Return : Book One in the Return series

Part 1 - The Cataclysm

August 1st/9 AM/3269

Matthew Stone, businessman, walked into the grand hall of The Globe, one of Planet Apollo's greatest structures, other than Apollo itself, of course. The massive structure was roughly the size of Earth, and if it hadn't been made all gleaming steel, it could've passed off as its twin. His fake leather shoes clicked with every step as he made his way through the crowd and towards the elevators.

In the elevator, he thought back to what his ancestors had passed on to his grandparents, who had passed onto him, as he did every day.

This planet was manmade. It was hard to believe, if not for the improbable fact that it was made of refined steel, and yet he had questions. What was the planet next to Apollo like? Why did human civilization move to this place, and how on Apollo could it only have 7 billion people back at its peak of financial and global success? Apollo had over 15 billion, and yet this planet was managing to stay alive. Nothing, not a single inch of fabric or steel or any other material, was organic. Everything had been made by the Creators, the über geniuses who realized Earth was about to fail, and invented a new world, and somehow moved the whole of Earths population here. How did they do that? And is there any evidence, a little bit of rust on this spotless world?

He put that thought back into the depths of his mind, filled with unsolved mysteries, and pulled out another.

What do animals look like?

He knew that they were drastically different, well most of them were. But it occurred to him that along the way of passing stories from one generation to the next, information must have been mixed up. There was no way there could've ever been an animal even slightly like humans. At most, it might have been another type of human, and anyways, the names were so strange that he couldn't even comprehend them. Chimpanzees? Gorillas? They couldn't be more rustic and old. They had names now, but they were called names so scientifically correct that it counted out the genetic code of its DNA, and so people couldn't even type it. The thought of something so familiar, reassuring, put him at ease. He focused on reality and got his brain back into gear.

Arriving at the 300th floor. Please watch your step.

The emotionless, cold voice, neither man or woman, uttered that same phrase Matthew had heard every day of his working life. He exited the elevator and headed to his cubicle. On the way, he encountered a few fellow coworkers, who waved at him and said a few formal greetings, yet he knew they didn't know him. not actually. all they knew of him was Matthew Stone, just another worker at The Globe. that was how everyone knew each other. People only really had a few others that they actually knew, and that was family and married person's family. Otherwise, there was no other way for a relationship to sprout. it was simply not possible. people grew up knowing that they didn't contact others, that it wasn't useful, and that it should be avoided unless beneficial. And yet, most people that you might accidentally meet could be beneficial, and yet, it was as if he was hardwired to avoid those and simply go on with his day, nothing happening, every day, one after the other, grey and dull, slowly making him lose consciousness of all surroundings, sinking him into a pool of misery and-BAM! A large stack of papers slammed onto his desk, snapping him out of his other world and focusing on the task at hand. His boss patted him on the back, and left him with that never ending stream of work.

He resolutely turned to those neat yellow binders, and snapped the first one open, expecting to find the same old business numbers, stats, and everything that needed to be improved by him. his job was to make things better, and he was particularly good at it.

Except this time was different. There were names; names he'd never heard of: George Washington, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela. As the file said, apparently they had changed the world, revolutionized it. As he dug deeper and deeper into the stack of files, he grew increasingly more and more suspicious of the way this planet was handled. These people weren't part of Apollo's history, which could only mean they were part of Earth's history.

Matthew sat back in shock, his mind overflowing with new thoughts and unanswered questions. Why did humanity move to Apollo if things had shaped up to a bright future, with the help of these people? Why would there be any need to move from such a place, with so many possibilities?

He flipped to the last file, thinking he could'nt be any more shocked than he was now.

He was wrong. Dead wrong.

On last file, the cover was marked saying that it was highly classified, and the name was Project Catclysm. He opened it with trembling hands, and learned the real reason Earth was left behind to fend for itself, along with around 1 billion people.

It was because of The Cataclysm. A formula developed by Argent Sledge, some renowned scientist who was now around 60. The Cataclysm was able to be received by people, if ingesting the original patient's blood or being bitten. As for its effects, Matthew could'nt even comprehend such horrible, greusome, disgusting effects. They turned people into walking corpses. Skin rotted, organs gone, less than a shell of the human body. It aimed for no prey but humans. It ignored everything else, all its murderous hate and violence unleashed upon its creators. Matthew turned to the last page, glad that he had not been on Earth when this was unleashed, as it said. Then a thought struck him. Sledge was neither dead no in prison, nobody had confined him for creating this, and for all he knew, Sledge might be planning to unleash such a formula upon Apollo. He glanced back at the page, and what he say next freezed his blood and stole all air from his lungs. It said: Virus Planned Release Date: August 2nd/12 AM/3269. Tommorow.

Matthew dropped everything he had and ran straight for the elevator as alarms started blaring, saying one thing. This is Argent Sledge. Head Scientist of Apollo's science community. I am requesting you to get me a known and wanted criminal. His name: Matthew Stone.

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Hey guys, thanks so much for reading the first chapter of Return. If you guys enjoyed, be sure to follow me to receive notifications on this book and on my other WIP, Hero Academy! See you in the next chapter!