It was late at night when Flora looked through the bars on the quarantine room window and saw a shooting star pass by the window. She made a wish as it went. She wished for the sickness to be over. She swore an oath to herself that once the red pox had finally gone from her body she would never take her life for granted again. She vowed to live every day to the fullest. No more would she be afraid of the unknown. She would brave the wastes with her husband and see what the world had to offer. For now, she had to content herself with her continued efforts in learning to read. If she could finish the copy of Dante's Inferno that Apolo had kindly lent her then everyone would be so proud. She was sure she could master the strange markings on the pages. Dante's Inferno would have to wait, however, first she would complete the book Craig had given to her entitled 'Learning How to Read for Dummies'. At least, that's what she was told it was called.
A horrific crashing sound woke up the residents of the Ark. A bright light had momentarily lit up the entire building, but darkness soon ascended once again. There was a great deal of commotion as the heroes of the Ark scrambled to the Elder's quarters for a report. Yet nobody was able to explain where the noise had come from. A small troop of scavengers quickly patrolled the perimeter of the Ark and found nothing. With the Ark seemingly secure, the residents went back to their beds. Only Flora had witnessed the crash in full, though she believed it to be a fever dream.
Early the next morning, talk of the previous night's events found its way to Flora. Hearing of the great crash, she thought back to what she had believed was last night's dream. Not wishing to risk embarrassing herself by telling others of the 'dream', she confided in her best friend Eve, who was also laying in the quarantine room and quite badly sick with the red pox. Eve listened intently to the tale and came to the conclusion that it was likely a dream, but that dreams were sometimes prophecies of the future. Eve insisted on informing the Elder of the prophecy. Initially dismissive of their story, the Elder told them to get back to bed and not to disturb him with their childish nonsense.
There were no secrets in the Ark and word travelled fast. The two underbosses, Marlot and Finch, quickly learned of Flora's prophecy. Both bosses had rallied their men and headed north to investigate. Neither had informed the Elder. Feeling as paranoid as ever, the Elder called the loyalist of his non-quarantined scavengers - Craig, Steve, Rubo and Apolo - to his quarters. The two men and two non-gendered individuals quickly gathered to await the Elder's instructions. What they heard was of no great surprise. The Elder was suspicious of his underlings' motives. There was talk that had fallen from the sky had come from Eden - the mythical place that many believed they had all originated from. The party were tasked with reaching the crash site first and securing whatever it was that had fell from the sky.
With no time to lose, the party set off from the Ark. As the Elder was feeling especially paranoid, no companion was assigned to assist them. Craig speculated that the Elder might even be arranging for their usual companions to be setting off in a group of their own to the crash site. He hoped that a civil war would not break out. Apolo stated that they felt it was crazy for everyone to be getting so excited just because something had fallen from the sky. There was nothing to suggest that it had actually come from Eden, or that such a place even existed. Nobody had any conception of what it could be, and Apolo argued that it could simply be a mutated creature that had caught fire. "A mutated creature from Eden probably", said Steve.
Knowing the wastes like few others, Craig led the party quickly northwards, finding a path through the thick woods of the north. Craig and Steve was familiar with the area after their previous mission in liberating the logging camp. Craig thought back to the fight at the camp and shuddered, if only he had protected Flora, maybe she would not have taken that vile of acid to the face. The path through the woods allowed the party to gain on Finch and Marlot, and the party also made swift progress through the glassified fields that surrounded the woods. One wrong step could doom them, but following in Craig's footsteps they quickly made it through acres of dangerous terrain.
Fire in the abandoned town of A-Whole-Tonne indicated where the thing had collided with the Earth. The party rushed through derelict industries to reach the crumbling ruins of A-Whole-Tonne. The ruins were ablaze, undoubtedly due to the thing that fell from the sky. Yet upon closer inspection, it was obvious to Apolo that whatever had landed was no longer there. A great tear on the ground indicated that the thing had skidded off to the south-west. The party debated their next move. Steve insisted that whatever had come to the Earth had fallen from Eden, "Eden is definitely in space!" he claimed. Craig felt that it was best that they return to the Ark to report their findings. Apolo disagreed, saying that it was best to head south-west and investigate further.
Marlot came across the party as they were squabbling among themselves. Soon, Finch also found them. The two underling bosses were not surprised to see the party." Doesn't he trust us, eh?" smiled Marlot. Finch laughed in response, "years of loyal service and he still can't trust us eh? That's our elder alright." All agreed that there was nothing more for any of them to see there, and Marlot and Finch offered to accompany the party back to the Ark. Yet Apolo took Craig aside and again insisted that they should head south-west. "We must be getting back to the Ark," Craig said, "It would be risky following the trial of fire, whatever landed has long since burnt up". Feeling as though they were losing control of the situation, Apolo shrieked "Nobody said you had to come!"
Craig was taken aback by his companion's churlish remark. Hearing raised voices, Rubo and Steve gathered round to see what was going on. "Explain your remark" ordered Craig. Apolo blushed, and after gathering their thoughts went on to say "I feel that something of immense importanence is mustered westerly and southerly to where we most currently are located. In so far and as much as it is our solemn duty to serve the Ark, we must abide there post-haste as responsible Ark members, particularly when two [air quotes] 'scavengers' are not as strong as the others. And yes, I did say that nobody said you had to come, because it is a factual statement that at no time did anybody state that you were being forced to go south-west against your will." Craig, Steve and Rubo stood in silent annoyance.
Eventually, Craig called Marlot and Finch over to them, and stated that the new plan was for the party to return to the Ark, sans Apolo, who would go with Marlot and Finch to the south-west to hunt the source of the crash. Apolo was delighted and was quick to show it. Apolo explained to Craig that "I'm happy to go with Marlot and Finch. It's not that I hate you or anything, it's just that I have decided to focus on scavengers my own skill range because I enjoy their company more." Craig walked away to silently fester on these comments, and bid Steve and Rubo to follow him back to the Ark.
Apolo and her new friends skipped hand-in-hand to the south-west. They held deep conversations about Eden, the Ark and the meaning of their existence. The time seemed to fly by as they soon reached crumbling ruins that now had a large metallic structure embedded within them. The structure was still smoking and had clearly impacted on the ruins very recently. Apolo reached for their sketchbook and quickly drew what they saw: a small satellite that had the word EDEN stamped on the side. Marlot investigated the area and Apolo sketched. Marlot found a photograph of men and women in white clothing. She asked Finch to examine it, though Finch was unable to make anything of it. Finch had also found something of interest, a small artefact.
With the sketch now complete, Apolo stared at the photograph. It seemed alien, yet familiar. Apolo reached out to touch it and was instantly struck by a vision. The vision was of the future. It showed Apolo, though she was not with her new friends Marlot and Finch. She was with Craig, Steve and Rubo, as well as with Flora. It showed them all celebrating aboard a truck. The truck was driving away from the Ark. It was part of a convoy of trucks, each filled with all the people and possessions of the Ark, as well as tonnes of food supplies. The statue of Flora was being dragged behind the final truck. What a strange future, Apolo thought, however could such a scenario occur? They thought to themselves that that scenario would never happen.
Steve and Craig were deep in conversation on the way back home. Craig was saying how much of a jerk Apolo was. Steve would reply that "so what? You love Flora, not Apolo!" Craig had to conceded that Steve made a good point. Steve went on to say that "Eden is definitely in space". Rubo and Craig were not convinced, though Steve was adamant. After Steve said "Eden IS in space" for the fiftieth time, Rubo hit him on the head with his robot fist. They carried on walking in silence, though Steve still muttered to himself "it definitely is in space".
Deciding to take a different route home, Craig, Steve and Rubo traversed through barren fields that seemed completely abandoned by all forms of life when suddenly, a loud buzzing sound filled the air. The buzzing noise quickly became overwhelming. Suicidal thoughts entered Craig and Steve's heads as they began to scream. Three giant grasshoppers emerged from over the horizon and began to fly directly at the party. Craig and Steve were by this time lying on the ground screaming and beating their fists at their heads. The grasshoppers came closer, greedily eyeing up their prey. Craig knew he was going to die, and he welcomed death. Death would mean silence and darkness, it would mean an escape from the sounds that filled his head.
The silence came. Though only after three large explosions. Craig and Steve slowly opened their eyes. They saw three giant grasshoppers lying dead on the ground, their bodies blown wide open. "Threat neutralised", said Robo, as the missile launchers retreated from his shoulders and into his back. "I didn't know you could do that!" Craig shouted. "Nether did I", replied Rubo. The men got to their feet and the three friends continued their journey towards the Ark. Craig and Steve were shaken by the experience, but felt a whole lot safer with Rubo around.
Craig, Steve and Rubo were in the Elder's quarters when Apolo returned with Marlot and Finch. The Elder was still suspicious, but was quickly reassured by Apolo, who assured him that Marlot and Finch were as loyal to him as ever. Finch handed over the artefact he had found, which the Elder reasoned was something he would not do if he was plotting against him. They examined the artefact. It was a small construct, shaped like a disc with a hole in the middle. The Dawn Vault librarian was summoned to see what they could make of the construct. Almost immediately upon inspecting it, the librarian shouted "eureka!" and rushed off to the Dawn Vault, with the others in quick pursuit.
Having first unlocked the door, the librarian ran into the Dawn Vault, and fished out the device that had been stolen by Larry many moons ago. They jammed the disc like structure inside and began to poke at the buttons. The Elder and the party stood in silence and then in shock as the device kicked into life. A voice appeared out of the device. It was a voice none of them recognised. It spoke of things they could not comprehend "Eden Laboratories, Edinburgh division report. The experiment is a failure. Subjects deceased. Eden Laboratories, Brighton division report. The experiment is a failure. Subjects killed themselves. Eden Laboratories, Manchester report. The experiment is a failure. Subjects lost. Eden Laboratories, Stafford division report. Experiment still in progress. Subjects living. Continue testing Stafford."
They had finally heard confirmation of Eden's existence. Steve was shocked that it was not in space. It seemed that there had once been many Edens. The Edens referred to as Edinburgh, Brighton and Manchester baffled them. However, the Elder stroked his chin and told them that there had been talk in the before times of a place called Stafford to the south of Stoke. He had not been, but was sure that with enough food supplies then they could reach there. It was decided that once the disease was cured, then their next move would be to find a way to Stafford. Steve suggested they commandeer the trucks of the food warehouse and drive them to Eden. "A fine suggestion," Craig agreed, "but first let's go to the hospital. Flora's horrific face injury was fixed at the hospital. If there's anywhere we can find a cure for red pox, it's there..."