On the 4th floor, William is reaching for the other things and finds fresh pieces of information to get familiar with. There is a lot from the past, that survived the essential eradication of humanity,
It is, after all, the living that is destroyed by the Dark.
Monsters of nightmares care only about human beings while ignoring any of the other animals as if they are dust. This is a phenomenon, where the status quo of the food pyramid changed, where the apex, is no human any longer. That went on for the decades, and it could be more true now, with Walker populating being stagnant as ever.
Nothing would change it. Only the birth, or significant change within the ranks of the humans.
William discovers it at last.
A place that Ellie reveals to him after another hour of wandering through the history that is the 4th and 5th floor. A place within the Museum, what is going through the human history after meeting the Dark. William knows absolutely nothing about this. Not the ship that started it all, nor the whole decade of nightmares that soon followed.
He only knew the death, monsters, and constant struggle outside the safety of the Federation. Only a little Outside knowledge about the apocalypse is considered common sense. Monsters are bad, but the safety of the camp is good. That is the premise of that.
Here, within the room behind a locked door, is a library-looking room. Very small, with a single shelf on the wall, with stairs on the right that lead above.
A few chairs and a desk are there as well.
“There you go. Take your time. It is rather extensive since this is the Federation we are talking about.” Ellie explains while pointing toward the many books there.
Right, these books are all the very beginning of the struggle with the Dark beings. It all started when the whole world shattered amidst the storm of countless demons and monsters alike.
There is also something else within the room that piques William's interest. A 2-meter clock that keeps clicking and going with the flow of time within its analog screen. On its right is a small entrance to the second room.
“This is the time of the world. A clock that used to be somewhere in New York City. It depicts our precise time in the world. It never stopped, even when the dark came.” Ellie explains after noticing his glance towards the clock.
Currently, the clock is constantly shifting numbers every second. Flew of time went with the following seconds, minutes, and hours. Currently, there is 15: 49. Below is the current date. 14. 04. 2135.
A time, which is for anyone but the people who visit this place. Not like it's all that important, as the premise of the year's time, and everything else still goes on. As if it was humanity's last ditched efforts to keep their sense of time and tries against the Dark age.
The flow of the dates never ceased to exist. If it did, there would be no humans left in the world. Perhaps there would be this clock. Alone in the human-less world, that would keep on clicking until it would end.
After all, the time or the clock itself is a made-up thing by humans. For the most part, the flow of night and sun is all that matters for nature, that follows this simple two-way clock.
While time is technically natural since the planet is changing, rotating, and flowing throughout the cosmos. It is not important in the grand scheme of humanity what would never orbit the Earth ever again.
While that is true, there are still records of the planetary cosmos. The high society of scientists at the end of the 20th century and during the prime times of the 21st century kept their records intact in special containers. Those were rediscovered throughout the chaos in the last century and small tips and pieces that were left behind them. That is precisely what is Willian about to discover.
The sigh of the next room entrances William and he goes through the entrance. A pitch black, with many sights that lead to disbelief, but no skepticism.
Only wonder, and marvel is left since a big sight of 4 big letters that says NASA is right across the wall. He doesn't know its implications, but he discovers it very soon. Hundreds of historical tablets, papers on display, and materials that survived the passage of time and destruction.
They are all in crisp condition.
Written, engraved, on what seems like paper, but no paper. Ellie explains this room since this whole place is something very technological, complicated, and wonderful at the same time.
She doesn't know too much about everything here. With such extensive information, she could not memorize everything. The premise that this exists, and her access to this, is quite enough for her. This is one of the most complete exhibitions that was discovered and is displayed in the library in the best condition.
Mouth gaping, eyes fixed on many displays, William has not even asked Ellie about anything as he stands there in the middle of the rectangular room.
Planetary travel, planetary constellations, stars, galaxies, and most shocking to him, the sight of a human figure in strange white clothes with a mirror on its head. This figure is walking on the moon in that picture. He could tell that since the headline above it implies it at least. Perhaps it even looks truthful, since there is planet earth right behind this person. Even the surface beneath this person seems what he could imagine the moon to look like.
He is unsure but still chose to believe it. As ridiculous as it seems, everything so far exceeds his expectations of the Federation and the past of mankind.
Walking back and forth, a couple of visits to displays in this room, as well as preserved books alike. They all encompass the knowledge of not the earth itself, but the outside. The universe, its secrets, and places beyond the sun.
“You took it quite better than I thought,” Ellie says to William as she follows him behind across his travels in this big room.
“Did I? I am simply speechless!” William argues.
“Can you believe this was all possible because of the advancement of technology during, and after the world wars? Although it still took decades, humans could travel beyond the planet. Briefly, but still...”
“It... happened because of that?” William gasps, as his previous thinking was most likely than not, wrong. Unknown to him, this is an idea and a wonderful place to broaden the vast place that was the NASA of the USA. Almost every individual who seeks this place for the first time is similarly shocked as William.
“Yes. I was not joking. Although it is such a technological ordeal to go through, a lot of people were living within the reaches of the space.” Ellie explains, with nerve-wracking words, that doesn't seem that farfetched, since the proof is right in this room.
William nods in the same way, as he doesn't know what should he even answer or say to her at all. Instead, he learns and reads through the timeless tablets that depict the flow of the space programs and many more pieces of information that have a history of more than a century, if not more.
He learns about the satellites orbiting the earth, the first walk of humans on the moon, and machines that are walking on the face of Mars. William does not question what even Mars means. Although it says it is a harsh planet that orbits the sun the same way as earth. Living on another planet is even more questionably foreign to him, but he learns and reads it nonetheless.
“Nearly 7 and a half billion people?” William blurts through the topic of the population section of this room. It depicts statistics, algorithms, living conditions, differences in continents, time zones, and so on.
“You don't have to learn everything about it right now. It is all advanced, so I bet it is very confusing to you. Even I, don't know everything about this place. I had to refresh my memories, or learn some things so I would explain this to you better.” Ellie says to him in worry and meaning. She still has her thick book around her hand.
“I don't care. I came here to learn and become a better, smarter person.”
“Not every smart person is a better person overnight, or even through their life,” she argues the obvious fact.
“Like the people in the World Wars? Such warlike aspects must have been created by a lot of smart people.” William assumes from his own impression.
Everything is the same as ever. Ellie spends the time following behind William, with occasional explaining and talking to him.
It came in an honest, sincere way in her opinion and William learn a lot of things in a short period of time.
More hours follow and pass, and so does everything that went on this day.
Ellie makes the excuse to end their day since it is getting late.
And soon enough, 2 more days pass. William still has yet to end his journey throughout the 4th and 5th floor.
He still finds more and more things to be interested in, and Ellie goes along with it. She even confirms that the end of her accompaniment would end with the 6th floor, so William is in no hurry, nor is Ellie.
Currently, within the restrictive places of the 4th floor. William looks at the historical records of the Dark age once again.
The start of the Dark age, continuous struggle, and a lot of losses.
Though not a lot of information about the Dark Beings is prominent here, William still learns more things that got lost over time.
Like the globe of mother Earth, that he has seen on the first day on the 4th floor. There are records of the losses, with nations, and statistical records, of which no one knows the history of them.
From Ellie's words, they come from the few records of the US government at the starting decade of the apocalypse. Someone out there kept on recording even in the middle of the apocalypse. Everything in the world, and the losses in every corner.
After all, the satellites and many technologies still worked quite well, and share of information has been easy across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the American continents. Although, the situation in South America was the worst of them all since the very start of everything started there.
List depicts hundreds upon hundreds of information regarding the sights and records what people did in their last stands. Those times are very nicely recorded since there have been no Walkers at those times. The people fought with what they could. Be it tanks, rockets, and nukes. Firearm could not damage the Dark being, much to the US abysmal.
There are also notes about islands, tribal communities in Africa, and many more. Those places have not been spared from the apocalypse as well. The systematic approach of the Dark Beings and their hunts prevailed ever since, so all humans could do was to flee and hope for the best.
“So those are the losses that mankind lost within the first decade of the apocalypse?” William asks Ellie, who equally glances at the surroundings to pass her time.
“Yes. These, in particular, are the information about humanity, prior to the engagement of the first Walkers,” she says.
“So humanity still lived for the decade with not many opportunities of defense...” he thinks to himself, with the understanding that it could not be that different even now.
To his knowledge, the populations he read about in the past were absolutely incredible. Millions of people lived in the cities. Tens of millions made nations, with the biggest having almost a billion lives.
He could not imagine such numbers.
Fortunately, within the darkness and harsh creation of these records, this room has rough estimates of the past century and little over it.
“So, the start of the Dark being occurred around the year 2020, so that is 115 years ago?”
“Yes. It is a long time, in a grand prime time of humanity.”
“We could no longer be called that,” William argues, while Ellie could not help but agree as well.
One thing that sticks out of this whole room, is the lack of talk about the Walkers, and William could not figure it out on his own. Through a bit of persuasion, Ellie answers it with an obvious answer.
Much to William's surprise, the talk about the Walkers is on the 6th floor.
Her reasoning is that no matter what, the time of the Walkers came around the 40ies or 50ies of the 21st century. Their standings and reputations afterward kept on rising. Now, they are military leadership itself in the current age. William frowns upon hearing that since he thinks the premise of getting powerful people to powerful positions could lead to problems, where the lower societies could suffer. It is his feelings, that unknowingly affect him from growing up on the Outside, and partially in the camps.
He could plainly see it from the past 4 days in the Federation. He has not seen too many happy people. Just working, hopeful, and glad people who live their existence in the paradise being the Federation.
Wiliam also learns about the position of the archipelago on which the Federation is built on.
It is in the east of North America. It used to be called the Bermuda isles, which were destroyed throughout the century and rebuilt in the need of a perfect fortress.