1 Brilliant Light

Amidst an expansive ruin piled high with crushed metal and scattered alloys, a peculiar storage tote emanated a low bang from within. Dim lines of light lit up beneath thick layers of dust across the tote, illuminating the pitch black darkness shrouding the ruins. Through unknown force, the dust coating exploded into the air, swirling around in an upward spiral. Glowing veins pulsed on the container like a beating heart, shimmering in pale silver. With a dull thud, the container's lids burst open, revealing a silver figure lying within.

"Ha…"

A turboid breath accompanied the tired voice. The figure's eyes shot open, revealing a set of pale pupils. his face scrunched in discomfort from the overwhelming light, forcing his eyelids to shut once more.

'Too bright… Where?' The figure thought to himself.

He squinted his eyes and peeked out once more. He also moved his limbs to get a grasp of the surroundings, finding himself in a confined space.

'So bright, yet so dark… I can't make out anything. Is there anyone there?'

A myriad of thoughts whirled within his mind and a name came to him.

'Falero…'

An overwhelming sadness overcame his whole being as he immersed in reminiscence.

A sunny young man's back reflects in the depth of his eyes, standing by the porthole of a spaceship and overlooking the catastrophic destruction of their homeland. It was a small world. Full of creatures that clung to others and hoped for a brighter future. The spaceship seems to be facing away from the cataclysm, yet gravitating towards it, unable to escape. Despite the dire situation, Falero still had a smile on his face as if a form of acceptance.

"Live on, Alphrad…"

His calm, yet resolute voice still lingers by Alphrad's ears as he awaken from his reflection. He sat up in the container and sighed softly.

"It seems that you still have a side of selfishness."

Tears welled up in Alphrad's eyes and a drop of brilliant silver dripped onto his legs. After a moment of silence, he looked down and inspected his oddly shimmering self.

Alphrad finds that he still looks the same physically and his skin is still fleshy to the touch, but every part of his body has taken on a silver sheen, causing him to shine bright like a star at night.

'No wonder it's so bright, but what happened to me?' Alphrad couldn't help but wonder as he looked around at the disheveled ruins covered in darkness.

Alphrad waved his arms around and stood up from the container.

'I can still move my limbs the same as before. I just seem to emit light now for some reason.'

A gaze up towards the sky yielded Alphrad with the sight of sparse storm clouds that flickered with black lightning. Pieces of rocks, massive shadowy landmasses, and metallic debris float aimlessly in the sky. Everything seems to move along an imaginary stream, including the ground he stands upon. This shocking otherworldly sight shattered the worldview that he still held dearly.

"Where am I?!"

His question was met with nothing but the distant rumbling of blackened thunder clouds.

'Is this another world? Or is this still Earth? Is this because of the catastrophe? How long has it been?'

Many questions passed his mind, but exited once more without answers. Alphrad's hands reflexively patted his cheeks, allowing him to get a grip of himself.

"Let's not think so much about it for now," Alphrad mumbled as he stepped out of the container.

Alphrad's face was full of mixed emotion as he gazed back at the container, before observing rubbles that surrounded him. Within the misshapen piles of stone were hints of red.

'It seems these building rubbles are from Mars, but it could've been contaminated during the catastrophe. Looks like I have to explore a bit to get a better grasp of where I am, but I should take the container with me.'

Alphrad looked around once more.

'There doesn't seem to be anyone around, so It's probably fine.'

Without a second thought, Alphrad walked away from the container to scope out the land. He walked, illuminated by his silver glow, in a barren land. Shrouded by the feeling of being forsaken by the world, left a bitter aftertaste in his being. His thoughts grew tumultuous.

'How long has it been? Is there anyone still alive?'

A pile of metallic debris aroused Alphrad from his stupor. He stroked his hands over it as nostalgia washed through him.

"Spaceship debris. How quaint. Brings back the memories of when I first rode aboard one, but those times seem long passed."

Alphrad shook his head, dissipating the memories and dug into the debris deeper. He managed to find a fairly intact control terminal from the rubbles, albeit its edges and casings have been pulverized through unknown means. Its internal storage and circuits seem to be intact.

Alphrad looked at it and thought, 'Looks like I have to put my technical abilities to the test. Don't know how rusty I am without knowing how much time has passed, but it should do.'

After rummaging around a bit, Alphrad found the emergency time records from within the terminal. A quick glance at it yielded a result that could be terrifying or disappointing. From the outset, it seems the emergency time records have maxed from a possible malfunction from whatever happened to the terminal, but it could also mean that it has surpassed the amount of time that emergency time records could count to.

Alphrad dug into his memories.

'Due to technological inefficiency and lack of need, the emergency time records could only count for 1,000 more years after the terminal runs out of power. So it could mean that more than 1,000 years have passed.'

A cold chill rose across his back as this thought came to him.

'But it could also mean that this thing malfunctioned, therefore meaning nothing.'

Alphrad tossed the time records back into the spaceship rubbles and decided to not think too seriously about it.

'Whether it is more than 1,000 years or not has little to no meaning. From the looks of it, Much time has passed or else the surroundings wouldn't look like this. Either way, it's much greater than the average 100 year life span of people back then.'

Without turning back, Alphard continued onwards.

The crunch of dust and gravel grew louder, as he neared the edge of the land. A cliff, a very steep cliff, an endless cliff. Alphrad couldn't see the ends, for it curved inwards back towards the proverbial center. The black chasm that unfolds beneath stretches beyond infinity.

'It seems I'm on a floating island just like the other ones in the sky. I should've expected this.'

Alphrad sat down on the ledge at a loss for what to do and immersed himself in thoughts once more.

'Is this what Earth has become? This is so unscientific. This isn't posi- Wait! It was possible with the CRYSTALs, but that can't be. Could this be the aftermath of the disastrous experiment?'

Alphrad sighed deeply out of resignation.

'What's done is done. Can't go back in time. I have to think about what to do from now on and how to survive. My body structure is strange, but I can still feel heat and cold. I don't know how much time has passed since I woke up, but I don't seem to feel hunger or have biological needs anymore. This is unprecedented! Am I a brand new lifeform now?'

Alphrad subconsciously groped his body as if a scientist was researching an anomaly.

'I guess I'm no longer human… Perhaps this is why I'm still alive, but it still has to do with the durability of that container.'

Upon thinking of the container, he couldn't help but be bitter.

'If it wasn't for us picking up that alien container, all of this wouldn't have happened. Perhaps humanity would still be thriving to this day.'

Alphrad shook his head fiercely and muttered, "No, I can't think like that. It wasn't my fault that this happened. That alien container would've been found sooner or later. Yes. just like Falero once told me, 'No reason to beat yourself up for something that can't be helped.'"

Smoothing his hand over the rugged ledges, he laid back onto the ground and laughed.

"Interesting, there's no pain, yet I can still feel the rocks and the wind across my skin. I also have no need to breathe."

Alphrad's silver pupils flickered across the sky, relaxing his whole body, relieved of intangible burdens. The storm clouds, debris, floating land masses of varying sizes, and everything else in here seems to be moving chaotically, but orderly. They each have their own trajectories, many opposing, yet somehow never intersecting. Floating islands seem to mysteriously bypass one another mysteriously, despite the collisions that would've happened with their original trajectories.

"A mesmerizing scene… I wish Falero was also here to see it. Ahh… I haven't felt so calm and refreshed in a long time, without a worry in the world," Alphrad said, feeling the gentle wind across his face.

"Hmm?"

A ray of light penetrated the horizon, in stark contrast to the darkened sky. The rays of light entered as if penetrating a thin membrane from a different world. Alphrad couldn't see its source, but he still felt the nostalgic warmth of the sun from it. Just as it came through the invisible ceiling, it passed through until it hit an invisible floor. He could see the light bending slightly as it pushed forth, illuminating what laid beneath.

A vast world, far beyond the size of home that he once remembered.

Expansive multicolored continents and crystal blue oceans.

Meandering rivers snaked their way through the land, nourishing and resplendent.

Greenery covered the land, brimming with unprecedented vitality.

Alphrad held his breath as the magnificent landscape unfolded beneath him. He saw a beautiful world, far from the home that he remembered.

A world untouched by the mark of man and their machinations.

A world not scarred by the bloodshed of history.

A world he never saw nor sought.

"No wonder there were plenty of people advocating for the environment back then. The natural beauty can be truly breathtaking," Alphrad said, cupping his cheeks.

"I finally understand what they mean by 'when the old doesn't go, the new won't come'."

As the light's warmth embraced the land below, a panoramic view of the new world unfurled in full view. Alphrad looked at the horizon for some time and observed that the world is still a planet with the discovery of a barely perceptible curve.

'Phew! At least this world is also curved like Earth, not one of those fantastical flat worlds in stories,' Alphrad thought. 'Wait, if this is Earth, then how did this landscape evolve so quickly from the catastrophe?'

This question always lingered in the back of his mind.

'Oh well, let's not think too much about it. I'll find out sooner or later.'

Alphrad dangled his feet freely over the ledge, feeling the harmony of nature brought about by the wondrous world beneath. Then a thought arose within him.

'A world's beauty is delicate. Humanity of the past was likened to an invasive species, ruthlessly extracting resources to fuel meaningless struggles amongst themselves. I want to protect this new world with this new body of mine. Perhaps this is destiny or fate; A chance to redeem my past mistakes in accelerating the world's end.'

Alphrad subconsciously reached out towards the vast world beneath as if reaching for salvation.

'Maybe this is what my new dream shall-'

Suddenly, the uneven body weight seems to manifest in this occasion, causing his whole body to slip off the ledge. On reflex, Alphrad grabbed out towards the ledge with his now falling body, but it was too late as his fingers slid down across the rocky cliff face with no grip.

Alphrad's past memories seem to flash before him and a stalwart man's words turn into whispers in the wind.

<Stepping into the unknown takes courage or… just a little push>

With a terrified expression, Alphrad plummeted into the unknown world below.