Ocean Shores, California

September 9, 2024–1045 hrs. California Standard Time

The work crew had traced the fault in the cable to a junction in one of the older subdivisions. Many of these passages, originally designed to carry copper cables many times thicker than the fiber optics that came years later, had not seen human traffic since they were last serviced as long ago as over twenty years previous. Men could easily pass through here nowadays, if they crouched in some places. When they entered the enclosure, they came across an unpleasant surprise: The beam of a flashlight revealed some tattered clothing that had been out of fashion for a few years, and an old rucksack. Small dry bones could be seen underneath. There were dark stains on the otherwise featureless cement floor.

A couple of feet away from this was a battered red skater helmet with white stripes in the classic "flyaway" pattern.

It was strapped to a skull that was still wearing a pair of sunglasses.