Introduction

[⋆⭑★ Kipp ★⭑⋆]

Introduction

The modern world had been run into the ground by its inhabitants. Wars had been waged over borders, land, lives, and for the greed of the human race. People raced for power, thrusting themselves into unstable situations to collect influence and control over the world's people. The ground trodden beneath soldiers' feet, skies clouded with smog and debris, the waters polluted with grime and dust, sludge and dirt. Toxicity defiled the heart of mankind, bringing the desecration of societies, dismantling economies, and leaving the world in a constant state of war and ruin. Populations were left in poverty, toiling and laboring for basic needs, whilst the rich men sat in their mansions, growing fat in their gluttony, huffing and puffing their pompous laughs. They sat on their golden thrones, plucking the caviar from their teeth with Ivory picks, staring at themselves in their mirrors of polished glass.

Then it snapped.

Windows shattering unprovoked, mirrors crumbling into shards without a trace of any outer influence prompting it to do so. Beads of glass erupted from the sea, lenses cracked in their frames, falling to the ground in a sharp-edged heap, wine glasses crackled into sparkling particles, showering down from opera balconies.
Fragments vibrated on the floor, the Earth’s surface shaking beneath the people’s feet. Like a gust of wind, the fragments skidded from the ground, bouncing around furniture, walls, and rocks, as they all came together towards their final destination. Leaving the ground, they all shot up into the skies, forming together, building a shape for everyone to see. People watched from the ground below, shielding their eyes from the sun as they stared at the now-darkened sky. Above them all stood a symbol, like a cake slice, or a wedge of cheese. A very menacing wedge of cheese.
People glanced at the sky and at each other, some in horror, others quizzically, wondering what the mysterious cake slice meant.
Before anyone could react, the smallest grains came flitting down, grazing the cheeks of all who stood below. More fragments came tumbling down, the heavier pieces gaining speed, heating up, and melting as they plummeted toward the crowds below. Raining fire was how many described it. Balls of goop hotter than anything anyone had ever felt were being hurled against the people's skin from the sky, burning into their skin and scalding their flesh in sizzling agony.
The shower of falling blazes continued for weeks, the molten beads falling to the Earth, spinning and targeting anyone within range, destroying anyone and anything man-made in their wake. The Earth shook under the prodding feet of the people, running, fleeing as best as they could from the small infernos falling from the sky. Screams and cries rang out, filling the air with breathless mourning.
The bombardment lasted for 3 weeks before the glass finally ceased plunging to the ground. All pieces were collected together, forming figures, some of clear glass, some with colors, others with sea glass, and more with glass unseen by human eyes. They counseled with each other, their shapes forming and morphing with scraping symphonies, taking forms, making characters of a language that cannot be spoken. As they conversed without words, they seemed to come to a consensus, all molding back into their glassy figures, each going their separate ways.
The being of clear glass moved North, leaving a winding trail of fragments in the ground, each of which sprouted up into its being.
The being of colored glass, like those used in the windows of Cathedrals of old, moved South in a manner identical to the being previous, each being of glass sprouting up behind it inheriting a different color.
Likewise, the being of sea glass moved East, and the being of reflective glass moved West, each leaving behind them small beings made in their image.
Each of these mini beings moved throughout the lands, searching for any signs of remaining life. Most found nothing but desolation of the human race, and the reclaiming of mother Earth. But others, these select few, found remnants, small groups of humans spared from the bombardment of their kind. The beings aided the remaining humans, leading them to food, to water, and helping them build shelter. To many, these beings were known as “Shardlets”, and over time, the Shardlets began to learn the human language. They built towns together, building civilization back up from the dust. They took on more humanoid forms, embracing parts of the culture of the past, and teaching the new culture that came along with the new world. Together, the remaining humans worked hand in hand with the shardlets, rebuilding the world with each other in mind, building trust and solidarity between the two races, repopulating the Earth with children who were raised learning their history, knowing of both their glass halves and their human ancestors.
Despite the overall prosperity the Shardlet's kindness brought between themselves and the humans, some people refused to be helped. Small groups of humans revolted against the shardlets kindness, shattering them beneath their feet, and blaming them for the destruction of their world. These people built their cities, in solitude, as far away from any shardling as they could.
As time passed, a man emerged from one of these civilizations, claiming he knew how to take the world back from the shardlets. He taught that the shardlets had corrupted the world, that they had spread their vileness into their children. This man grew a large following, and took them all out of civilization, building underground facilities, where he would begin his works.
In these bunkers is where our story begins.