Awakening Read online

The Chronicles of New Eden

  Path One

  AWAKENING

  Hayden Pearton

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  Copyright 2016 Hayden Pearton

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

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  Visit my website at https://newedenchronicles.wordpress.com/

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  For Antoinette, Michael, Jordan and Jethro

  Without whom this grand idea would never have been born.

  For Noah and Gabriel, may you read this one day.

  For Chanelle, my one and only.

  For Michael, my best friend and advisor.

  For Charlotte, the first to finish.

  And for Me, to prove that I could.

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  When the Tides run Red and the Skies grow Dark,

  The World will Fall.

  When They appear, Ruination and Salvation,

  The World will Fall.

  -Sage Iager

  Prologue: Kingdom of None

  In which a story begins...

  The quietude of the forest, the unfettered skies, and the desolate streets. The world was dying, decaying, decomposing; until our sins were erased from this land. The first to suffer were the children; always the children, then the sick, the weak, the poor. Those who could not defend themselves from the world’s unstoppable karmic wrath.

  The land is silent, the seas are blackened, the clouds marred by an invisible poison. It is in this dreadful visage that our story unravels. With the faint memories of happiness slowly slipping away as the ground continues to bleed. Some argue that the state of this once beautiful planet is the fault of nature; others protest that it is the work of a disenchanted deity.

  However, we cannot blame the waves for undulating, and we cannot blame the heavens for shining. We can only blame ourselves, for that is all that’s left. It is human nature to constantly strive for power and glory, unmindful of the consequences. It is also human nature to blame one's own failings on others, so as not to lose one's illusion of invincibility.

  When the first factory started spewing its unholy filth into the atmosphere, when the first plant withered and died; the masses cheered. "All in the name of progress" they said, with much chagrin, as their fields died and the waters were stained crimson with the "fruits of production". Soon after, the sickness came, fouling the youth and tainting the old. Those in charge were driven by guilt and condemnation into searching for a cure for the malignant miasma.

  It was, however, too late, as the land had long since been dealt its killing blow. Although the tide of pollutants from the chimneys and pipes had been stemmed, there was nothing to be done for what had already pervaded into the biosphere. The leaders of the world began to blame those of other nations, in an attempt to ease the minds of their followers. As it must, a terrible war followed, which decimated the remnants of the living. As more and more death and destruction occurred, the leaders of the countries began to realize their mistake.

  Calling together the greatest scientific minds of the generation, they planned and plotted, researched and experimented. After countless failures, they were almost ready to give up and give in to the sweet embrace of death. It was then, as the greatest of the greatest sat in resignation, an idea rose to the top of the maelstrom of despair. It was radical to say the least, as it called for a great deal in a very short amount of time. Those remaining in charge eagerly agreed, for the idea had struck the very core of the human psyche: fight or flight.

  They should have fought. They should have spent their last breaths trying to fix the world they had killed, but to their eternal shame they chose to flee.

  This idea, this promise of flight, ignited the populace. Between having to do little and survive a while longer or do much and take a chance at eternal salvation… it was obvious which the people would choose. The crescendo of affirmations allowed the idea to spread rapidly throughout the dwindling populace.

  Soon, the idea became a movement, an ideal to strive for. Armed with an end-goal, humanity worked tirelessly, all for the idea of a better tomorrow. Money became useless; incentives were nullified, as the world was unified under the idea, the idea that promised survival. Not a prosperous or easy survival, but survival nonetheless. As the months went by, and the planet slowly died around them, the united planetary population only seemed to increase in fervour.

  Structures were built in an unprecedented speed, backed by limitless resources and determination. It is a cruel irony that so much time and energy was invested in an idea that essentially translated into, "Let us run away and leave our problems to someone else." Not that the authorities or the snake-tongued politicians would ever phrase it as such.

  Eventually, when the last building stood firm, when the exhausted remnants dropped to their knees, the idea was explained. For you see, for the entire duration of construction, only the vaguest of details were released. The average man or woman had no true knowledge of what the idea entailed. They had worked so hard, shed so much blood and sweat on what was nothing more than a hopeful dream. It was then, when it was too late for anything to be done did the scientists and leaders announce their plan:

  CRYOGENESIS.

  In short, every human on the planet would be relocated to one of several massive cryogenic stations located across the planet; where they would be literally frozen in time alongside tens of thousands of their peers. As humanity slept through the ages, automated machines would slowly reform the surface, demolishing any structures deemed "unsuitable" for the future of the planet; whilst the pollution would gradually seep into the earth, where it would be contained for generations to come. To make sure that any potential problems would be swiftly dealt with, the machines were authorized to use their artificial intelligence; however, to prevent full sentience, automatic emotion limiters were implanted. These revitalization mechatrons, or "re-mechs" as they were widely known, were to bear the cost of humanity’s mistake.

  It was estimated that such a grand revitalization project would take hundreds of years, so the builders of the cryogenic stations set their timers accordingly. Fearing for their safety as they slept, the builders also constructed a worldwide system of computers, which would watch over and monitor the hibernating masses. With countless safety measures and back-up systems in place, the doors were opened to the hundred million humans who now solely inhabited the planet. When the last human was secured in his cryogenic pod, the computers metaphorically "pushed the button", sending a healthy dose of Liquid Helium-3 to every single pod occupant. Within seconds, every human on the planet was sound asleep, each surrounded by an icy cocoon. When they awoke from their Great Sleep, hundreds of years later, they would step out to a new paradise, free from the problems of the past...

  Well, that was what was supposed to happen...