Location: Ohioan Wasteland

The Gene Trooper marched on, like he had for years ever since bombs dropped. The old trooper wore his worn armor, the hellish red that once shined so brightly from it's eyes has long since gone out. The armor itself was barely functional, and the trooper relied on scavenged parts and hydrogen power cells to keep the thing running for just a while longer. Food was scarce, there were no animals to hunt, because they were all dead, vegetation had only recently started coming back, and in not enough numbers to make it a reliable food source.

The Old Trooper wondered what would happen first, him scavenging the last bit of available food, or something else killing him. Scavenging in the cities just wasn't possible, they were ground zero, or at least too close to ground zero. His armor may offer some protection against radiation, but it was worn out, and likely wouldn't be sufficient to the still high levels of radiation he would find at the cities.

Even with his advanced age, his genetic modifications and powered armor, though worn, allowed him to continue taking whatever the new day had to throw at him. It was a daily grind, with no end in sight. What end to it could there be except his death? Civilization wasn't just going to magically un-nuke itself. In all honesty he wondered why he continued fighting every day, just to live… well, not even that, just to exist.

He had no one and nothing to fight for anymore. America was dead, the US military was gone, his family was probably dead, his squadmates as well. So why did he continue to fight and fight and fight, with the only thing gained was prolonging a painful joyless existence? Was it the fear of nonexistence? Spite? He did not know, but if fighting to stay alive was what his life was to be, then that is what he would do.

He was a gene trooper… or heavy augmented infantryman, gene trooper was just a widely used nickname. Like, regulars were not actually called regulars. They got that name because the genetic augmentations they received tended to be reserved to full time military personnel, making them the regulars. But that did not matter, what mattered was that fighting was what he was best at, if his fate was to die, he was going to give death a bloody nose before all was said and done, however long that would take.

He was currently hollowing an old road, maybe it would lead him to a town, he could probably collect things from there. Food, water, or whatever else he could find that would assist in survival.

The old giant continued his march.

Bright looked walked around the strange set of constructs, they were cool looking. Used bright (heh heh) colors to, certainly reprieve from the grayness of everything else. Bright was a young boy, no older than 9 years old, and he was rather adventurous... Or as his parents would say, wandered off a lot. His eyes glowed a soft yellow, and he wore a fluffy, and very comfy attire.

His parents told him repeatedly not to wonder off, but it was fun, and nothing bad ever happened, so he didn't understand why they had that rule. Helio had agreed with his parents for some reason, but it was just too fun not to. His parents and the tribe elders would talk his ear off about it, but what did they know? They didn't do it, he did, so he would have greater say if it was or was not safe right?

Besides, this place looked amazing! Though worn down, he tsked a little at that, with there is one lesson his parents taught him that he valued, it was to always take good care of your things. Because when they break, good luck finding a replacement in this drab landscape. Why did the world always have to be so dull?

However, he would always manage to find places like these, they were interesting, a break from the never ending grey. They had all sorts of different shapes and colors, but they were always broken and run down. Really, who kept leaving all this cool stuff around, that was very wasteful. They should be forced to wake up early, maybe that would teach them to take better care of their things.

Bright ran around the strange worn down buildings, they usually had a weird stone road with interesting colors on them, as well as signs with various colors, there were signs with red, yellow, green, and white.

He did not know what they meant, many of their symbols appear to be faded, but he could make out what looked like a figure walking on various signs. In all honesty, this place sort of reminded him of a town, but… who builds towns on the surface so isolated? Maybe that's why it was so run down and abandoned, those that built the place must have just not been thinking smartly in the town's placement.

Though they seemed to build stuff well, maybe it was just a larger kingdom that believed they could do anything when they put their mind to it. Bright's parents had taught him that it was not always the case, and that impossible tasks will still be impossible no matter how determined you are to accomplish it.

Bright continued to run around the town and ruined buildings, exploring every nook and cranny he could get his little body into, not noticing that something was watching.

A woman wearing a six eyed mask and silky hair poked her head from behind a corner. While yes, she only had two eyes, it was traditional for weavers to wear six eyed masks, even if her kind didn't need the extra four eye holes. The masks were made in such a way that you couldn't see her eyes through the eye holes, a rather ingenious design she must admit.

The woman also wore a fine dark silk robe, she had made it herself, she was rather pleased with how it came out. Right now though, she was focused on the poor little soul that wandered into her web today. A little boy already claimed by a dream god, ahuhuhu, I am sure they would not mind if he was… borrowed... permanently, after all what careless dream god would just let such a little one wander all the way out here? Alone, unsupervised… why they were just begging that someone more capable of looking after children take him. She was sure that the weavers wouldn't mind a new apprentice, and she was sure the boy wouldn't mind having authority figures with basic parenting skills.

She wasn't sure what was with this place, but it seemed to attract her kind fairly regularly, perhaps it was because it was different? The weavers back home didn't like coming here, they claimed the place was haunted by spirits of ages long since passed. It wasn't true of course, she had come here on numerous occasions, it was a nice quiet area to practice her weaving, as well as sometimes catch a new one of her kind to bring back to the den.

But no matter how many times she informed them of the ruins inherent hauntedness, they remained firm in their belief that the place was haunted by the ghosts of ancients past… or in some cases believing that the place was in the detection range of a Lord of Shades. 'That place is in the range of the dark ones Leva' or 'The ancient ones will punish any who desecrate their graves Leva' would be among the usual responses.

Leva was a little amused at that one, if a Lord of Shades really was close enough to be able to detect this place, she would have been dragged by them in their Abyss so that they may consume her soul… or something. The weavers never really told her what happens when a Shade Lord captures you, as they didn't know. However those that were captured were never seen again.

So, she made sure to be careful, and made sure to stay out of areas that Shade Lords were known to live in. She had never actually seen a Shade Lord, the weavers had told her that if she was actually ever close enough to see a Shade Lord, it was already too late.

Leva began setting up these webs and traps around various parts of the ruined town. Considering how the boy was checking every nook and cranny he could, it was likely he would get caught in at least one of her webs. Then, it would be a simple matter of wrapping him up, and hauling him back towards the Den.

Bright poked his head everywhere he could, getting excited at every new little discovery. This was one of his favorite things to do. Part of it was likely that we knew he wasn't supposed to be doing it. Besides, it wasn't like anything bad was going to happen, he was just scouting out an old ruin, what was the worse... His foot was stuck.

Bright looked down, his foot was stuck in some weird sticky white thing. No matter how much he tried to pull away, his leg wouldn't budge. Well, this was embarrassing, at least his parent weren't around to this, he would never hear the end of it.

"Ahuhuhuhu, now who's the little morsel who has fallen in my web" A voice said, startling Bright.

"W-who there?!" Bright yelled, fear creeping into his voice, m-maybe his parents had a point.

Suddenly a woman came into view, it was one of his kind, she was wearing a mask he recognized belonged to those webspinner folk. The Tribe had bought some silks from them a while back. Perhaps this one of his kind has joined one of their tribes, or whatever they called themselves, he never really payed attention when the dealings with them went on.

"Hello little boy, you know I had just started setting up my webs, and yet here you are, already stuck. Why, it is almost like you wish to have been caught" The Woman said somewhat mockingly.

"N-no, no I didn't, I was just looking around and… and… I'm sorry for messing up your web please don't-"

Bright was interrupted buy the woman putting a finger on his lips, shushing him.

"Do not worry little boy, I'm not going to harm you, no… that would be a waste, would not agree?"

Bright nodded rapidly.

"Heh, I thought so. Oh… do not cry, you're not in trouble little one, my Queen just needs your… well, future services, see our Queen has a need for more weavers…"

"I-I'm not a w-weaver, miss, I can't even tie a knot, I s-swear-"

"Of course we would teach you how little one, but… well, your family clearly doesn't care for you much anyway, how would you like to live with the Den? We would be more than happy to take you in, we could even teach how to make silk, oh the other weavers would just adore you. You see, its rather rare for us to find a child of our kind, and everyone thinks they're adorable. I have to say I agree" The woman ruffled his hair a bit.

"M-miss, I just wondered off again, I swear my parents are looking for me like last times, please let me go"

The woman tilted her head, her expression hidden by her mask.

"They… keep letting you go off on your own?" Leva said a bit in disbelief, okay, this kid may actually have severe parental problems, beyond service to the Queen and the Den, taking him may be for his own good.

"No… I may… sneak away a lot, to explore… they tell me not to, but I never saw what the problem was" The kid said, so it was just incompetant parenting, and not malicious… still, if they couldn't look after their kid, perhaps it would be in the kids best interest to be raised at the Den.

"Child… I swear to you now, I will not harm you, the Den will not harm you, the weavers will not harm you. I think it would be for the best if we went there, your parents have shown it be unable to care for you, but we can"

The kid began thrashing around "Don't talk about my mom and dad like that, they love me! I did something dumb, I did a bad thing, don't blame mommy and daddy for it" The kid yelled angrily and sadly.

Leva regarded him for a moment, before using her magic to spin strong silk threads. She began wrapping it around the kid's body.

"Hey! No let me go!" The kid yelled.

Leva just continued until the kid was fully wrapped up with only his head being visible, his glowing eyes letting loose a stream of tears.

"Off to the Den small one, you will thank me later" Leva said, picking up the bound child.

"HELP!" The child yelled, desperately hoping that there was someone around to hear his plea, of course there wasn't anyone, no one at all… thump thump no one thump thump the town was abandoned since forever thump thump who would be here to help him? Thump thump perhaps… an old soldier from ages past?

The gene trooper was dashing across the town once he had heard the shout, his mechanical boots slamming against the ground at great speeds. He was slower than he once was, but faster than any non augmented person could hope to achieve.

The old metal giant once more heard the shout for help, it was a few blocks away and behind some ruined houses. Wasting no time the gene trooper did what gene troopers were well known for, property damage. The giant began literally running through the walls, shattering them with a mix of weakened but still super human speed, and the sheer weight of him and his powered armor.

Leva looked in the direction of where the sound of crashing was coming from. She changed her stand to that of a fight one, she had already placed the boy down on the ground. She drew her nail, and waited.

The crashing kept getting closer and closer, until finally, with one final crash, came a massive metal figure crashing through the wall of a structure near to her.

The figure ground to a halt a bit away from her, and seemed to regard her for a moment. In that time Leva inspected the giant's features. Clearly human, had feet, bipedal, carried itself like a human, tall, and had the signature four part soul.

The giant man moved its gaze towards the boy she had bound.

There was a strange sound that came from it, like a strange click, then a the giant spoke, its voice sounded strange, but it clearly.

"Are you the one that cried for help?" The metal giant asked the boy.

The boy rapidly nodded, tears still dripping down his face.

The giant looked back to Leva, and palmed his fist, letting loose a loud metal on metal bang.

"Ma'am, I don't know why you tied the kid up, or why his eyes are glowing, or why you are wearing that stupid as fuck mask, but I am going to say this only once. Let the kid go… now" The man's voice left no room for compromise.

Leva took a step back, if she didn't know better, she would feel as though the weaver's myths about the spirits of dead ancients were true, and that this was a golem sent to enforce their will, but no. This was just a man, a giant man, a man in metal armor the likes of which she had never seen before, but a man nonetheless. A chaotic souled man against one of the Queen's weavers, she was confident she could win, but no so much that she didn't think she could lose.

As if the giant had read her mind, took a massive nail befitting of his size from his back.

Leva inhaled, and made her move. She launched soul infused webbing from at the man, hoping to bind its legs together, and the giant dashed forward at great speed.

To Leva's dismay, the cords that were able to hold even the strongest of men, or, strongest that she knew of snapped, the giant didn't even seem to notice it as it closed the distance rapidly, and instead of swinging it's nail, surprisingly, and thankfully, just punched Leva in the chest, causing her to be flung backwards with a sickening crack.

Leva hissed in pain, the thing had cracked some ribs. She began using her abilities to wrap healing silk around her torso, but recovery would take days, she couldn't fight the thing like this… was she going to die? Was she going to be nothing but a tale those at the Den tell their hatchlings about as a cautionary tale of what happens when you desecrate the ancient ruins?

She could hear the giant's heavy steps as it got closer and closer and closer to her. This was the end wasn't it?

The giant was to her side now, and instead of finishing her off, bent down.

"Under normal circumstances, I would take you to the nearest police station and have you arrested, under circumstances where law and order have broken down, I may have decided to kill you. But… considering the state of the world, and you are currently one of the few people I have met after… the bombs, I will spare you just this once. If your broken ribs kill you? I wouldn't care. I will not save you, but I will not be the reason you die. Who knows, you may even live, if you do, never ever, do this, or anything like what you did again. Understood?" The giant demanded in its strange sounding voice.

"Y-yes" Leva hissed out in pain. Satisfied the giant man got up, and began walking towards the kid.

The giant man grabbed at what bound Bright, and ripped it apart with unnatural strength.

Bright was quick to his feet, and looked up at the behemoth that had saved him.

"T-thank you mister," Bright said in genuine thankfulness.

"Where are your parents kid?" The big man asked simply.

"Oh, they are a bit that away... " Bright said pointing to where he detected his parents… they were quite a bit closer than he thought they would be…

"BRIGHT!" The all too familiar voice of his mother yelled.

"Uh oh" Bright said in fear.

Bright's mother came into view walking out from behind a building, she had yellow glowing eyes and wore similar attire to her son, but also wore a head piece that only covered the upper part of her face like a masquerade mask.

"What did we tell you about wandering off!?" Bright's mother yelled, marching angrily to her son.

"What if you had gotten hurt! Do you have any idea what can happen out here..."

Bright's mother shifted her gaze to the metal giant that she somehow just noticed.

"Who's your friend?" Bright's mother asked, before bright could respond, the old gene trooper interjected.

"Gabriel Roswell of the 2nd Heavy Augment Infantry Battalion. Or… the formerly of the 2nd Heavy Augmented Infantry Battalion, it doesn't exactly exist anymore." Gabriel said, his helmet speaker's gerbiling his voice somewhat.

"Ah… I see" Bright's mother stated, really not knowing what the hell the big guy was talking about, but ok.

"How did you two meet?" Bright's mother asked.

"Oh mother, you should have seen him, he burst through the walls of these old buildings, fought the mean lady that tried to take me, and won!" Bright said with a child like glee.

"I cracked her rib cage," Gabriel said matter of factly.

"I am sorry, what! Where is this woman? Who is this woman!?" Bright's mother demanded.

"Well she is right over… there… crap" Gabriel pointed to where he had left the woman, but she was gone now.

"She said she was a weaver or something," Bright said.

"Damned weavers, always being crafty little things… oh well, Bright, words can not describe how grounded you are" Bright's mother said plainly.

"Awww" Bright said sadly.

"And you," Bright's mother said, turning to Gabriel.

To Gabriel's surprise, Bright's mother hugged him.

"Thank you for saving my boy, he keeps wandering off," Bright's mother said, letting go of Gabriel.

"Don't mention it" Gabriel said.

"Oh but I think I should, why don't you follow me back to the tribe, I think they would like to meet you, maybe even find a place for you"

Gabriel perked up at this, something to fight for again? Other than just hoping he got to live another day? That was something valuable to him.

"Alright ma'am, I accept your offer, lead the way" Gabriel stated.

Bright's mother gave a small smile, "Solari"

"Hmm?"

"Call me Solari"

"Alright then… Solari, lead the way"

The group of three began their march to this… 'tribe' Bright's mother holding Bright close so he won't wander away again, and Gabriel following closely behind. Perhaps life would have more to it than just existing now, what a thought!