The Eternal Glass Ceiling :: The Neo-Reconquista

Pandemic Damnation

[ The Year 2050 ]

Amaru woke up decades after the impact of the great global cataclysm. He emerged from the rubble only to find that his entire village had been swept down the mountain killing hundreds of men, women and children. The houses were reduced to landfill and the livestock was out of sight. In Amaru's mind, everything appeared as if it had happened just days ago. But, the land had been destroyed for even longer than he could imagine.

He didn't have the slightest explanation to how he survived the landslide, but he suspected that if he survived then there must've been others that survived as well. He got up from the rubble with his body covered in mud. Thats when he felt a sharp pain surging through his entire body. Instantly he looked down and noticed that there was a nail connected to a board piercing through his side. He fell to his knees as his trembling fingers navigated around the piercing. The nail was curved making it's piercing deep and extremely painful with each touch. He took a deep breath bracing himself before tugging on the board yanking the nail from his side. He then tossed it aside and got up yelling out for his family, "Mom! Dad! Areli!" But there was no response except the feedback of his own echoes fading away into the distant mountains.

The aftermath of the landslide was cataclysmic, even the inner city was devastated by the catastrophe. Entire buildings were decimated, city streets had giant chasms and sink holes. Cars were flipped upside down and the ground and areas below sea level were submerged under water. Meanwhile in other parts of the country the ocean had receded leaving many marine life washed up on the dry land. It was a scary sight to behold from the mountain where Amaru stood.

He figured that maybe the Mayans were right after all. As he walked around what was left of the village, he could find not one survivor. Not even María, Keila or the elderly men that was huddled around the merchant stand. He was the only one left on the mountain—or so it seemed. In the distance he saw a group of men in yellow and orange suits with masks digging through the debris with large mechanical machinery and huge excavation drills.

He watched from a distance as the men worked until his observation was interrupted by a twelve feet tall robot that had three legs and a cannon attached to it's body. The robot bared the resemblance of a metallic crab, while simultaneously moving like one. Amaru panicked as the robot appeared before him aiming it's cannon. He fell to the ground screaming for help, that's when a man ran over and demanded the robot to stand down. The man's suit resembled some sort of bio hazard attire. On the suit was a logo that read, "Helia Research Facility". The robot followed his instructions like a domesticated animal, ceasing it's actions and standing still.

"Haha, I'm sincerely sorry young man! The Carcinus Gen-x can be a bit aggressive when left on autopilot. Just don't make any sudden moves. Since you're an Outlander you may trigger it's defense mechanisms." the man laughed as he apologized.

"But, why would it attack me?" Amaru asked, gawking at the tall mechanical crustacean.

"Oh, nothing personal towards you per say. But it's because you're an Outlander, and Outlanders are stereotyped to be very hostile due to their peculiar living environments and heightened survival instincts. Some would even go as far as to say that the inhabitants of The Outlands are inherently savage or primitive because of their lack of mental capabilities, but I assure you that this information is pseudoscience." the man stated.

Amaru took awhile to process all of the information that the man had bombarded him with before asking, "What'd you call me? An Outlander? What is that?"

"An Outlander is an arbitrary term used to define somebody that lives beyond the confinements of the dome. So, this place, where we are currently standing would be considered 'The Outlands' and you my friend, would be described as 'An Outlander' which is an inhabitant of The Outlands." the man said as he sat on a nearby rock and lit his tobacco pipe.