attached to a silver ring and blade, and put it up against a dull blue cylinder. It set the shiny things against each other and began twisting. After a few seconds the can opener caused the lid popped off the can. The lid clattered against the nightstand and then it fell off. It clattered against the hard ground with a great racket.

The tall, dark being ignored the lid and continued. It pulled another thing out, this one yellow and curved. It dipped into the blue can and came out. In the curved part was a green slop filled with orange chunks. It smelled absolutely vile.

The being brought the spoon towards her mouth and baby turned away, desperate not to let the terrible smelling stuff enter her mouth. With a growl of annoyance, the being holding the spoon grabbed the baby's face and held it still. It pried her mouth open and forced the spoon into it.

The baby choked but swallowed it. This forced feeding continued for several more minutes before the being seemed satisfied. The baby fell asleep again.