Chapter 141

“So those are the losses mankind had in the first decade?” William inquired, looking at Ellie, who skimmed over some books to pass her time.

“Oh, those? Yes. These are data about humanity prior to the engagement of the first Walkers. They arrived in odd manners. Babies, I mean. Can you believe how that started? It is good that humanity never lost their numbers, which is a miracle and the main reason we are even alive. Frankly, one might even say there were more people back then. It is an interesting phenomenon.”

“So humanity still lived for decades of... what? Defiance, living like rats, and... shelters? That sounds familiar.” William assumed. He often speculated, considered his discoveries, and compared them to others. Ellie taught him this method of learning and thinking, so he did think what he could. Sometimes, it even aimed at what he did not want to judge or imagine.

For example, how much was the past different from today? He thought of it a lot and reflection from Outside gave him a lot of views on how Darks and people lived.

To his knowledge, the peak human population was absolutely unbelievable. Millions of people lived in the cities. Tens of millions made up nations, while the biggest ones had more than a billion people. Most of those nations lived to this day in name and power, albeit in much smaller scopes.

It was a wonder if millions of people could change and figure out how to suit this era. Long ago, there was no wonder why people were so numerous. They were in the middle of the most precious scientific advancements.

Unfortunately, Ellie went over some facts and called humanity an uncommon curse. This planet was their home, yet they played with it as if it were nothing. Then, there were politics, global warming, and so on. William skipped that shit without a second though because what was that before Darks? These records and rooms had rough estimates of what fewer places knew.

“So, the start of the Dawn really occurred in 2014, which is.... 114 years ago?”

“Oh, you can seriously count?” Ellie said, laughing and closing her book since William didn't comment on her snarky study. “Well, yes. 114 years is a long time if one thinks of generations. Time is a coherent piece of law that makes a lot of sense. People always thought about time and we have our calendars and science. This much is amazing, isn't it? More than a century became lost.. Vandalized. But it kept on going. I wish I could be mad.”

“We might as well no longer be called humanity. We are just like dogs to Darks if one evaluates the whole picture,” William argued, which made Ellie a bit uncomfortable since he started to be a little bit crazy with how he changed and began to speak. Still, she agreed. There should be more dogs, cats, chickens, and rabbits than people.

One thing that stuck out of this room was the importance of Walkers. First generations were kind of obscure but showed their merits. William couldn't see much of their point, as they sounded distant like the previous world. He might call them a whisper that came with experience. What of their creation, politics, or how Walkers changed humanity throughout their existence? Their powers were sick, followed by discoveries, and how they impacted Darks.

If anything, that's what he should know, but he wasn't aware of a whole lot of what they had done out there and where it mattered. And he was one of them, regardless of lacking manners Outside, or... himself. He should've tried to learn more, but there was no time for regrets before Ellie.

After some persuasion, Ellie described obvious answers about Walkers. Everything about their history was on the upper floors and some museums or history vaults didn't work for everything. It was about Darks, Dawn, and Walkers who were intricately connected and mentioned in some locks.

Her reasoning was simple. Regular people could get anywhere below the upper floors, and see what their interests in thought months or years if they spent enough credits. But for better forms, if not the best ones, Walkers and Darks were topics they couldn't touch just because they wanted to.

It was around the year 2030 that described the weirdness of Emblems. Such earliest descriptions were vague, yet their standings and reputations rose after Darks discovered interesting prey. It was a shame; they were weak and took way too long to grow up. It wasn't steady so they should hurry and blossom so they could begin with their primal hunts!

Presently, Walkers were the absolute leadership in every single zone of the human world. They eclipsed hopes, even though many of them were like sleeping rabbits, while Darks waited for turtles to become tigers.

Walkers could become much more than that. Their powers and knowledge were studied by a lot of research here in the Federation. Most prosperous places were the same as they took Walkers for the finest weapons and masters. Or slaves...

Positions and power knitted with survival, until humanity began to prospect around the end of their century.

William was fine understanding that, and his place and time held a grand key. It was a shame, but Walkers weren't tigers upon their arrival or for many decades thereafter. They were much weaker and their Emblems and powers changed with rather bizarre and difficult times. It wasn't free to slaughter a thing, so much more expansive times were ahead.

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Since then, Walkers shouldn't leave humanity, for they should lead people to a new dawn. It was a silly quote that some silly humans had voiced in multiple instances. They hoped for nirvana and a completely new beginning. William saw it as stupid and never understood that even if they were around North America to this day. In these books, their comments met his sneer and contempt. After all, Walkers were still humans and many wished to stay that way.

There were plenty of other interesting cases. Ellie talked about the premise of getting powerful people to high positions and how it could lead to problems, yet was that right or infuriating? This was beyond his scope. It was obvious that power and safety benefited lower societies. It was literary built into the foundation of societies and how even animals lived. Improper decisions could wipe out anything. William saw that Outside and it emitted out of him.

Trusting Walkers was a good thing, many people said. There weren't other choices besides that, he wished to express.

William accepted what Ellie said and learned something new. Closing on the fourth day in the Federation, he was changing every day. In a good way, he hoped, oblivious to the new world. Besides his new clothes, Ellie wanted to get him worry-free, yet she got further from that every day.

So what if he didn't see too many happy people in the streets? They kept working, hoping, and desiring a better tomorrow. That wouldn't come free. Almost like Outside, it felt different even in this paradise. Most were glad to live and keep it that way. This hope wasn't cheap, so they helped out in their own ways because nothing should ever be taken for granted. William understood it better than some of Ellie's words.

William also learned where this land was. An island in the Pacific Ocean, revamped by Walkers and nations, it strengthened until it was no longer small. It was the most extensive island-expanding project in the world, with boundless materials and resources put into it.

Named Bermuda Isles, they were east of North America and broke in the Dawn.

In many political and crucial choices, Walkers and surviving members of numerous nations decided to build a fortress. Not quite like the Federation straight away, they studied and strategically reinforced their current positions for the future. Hance, the biggest fortress in this hemisphere carried immense hope.

Being in the middle of the Pacific Ocean didn't help. The vast operation spanned a considerable amount of time and effort until it proved its worth. No matter how many lives it took in the process.

The results were partly under William's awareness, as he learned and heard of what the Federation became. He was half unsure of what was it like at the start like almost anyone. After all, who among those working on this project was alive? Elders, perhaps? Well, those who knew it more than anyone were surviving Walkers of that time.

Creating a new piece of land wasn’t easy, unlike the destruction that was honest and ordinary. Bermuda Isles became a prize that was almost insignificant compared to the craze of the mainland. Some Darks were capable of squashing islands apart but no one knew how or when that would happen. Either way, they had to prevent it.

Rocks and lands had to be put together, stitched, or brought from far away, while people would move in and make up a city as the first plan. Then it would slowly turn bigger until a nation with a myriad of structures became real.

Walkers made it possible, but their numbers weren't immense. Before any of them, experience and people came with ideas and dreams, and people got to work. Without even one part complete and fine, there would be no Federation. It needed something better and stronger than the previous humanity.

Being in the middle of nowhere helped and troubled everything in its own way. Perhaps only Hawaii sounded better, but those lands were larger and already occupied by crazy Darks who made paradise out of it. Creation was better, even if it was full of thorns coming from eventual Rifts and sky. Not the water; Darks didn't like water for some reason, but many of them could fly and use Dark Fog's incomprehensible advantages.

Bermuda Isles was a great choice as it was closer to the American continents while not being too close. That point hid valuable ideas and resources and Willaim couldn't get behind it no matter how Ellie explained it.

After all, they were still in hazardous proximity to everything, or… perhaps there was no safety here, to begin with, which William agreed with. Darks invaded, and fought, and what was their Rifts if not a key to a wide door? They were natural in this new era, obvious to the Rifts all around the Federation that marked their Doom.

Anything near the First Fracture, one of the three starts that went from the Amazon in the middle of South America, was mad, overflowing across the south to north. By now, the entire South and half of North America—with occasional safe havens making small marks or bare droplets of light in the darkness—were hazardous zones made into numerous levels.

Thousands of miles of distance wasn't a haven on its own. The Federation couldn’t just turtle up and slowly build up its foundation and grow endlessly in this manner.

William had a lot of that in mind, and it changed or mixed with new notes and texts. Be it Ellie or some books, their decent history described their truth. Unbeknown to him, a large number of texts weren't here, locked or not. They were private due to privacy, and sensitivity, or they were out of sight simply because of Kaufman, even if Heidi hoped they wouldn’t be.