Saturday - October 27th, 2121:

The ground vibrated beneath my feet as an older man approached. As the man neared, I saw his arms and torso wrapped with thick brown bark with ash-grey spots that speckled it, the weight of the growth thudding loudly against the ground as he slowly made his way to me. The man's face was wrinkled and wizened, but it didn't detract from the playful warmth that it radiated.

Several children ran to the man and cried out, holding onto the back of his trousers. "Caretaker, Skyfall yelled at Sapphire."

"There, there, little ones." The man said as he patted the children's heads. "Skyfall didn't mean to. He's just confused and grumpy. You know how you feel when you're hungry? It's like that."

"Now, I'll talk to Skyfall, and you can play among yourselves, okay?"

"Yes, Caretaker!" The children nodded and laughed before running off behind the tents, leaving only the sapphire-eyed boy and the 'Caretaker' accompanying my confusion.

The man sat on a stone near one of the tents and motioned for me to sit across from him, "Come, Skyfall. There must be a lot you're confused about. Let's talk."

I sat across from him reluctantly, "Who are you? What are you? Why do you people keep calling me Skyfall? What happened to Earth? What is this place?"

The man chuckled and stroked his beard, "Slow down, Skyfall. There's no need to be so flustered. Let's see— as to who I am— the children call me the Caretaker because I take care of them."

"Caretaker...?" I questioned.

"That's right! Now— as to what I am— just a mutation like the rest. A lot has changed on Earth. You must have seen the signs already. This place is our hideaway from the Buried Ones. It filters the spread just enough that we're allowed a moment of peace, for however long it may last."

"Buried Ones? Are you talking about the creatures below the Earth?" I asked as the words pieced together into a large picture in my mind.

"That's correct, Skyfall. So you know about Project Horizon already?" The man stroked his beard with surprise painted on his wrinkled face. "That'll make some things easier to explain then."

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

"You asked why we call you Skyfall, and to explain that, I'll start at the beginning as it all correlates."

"When the Buried began to parasitize humanity, some of our greatest minds created several plans to confront them. The children and I were one such plan. My son was one of the researchers and created a subterranean shelter for the young to survive. Granted, it didn't go as planned, but the effort was at least made to preserve humanity. Another plan was what they later dubbed Project Horizon— a method to destroy all the parasites at the root." The man paused with melancholy on his face.

He sighed and continued, "Some had conflicting opinions of Project Horizon. They wanted mutual destruction or a way to leave themselves a path to survival. Humanity was far from united, and the enemies breathing down our necks hardly helped it. It was bloody, Skyfall. Your kind was fortunate to have spent your final days in the sky. When the end came, all plans were meaningless."

"In the end, nothing mattered. The world had a way to keep the balance, and we were all cogs in the machine. When we awoke, the children's minds were blank as the day they were born, filled with innocence and curiosity for the new world, and I was the only one left to take care of them. One day, after the end had already come, we saw the eruption of light ascending into the sky, reflecting upon the Earth—the starry void above. There we saw you— projected and falling for all to see."

'It was incredibly cool!' The boy called Sapphire chipped in, breaking his silent vigilance over our conversation as his voice entered my mind. 'The sky was always covered, and we saw nothing but the swirling mists and clouds, but when you fell, the sky opened up, and we could see what lay beyond. It was beautiful!'

"It was rather awe-inspiring." The Caretaker added, stroking his beard. It seemed that he heard Sapphire as well. "I'm rather amazed that you even survived Skyfall. It belies comprehension, but I suppose the way the world is after the changes, what isn't incomprehensible anymore?"

He's lying to you. Kill him and take the children hostage. Use them against the monsters to survive.

"What you say doesn't make sense. I found a journal in a bunker that said Project Horizon didn't launch until the light erupted, and that's when I lost my memory until I awoke on Earth. I also found the fallen space station. It had been attacked from within, and all my comrades were dead or missing. So, excuse me if I don't trust your timeline wholeheartedly."

'Caretaker doesn't lie!' Sapphire replied with a sharp hiss in my mind, his eyes glowing as he spoke.

"Now, now, relax, Sapphire. You cannot let anger be your first thought when someone doesn't believe you." The Caretaker spoke and patted the boy's head. "Remember, we're all humans. We were disjointed once, and if we fought among ourselves again, we'd have wasted all those years for nothing."

"I— I'm sorry, I didn't mean to doubt you. Everything is still new to me. This world, these things that surround me. It isn't the Earth that I knew."

"I know, Skyfall. You, too, are a young sprout learning how to walk again. Stay in the camp for a while and get to know the children. Perhaps it'll help grant some clarity to your future." The man smiled and stood up, placing his bark-covered hand on my shoulder.

"Okay," I muttered instinctively and lowered my head toward the ground, lost in thought.