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A cold night, a silent breeze, breath fogging. 25 year-old Lucian Carrier found himself once more in solace, alone, on a cliff away from the road and the people it connected him to. He lay on the grass, gazing up on the starry sky, the moon, a waxing gibbus, hung high up above, illuminating the space around him, giving him a sense of comfort. Behind him was a life of regrets and mistakes, broken promises and unmet expectations. Before him a world of horrors beyond one's imagination.
"Worth..."
A word escapes his lips. A word that had haunted him all his life.
"Would it all be worth it?"
Tonight was a night of choices. A decision must be made, a price to be paid. As to whether it will be a consequence or a reward, he is yet to discover.
Taking one last breath, he gazes outside the confines of the walls that kept his city safe. Below the cliff lay his birthplace, his hometown, his origin. A place with no semblance of home for him. Beyond the city, a thick wall, erected to keep the world outside. This was a utopia promised to its people--a safe haven, a shelter--but it was nothing more than a prison to Lucian.
"Tonight, it all changes. I will find my home beyond these walls. Perhaps I'll find happiness where they said I could not."
He chuckles as he props himself up.
I could never find where they said it would be...
Getting up to his feet and dusting himself off, Lucian Carrier takes one last glance at the city below him before turning around to the walls behind him--the same walls that surrounded this city.
"I'll never be ready for what's to come. Regardless, I don't think I'll ever be disappointed out there like I am in here. Out there lies my answer."
And with that, he turned his back to his origins, facing an unknown fate beyond a false utopia.
Each step felt heavier than the last, every second that ticked by felt like forever. His breath was held unknowingly as he made his way through the doors and out the walls. Finally, he reaches the guards' room and the gate outside--whether it was freedom he found or a fate worse than living--he had only this thick gate in between them.
"Halt! What's your name kid? Why are you here at this hour?" a guard called out. "Outside's not a place to have fun."
He smiled at the guard and showed him his backpack that had some clothes, tools and gathering equipment. "Uncle, you already know this isn't my first time going out for samples."
"Cian, it's you! You've never gone out at this hour before." The guard recognized him right away, probed a little about his departure, "Say, I know you're doing this to distract yourself. Is it really that bad back there?"
Lucian nods, "I know I've never been out this late, this would probably be the last time."
Hearing this, the security guard let's out a heavy sigh. "You're not dying, are ya? Life's still got something for a kid like you."
"No, just heading out for a while. Just looking for that 'something' life's supposedly got for me."
"You know I shouldn't let you out with those reasons." He said, his voice betraying his actions as he slowly made his way to the controls from his window. "Kid, what am I supposed to tell 'em 'bout why you disappeared?"
"You can tell them I sought a new flower, one that blooms when it finds moonlight, something about a full moon's flora."
The guard hovers his right hand over the lever that would open the gates, hesitating and reaching back behind him instead.
"Cian, kid, my conscience won't let me live if I let you out to your death. But knowing how you've been living under that hell for a roof above your head, I can't help but feel guilty if I don't open these gates for you." In his locker, he pulled out a recorder, one that could send and receive messages. "I had this when I was younger, though I couldn't really send them to anyone, I recorded messages like it was a journal."
He swiftly turned around and placed it at the window, pushing it across onto the platform just outside.
"At least let me know how you're doing. I know you said this day was gonna come, didn't think it would actually happen so soon." He waited till Lucian picked it up and inspected it before he went back to the lever. "If I was younger, I'd probably have gone with 'ya. So, what's your codename? Wouldn't want anyone to know other than me, right?"
Lucian kept the recorder and smiled as the lever was pulled, the sounds of a machine whirring and spinning gears with creaking metal filled the place while he thought of a name. The gate halted after a short while, stopping only when he could comfortably slip through. As he crossed over the yellow and black striped line on the floor beyond the gate, he turned back and replied.
"Call me Carcer."
And with that, the gate slowly shut. The old security guard, and Lucian's only friend, Tom, watched his silhouette as it disappeared behind the closing metal gates.
*****
Lucian Carrier, borne to the "utopia" Mist City due to its mountainous region casting a blanket of thin fog most mornings, had lived with both his parents. Envied by his friends for the reputation they had, he was seen as the most loved and cherished child by a very loving family--though the truth was surprisingly contrast to that image. Growing up, neither of his parents ever seemed to be the same without a crowd to please, becoming erratic and oppressive. Physically there but was nothing more beyond their reputation.
The world beyond the walls, however, was harsh in its own ways. The reason his ancestors had built walls to surround cities, creating utopias, was to ensure the public's safety from the nature beyond them. As history shows in their books, much like the others in other utopias as they claim, yet another global-scale war broke out and the aftermath had triggered something in the world.
Mere months after it had ended, nature began aggressively taking back the fallen cities, trees and plants grew to sizes and strengths initially beyond them, reaching unexpected heights and lengths faster than ever before. Sort of like nature's defense mechanism had been triggered after all the damage had been done, even animals and insects began to mutate, growing to sizes that would befit their role as they continued to consume each other in the cycle of nature and the plants around them. Herbivores grew stronger, larger, harder shells and better defenses while carnivores developed unparalleled physical strength or agility that befitted their bodies and instincts.
A year after the war ended, creatures had grown larger than they should be and it seemed as though the only thing holding them back was the limit of how much they can consume and stay alive, granting them the potential to grow into the size of small buildings. The military could suppress it but not effectively as after another 6 months, the creatures had adapted into a more resilient form of themselves.
Due to this change, what remained of the world pooled together their resources to unify and create a safe space for everyone to live in--what they should have done from the start instead of fighting each other. Project Utopia was launched another 2 months after and small cities finished construction a little beyond 2 years since the war ended with the larger ones taking up to a year to complete.
This war was called World War 3 and marked a time of chaos as even among allies, humans fought. and now, though initially called another war, and this time against nature, the people called it Phase 2, identifying nature to have decided it was time to adapt and overcome humans who have defiled and destroyed it.
This was 50 years ago.
Lucian Carrier could only imagine what life was--and so could his parents as they were just kids when it all happened. Immersed in technological advancement, all they saw was the world promising a tomorrow that the very same humanity used to destroy each other with.
And now, Lucian heads out beyond the city walls to find his fate under a new name--Carcer.
