15 Years in the Destruction
Man has certainly spent the past several hundred years making a mess of evolution. What once was decided by the physical capabilities of a specimen had since been dominated by intellect, by enterprise, by ease of living rather than struggle. One's worth was not judged by the impact of their fist but by the power of their words, and in many more honorable cases, the merit that their actions could bring to use as a race. It seemed, in the 20th century, we were closer than ever before to becoming a perfect species - a species that could act outside of an individual's best interests to benefit not just close associates, but the whole... the real, honest-to-God whole of people, of a planet. However, in the midst of such optimism, there is always the negativity of the truth. War, hate, skewed beliefs and a disgusting splurge of other petty differences still dotted the canvas of progress in large, black spots. A key ingredient was missing to truly inspire us to accept our race, to accept ourselves.. an ingredient ingrained and hidden in our own genetic and intellectual make-up. The question was, how to boil out the other wasteful components to bring out that pureness, that good that was tucked away in even the most self-servicing man? Was it even possible at all, to pluck out such an integral part of the animal agenda which we pretended we had long since forgotten?
We were about to find out.
The morning of October 31st that year hung over San Francisco in an overcast and uncommonly cold blanket of gray. No one knew to take this odd change in the weather as an omen of greater change on the foggy horizon.
At approximately 3:12 pm Pacific time, the fear of a third world war was completely eclipsed by a newer, darker realization, and a terrifying foreshadowing. The electricity simply went off. This was no simple power outage, nor was it a surge or any other mistake by the gas and energy companies. This was something wider... something uncannily natural. Of course, it would be impossible for any one individual to know that... We were completely cut off from each other, from any way of deducting the cause. Mere moments later came the true enemy; a chain reaction of varied blasts - everything from nuclear to missile - shook every cranny and corner of planet Earth from Mount Everest to Stone Henge to Death Valley and back. The explosions were so large and so massive in number that nearly no place was spared, and those that weren't directly hit suffered their damage in aftershock. The days afterward were a strange sort of malaise, a slow motion recapturing of something that should happen with the sudden jolt of unbearable reality. Important things happened quickly, but it seemed to drag on forever due to the turbulence of the situation.
No one knew why it happened. No one knew how it happened. There was no television, no radio, no one to report the damage. There was no way of the world uniting to find out what went wrong. There had been no warning. There had been no telltale signs, not anything of mark at all. The only ones who perhaps knew - the governments - were, as far as the remnants of the world could tell, not around or not able to report the reasons this happened, or the events leading up to it. Humans were alone with very uncomfortable company - just their average, every-day selves. No leaders, no direction.. simply the public, although that name was no longer applicable. There was no "public"... simply people. They were forced to band together to work for a greater good, and rebuild each portion of their broken home without any sort of outside aid, or any true idea where to begin.
Many were completely lost. Many despaired. But even when some things may have lain dormant, other things, such as spirit and persistence, burned brightly. Up out of the smoke and ash of the greatest genocide came rebirth, and the phoenix of mankind spread its wings to encompass as far as it could. The smoldering embers of renewed industrialism ignited, and people worked together to try and return some sense of normalcy.
That of course could never be, not in the current state. Too much was lost, and too much was changed. A new majority reigned, and they did not share the best interest of a peaceful public. And thus it was that rather than the people in charge's interests changing, it was the people that had to adapt to a new, more brutal way of life. Nothing was certain. Nothing was secure. The only definite, cold fact in this new world was that it was time to start coping and start toughening up, or else suffer the ultimate consequence...
Thirty or-so days after the catastrophe, with the smoke now clearing and survivors struggling to gain a foothold, San Francisco found itself separated from the mainland, some parts chipped away off the stretch of city, its only remaining link through the Oakland-Bay Bridge, as the iconic Golden Gate had been blown nearly to oblivion. Some in the city quickly turned to crime to try and retain their dominance (and their lives, for that matter), while others tried to restore order. Whatever the case, after a few made the risky trip to try and get back to the main continent to find their families, they quickly discovered that things outside of San Francisco were even more upside-down, and it was much safer to stay on the secluded isle and deal with the chaos there than face the complete hell that was the rest of the world - at least, as far as they knew. It was around this time that concerned citizens began to formulate LOCK (the League Of Community Knowledge), which quickly filtered to the forefront. With their influence and members reaching all across the city, and with so many lending a hand, it was easy for them to come up with resources not available to the general inhabitants, including but not limited to the most valuable commodity of all - electricity. Random areas still seemed to boast sporadic or even controllable bursts of electricity, and with their growing force, LOCK was able to secure these locations to make sure they could be kept in check. It was not long before they had a new form of currency, known as "card", as well as a decisively controversial way of keeping their economy afloat - the only way to get card out and into circulation was through bringing in individuals who were announced as being dangerous. As their popularity grew and the system fell into place, LOCK began organizing factories, jails, and most importantly, refining their new police system of sending out city occupants with proverbial torch and pitchfork to enforce justice themselves for a hearty reward.
On the mostly ravaged mainland, a small community not interested in the bloodshed of the main city migrated there and formed a kind of commune reminiscent of the hippie movement of years long-since past. Cultivating the lands as best they could, and wanting nothing but the chance to live in peace, it wasn't long before they realized that they, too, were at risk. Their peaceful ways were no match against the violence that found its way there, with people desiring the fresh food and other supplies for themselves. LOCK appealed to them to make a deal - they would protect them with their virtual militia of workers in exchange for an agreement to import their goods into the city for the benefit of the citizens there without the necessary means to farm and generate such necessities. They eagerly agreed for the greater good, something they desperately desired, as well as the security of a life without the need to fight.
Only a few years past the initial explosions that allowed the Earth to emerge reborn from the flames, more sinister and cold than ever, most people - at least on the San Francisco side of things - had settled into how things were, as harsh a reality as it may have been. Survival of the fittest had always been a running theme in the lives of all things. However, before, while the 'fittest' was beginning to be a standard of wealth and education, the tides are now turning to something more primal... something more ancient.
Something more planned.
O31 was their Judgment Day.
We join this city and this world fifteen years later.
