Many Weeks Earlier
It's a dark and stormy Sunday night on the mountain pass.
Everyone is heading home from their various outings.
The beach.
Hikes.
A night at the pub.
Two rather innocuous cars drive side by side.
They are polar opposites.
In one, sits a family.
The other, a singular inebriated rotund man.
Everything's fine.
Until the man is enraged by the family for pulling in front.
He flies into a rage, smashing into the family's car.
They both tumble off the edge, pieces of the cars scattered about.
The potbellied drunk is disemboweled by a sharp piece of metal, guts spilling in freefall.
The family crashes into the ground, breaking most of their bones in the process.
There is but one survivor.
"I think we found one for the project."
"So?"
"She has the Spark."
"It's unlikely that she will survive her injuries."
"Can't hurt to try. Sparkbearers are rare enough already."
"Perhaps. With the adaptability and resilience the Spark grants, I expect a 43.9294% chance of success."
"We need more Sparkbearers if we are to save their species."
"Why Sparkbearers? We could take anyone."
"The average human specimen has declined in quality compared to specimens taken before their invention of writing. The Spark combines intelligence of the modern human, combined with the power and toughness of their precursor species."
"What exactly is the Spark?"
"A vestigial gene in the species, granting the specimen greater ability, but is resilient to being activated manually, unlike most other genes. Perfect for rebuilding the human species when they inevitably exterminate themselves in a few months."
"Let's take her. One more Sparkbearer can't hurt much at all."