Chapter 1: Evolution Unlocked

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    The crimson sun peeked from beyond its resting place to illuminate, nothing...

    Nothing that held any value these days. Jared often wandered the streets of what used to be New York City, but only scavengers and mutated creatures roamed its streets. He stood on top of a rusted slag of metal that used to be the Statue of Liberty, or at least one version rebuilt over the years. Now, it was a melted heap of rusted iron; similar to most structures in the city. Somewhere around the year 2,500, 500 years ago, World War IV rendered most of the world an inhospitable wasteland. Only one in ten people survived in the aftermath.

    Before the fallout, wealthy billionaires created floating islands in the ocean that allowed people to survive. The remainder of the population were considered acceptable losses. Not everyone outside the islands died, but many of them wished they had.

    Pockets of survivors remained and even lived a comfortable life, but it wasn't until ten years ago that anyone explored beyond the colonies. Ten years ago an inventor created nanotechnology that allowed people to survive nuclear radiation. The nanites converted nuclear waste and radioactive material into fuel for the body. To sustain the body in this manner, the nanites need to be replenished every few years.

    Jared couldn't rely on getting regular rations as an explorer. He either scavenged nano injections off corpses or stole them from supply caches. Even though exploration was rare, it wasn't too difficult to find other explorers corpses ravaged by the predators that stalked the earth.

    These predators had mutated from the radiation. New species spawned resembling prehistoric dinosaurs while others looked akin to nightmarish amorphous blobs of fat with wicked sharp claws and teeth. Every single one of these creatures were carnivores; plants didn't exist outside safe zones. No matter where Jared explored, he always showed up on the dinner menu.

    Jared's anti-dinner program was a Colt 45-70 Peacemaker strapped to his side. This massive hand-cannon shot a round that stopped everything he'd come across so far. Well, it stopped them if he got a clean shot at a vital organ. Sometimes, that was hard to discern amongst the layers of misshapen flesh.

    While waiting for the sun to march higher into the sky, Jared busied himself by checking over his status screen. One of the by-products of the nanotechnology included a digital status screen where he visualized the nanites in his body. It looked similar to one of the old-school video games he'd seen.

    "Leveling up" was not a choice for him, but over time the nanites improved his body. Since he set out to explore, he often found himself in places with no infrastructure left and needed better sight or he needed to survive extreme temperatures. The nanites improved his vision to see in the dark and regulated his body temperature when needed. Jared wished he could choose which improvements to make, but it was limited. Instead, he endured extreme environments before the changes occurred.

    He was due for a nano injection and the status screen for his nanites showed he had just under three months remaining. If he didn't find replacement nanites in the next few months his body could die due from exposure to toxins in the air. Dying from the toxins was just one method of being killed in the wasteland that covered the world. With the nanite failure, his improved physical abilities stopped working. If that happened, the edge he needed to survive as an explorer evaporated. An unnamed, mutated beast that walked the streets of old New York City would gorge on his flesh.

    It was rare for anyone to venture out of a safe zone. There was nothing to gain outside civilization; at least that's what everyone believed. Even the rich and influential never left their islands, except to send delivery of nano injections to survivor settlements. Anyone living outside these designated areas were on their own.

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