Everdistant Utopia [NieR: Automata] [Fate]

Chapter 1

Shirou noticed that the passage of time flows differently than what he is accustomed to. He found himself troubled and frowning as the sun remained in the air despite the hours of walking to wherever his legs dragged him too. With the separation of day and night, he's unable to tell when the arrival of the next day comes.

So far, he is not sure how far away he is from the nearest civilization. A few miles away is the city where he departed from. The fact he has nothing on his person to tell how much time truly passes has him sighing with disappointment. So far, he has not encountered anything but deserted land. He has arrived at another empty city causing him to frown at what exactly could have caused the collapse of another civilization.

Instead of abandoning the city like the previous, his mind raced through the possibility of finding clues on what exactly happened, alongside how long he has been asleep. This allows him to rest for a moment, he has been walking for a while.

"Let's hope that I can at least find some answers..." Shirou muttered to himself as he stared at the city in front of him with a blank expression. A look of discomfort escapes him at the thought of the city. The city was once filled with life and yet now nothing is left but ancient ruins. Once again, the unnerved thought crossed his mind...

How much time has passed?

-~-

No good. Shirou scratched his head as he rests against the chair he found. So far nothing of importance was found. He saw many things around the city, tattered clothes from the shopping district, technology such as television wouldn't matter when it seems like electricity doesn't coarse throughout the city. He tried switching the lights and nothing happened. Structural Grasp showed that the circuits have gone bad and had deteriorated over time.

Natural gas, nuclear energy, coal, etc. help power the area with electricity. He would have to find the city's main power if he wished to restore the place. But...

Who is to say that those places don't work as well with the amount of time passed? Shirou frowned at the thought as above his hand, a backpack appeared as he gently caught it. Some things around the city must be valuable or can be sold.

If he finds a place to stay in, he will need money most likely... Not to mention he needs to worry about basic human needs like food and hygiene. But the thing is, none of the stuff so far has shown value. All that lies around is books, tattered clothes, and cracked electronics. Salvaging these things can be useful. When he saw tattered clothing, it left a bad taste in his mouth.

Shirou found himself feeling slight optimism as he realized that he can sew the holes in the clothes that he found lying around. Despite how dirty clothing can be, it can always be washed. Who knows how the world has come to be? He fears that humanity has suffered a lot from the look of the two cities. If his fears come true, then humanity is not doing as well as it did when he was journeying.

I can only hope I can do my best with whatever someone needs help with. His ideals remain in hand as he got up from the chair. He will continue to do the same as he has always been doing. Traveling around the world and helping those in need. He will continue his best to try to save everyone.

With that, he began salvaging what he could find, equipped with his backpack on his back. The first thing he picked up was a book from a shelf that was full of dust. He can see that from the size and length of the book. It was easy to decipher it being a children's book. He held it firmly as he then walked out of the room and began to look elsewhere for items he can take.

His eyes darted up down, left, and right scanning for anything of value.

-~-

How careless of him. He cursed his luck.