"The Dream of the City rests upon our Shoulders"
An old Russian Cosmodrome
Jason opened his eyes and gasped as he sat up "what… where.."
A small little robotic creature floated in front of him "who are-"
"Look sorry but there's no time to explain" the little machine interrupted with a somewhat feminine voice "its not safe here, there's fallen everywhere"
"Fallen?" Jason asked and stood up, trying to get his bearings. He had to steady himself on a wrecked car
"Be careful, you've been dead a long time, you need to regain your strength" the robot told him
"I've been dead? What do you mean?" The man questioned "and what are you?"
"Look we need to move, ill answer all your questions when we get somewhere safe" the machine answered
Jason sighed, seeing the machine wasnt going to answer his questions yet "all right where to then?"
"Follow me"
The two ran into a large structure and into the twisting corridors of it, Jason couldn't even see much but luckily the robot had a flashlight in it
After about 20 minutes of empty hallways and rooms, the machine finally stopped "ok we should be safe here for now. Ill see about getting us out of here"
"Wait wait wait" Jason interrupted "first i need answers"
"Let me call us some help first, we'll have time for your questions while we wait" The robot told him
"Ok fine" Jason said and put his hands up in defeat
"Good now let me try and radio some assistance" the machine said, Jason heard her talking through some kind of communication channels
"Hello this is a ghost and newly resurrected guardian, calling for assistance. We're in need of transportation to the city, were trapped in an old russian cosmadrome is there anyone nearby who can help?"
A few seconds later Jason heard a response "Copy that, this is Lyna-4 reading you loud and clear, my nav equipment says im not far from you. Eta is 10 minutes"
Satisfied that they'd received their assistance, the little robot turned to Jason "Now, we've got some time so I can answer your questions now. To give you the short version. Im what's called a ghost" she explained
"Actually to be specific, im your ghost. And you are a guardian, newly resurrected by me using the power of the light"
Jason mulled this over, it still didnt really explain anything to him "you said I've been dead a long time, how long exactly?"
"Well thats hard to say, as you might have noticed, memory of your previous life is practically nonexistent right? All I can tell you is that its been a very long time from when you were last alive" the ghost said
"And you resurrected me?"
"Correct, i have the ability to bring my guardian back from death, as well as heal your wounds when needed"
"But why me?"
The ghost was quiet for a moment "its hard to explain" she finally spoke "I've been searching for you for years, but once I found you I just… knew that you were my guardian, it was instinctual really"
Jason shook bus head and took a breath "none of this makes any sense"
"I understand you're confused, but once we get out of here we can get you to the tower and the vanguard will explain it all for you" the ghost told him
After a few more minutes they received a transmission "Lyna-4 landing just outside of the structure you're in, make it quick I see a lot of fallen snooping around"
"We'll be right out Lyna-4" the ghost radioed back and then turned ro Jason "lets go, dont want to keep our ride waiting"
Jason nodded and the two quickly made their way through and out of the building to see a starship parked just outside. Another guardian, presumably Lyna-4, stood next to it, firing at fallen with a hand canon
The guardian turned when they got closer "hurry get in, before the fallen decide to bring in some heavy hitters" she told them and quickly turned, firing off a round at a dreg, hitting it square in the forehead
The three piled into Lyna-4's ship and quickly took off. Thankfully it was spacious enough to accommodate all of them. Lyna flew towards what Jason was told was the Last City
"So when you say last city…" He started
"Afraid so" Lyna answered "it means last, as in no more on earth"
Jason shook his head "none at all?"
"Well there are some small settlements here and there but its dangerous, pretty much every guardian lives in the city so there's no protection from fallen or raiders outside of it. Still some manage" Lyna explained and removed her helmet, setting it down next to her seat
A ghost materialized next to her "we should be there in about an hour" he said
Jason looked at the ghost "so does everyone have a ghost?" He asked
"No just guardians. Regular folks dont have em" Lyna said and turned "im Lyna-4 by the way, but just call me Lyna, oh and this is Jester, nice to meet you"
"Lyna… Four?" Jason asked but raised his eyebrows when he actually looked at her, she was a machine "whoa what are you?"
"Ah im what's called an Exo" Lyna said "i'm a machine that was built during the golden age. Why, we dont really know, but dont let the machine thing weird you out, i'm just as human as you are. I eat, sleep, and have emotions. But just relax for now, ill let the vanguard give you their whole spiel when we get to the city"
"This is a lot to take in" Jason sighed "and who is this vanguard I keep hearing about?"
This time Lyna's ghost spoke up "the vanguard are the three leaders of the guardians" he said "they basically run things around the Tower, thats where guardians live" he explained
"Look i get it" Lyna said "you just got resurrected and you have no memory of anything before except your name. Lots of others have been there, I was there once too. But just try to get some rest, the answers are coming, I promise"
Jason sighed, he still had about a million questions but figured he should just wait to talk to this vanguard he kept hearing about
As he looked out to the earth below him he wondered what exactly this new life would hold for him. After a while sleep overcome him as the ship flew over the land and towards the Last City, questions still filling his head