The Fall, which occurred 5 years after the isolation and destruction of Harran, the first site of the 'volatile' infection engineered by Global Relief Effort Corporation, commonly known as the GRE, was the result of greed and nothing more.
Despite having made tens of Billions of dollars manufacturing a vaccine against the 'Harran Virus', the sheer strength, versatility and power shown by some of the volatiles that had been present in Harran meant those that were unaffected by such minor things as morals could see the chance to make further profit. If of course, the virus could be maintained.
No one knows how the first outbreak of the modified Harran virus occurred, but many people pointed to it being a 'field test' by an unscrupulous GRE group given how many 'hotspots' showed up around the world within days of each other. In the overcrowded cities of the 'civilised world', the fact that someone could be turned within minutes of being bitten meant that tens of thousands fell in each city the first night after the virus 'escaped containment'.
Given the data about what happened in Harran had been heavily classified and even some of that information was falsified by the GRE, attempts by local police forces worldwide led to disastrous raids into affected apartment buildings and the sewers that the infected had quickly retreated to during the day, while conspiracy theorists and anarchist groups used the chaos to their advantage.
By the end of the first week, 10% of the nearly 7 billion humans on Earth were dead and turned into rabid corpses, attempts at controlling these 'outbreak centres' managed by GRE who moved in quickly to isolate over 100 cities that were deemed 'high risk' of the Virus spreading. Given that many of these were capital cities and centres of government, there was a lack of oversight to GRE's activities as they 'worked' to contain the outbreak.
Twenty Cities in Northern Europe were fully isolated from the outside world, large walls and GRE checkpoints preventing anyone from getting in and out. But even as this occurred, other infected, who had been among those to flee the initial outbreaks and escape the initial containment efforts, turned far slower than the initial infected, many into volatile forms that were stronger, faster and even more deadly than those that had been present in the original Harran outbreak.
As the outbreak continued to flare up, and the first of the 100 cities isolated was 'decontaminated' using a mixture of chemical warfare and nuclear warheads, GRE and the remaining governments of the world lost control, and it started to become every man for himself.
15 years on, and the remnants of humanity are split into refuge havens scattered across the landscape, wherever somewhere was defensible enough, or some group was lucky enough, to survive The Fall and what came after. With cars and other traditional transportation unusable due to the lack of fuel and the degradation of what was available over time, trade between these havens is restricted to one or two heavily guarded caravans a year if that.
For Communication or the transportation of mail or valuables, havens have to turn to those who are brave enough, or desperate enough, to traverse the wild lands and fallen cities between havens.
In North Western Europe, the largest and most organised group of these carriers is known as the Pilgrims…
Countryside near Villedor, formerly Lyon, Central France, 2036, 15 years after the Fall
Aiden Caldwell, Pilgrim 'Roamer and Long Walker'
"Most Pilgrims don't make it more than two, three straight years on the road. While you've been kicking around for what, four years now? And you're still alive?" Spike was clearly wanting to reminisce about things again as they moved through the woods 'to show him something', something that Aiden had gotten used to on the several dozen times they had met beforehand, either travelling between different refuges or working together on Pilgrim business.
"So are you old timer, and that's saying something given the only other Pilgrims your age are Sentinels and the original founder if you believe the rumours." Given Spike's age and experience, Aiden didn't really understand why the man kept such amazement in his voice when he spoke of Aiden's survival.
Aiden wasn't entirely sure how old Spike was, the man gave a different answer every time he asked, but the other Pilgrim's that he had spoken gave life to the rumour; that he had been a Harran veteran and was one of the few known survivors of the city. That made him at least twice Aiden's age, and the man still showed a remarkable amount of strength, speed and endurance, something many of the youngest Pilgrim's found out to their dismay as Spike made a point of challenging each and everyone of them to races or other contests related to a Pilgrim's survival.
"I know, but I'm awesome. And less of the old timer, otherwise I will put you through your paces again. Don't think that your new position as a Roamer will stop me from embarrassing your ass." Realising he had touched a sore subject, especially given Spike's mention of a role he had personally refused multiple times, Aiden held his hands up even as he laughed in what he hoped was a conciliatory manner.
"Hah, yeah, right, right. No more mentions of your venerable status oh great Scourge of Youth. You heard of my becoming a Roamer though? Would've thought the news hadn't made it this far yet?" It was funny to watch Spike bristle at the nickname he had more than earned among the Pilgrim infrastructure, if such a disjointed and decentralised organisation could be thought to possess such a thing, but his posture relaxed as he looked back with a mixture of approval and pride.
"Matthieu told me about it about a month ago, we crossed paths as he made his way to Le Roux Chateau. To listen to him tell it, you blew through every test those idiots could come up with and ended up teaching them things about medicine that were thought lost with The Fall. Seriously, I wish I had as much energy and drive as you." Aiden felt his face warm more than was normal given the steady jog they had been moving at through the woodland that was slowly reclaiming the farmland of the old world.
He wouldn't have put it like that, Aiden was fairly certain that the group who had ended up 'testing' him had been ordered to take it easy on him, certainly the tests he had seen at the Pilgrim Retreats in the UK and Northern Europe had seemed to push applicants to their limits and beyond. While a little challenging, the exhaustion of his judges at the end of the improvised assault course was probably faked to inspire the other's confidence in their new operative.
"That's not how I remember it, though with the death of Hans two years ago this region has been lacking in true medical expertise. Most people just focus on physical fitness and fighting ability these days, which doesn't help when you sprain your ankle or get attacked by a wild dog and need to deal with the bite afterwards." And that was ignoring the numerous illnesses and diseases that were all too easily spread with the lack of sanitation and loss of other technology that had been prevalent in society before The Fall.
Simple things like drinking water from a river or not properly cooking your food could be deadly now, and Aiden had been forced to deal with such risks both personally and treating them in the havens even before he joined up with the Pilgrims.
"Too right lad, though I think you've been hanging out too much with our learned fellows up near New Paris if you haven't realised that out here that knowledge is worth its weight in gold, perhaps more. Surprised you took the position though, given your own priorities. Any new leads on Jane?" Spike broached the sore topic with his usual level of blunt aplomb, Aiden having opened up to the man about his sister almost two years ago in the hopes the veteran had some news or contacts that might be able to help.
"Trail went cold after New Paris, though it looked promising for a few months and I learnt some new tricks while I was there." While not actually based in the City of Paris, as the infected population there was large enough to make surviving long term almost impossible, New Paris was actually based in the part of Orleans south of the Loire River.
It was also one of the few Havens that had managed to not only survive but grow since The Fall, in part due to the knowledge gained and retained from the laboratories and the fact that the 12th Cuirassiers regiment based there had managed to destroy the bridges across the river before they were overwhelmed by the infected. The infected were not good with large bodies of running water, and the Loire had allowed for trade with both Tours and Nantes before those Havens fell.
Survivors from both havens had bolstered New Paris' numbers, and though there had been some residual tensions related to supplies, the additional bodies had enabled the expansion of several 'Maginot' Lines to the South of the city that would work to keep out even the most determined of Volatile Infected. Unless something caused the infected from Paris itself to descend on the haven en-mass, New Paris would be able to withstand any and all external threats.
"Which route did you take, Baines or Garry?" Spike spoke with the certainty that while there were three other Havens between New Paris and where they were now, that Aiden wouldn't have been to any of them, not for anything but if his life depended on it.
"Got a boat to Baines, shithole though it is at least they don't try to shoot Pilgrims on sight. Hell, given I helped the old witch there deal with an outbreak of some bad kind of flu, they might even welcome the next Pilgrim that comes by." The old woman had been relying on a couple of herbal remedies and some quasi-religious rituals to try and deal with the outbreak, and given the five fresh graves that had been outside the rather rickety fence when he had arrived there it hadn't been going well.
Given that Baines, or as it had been formerly known Bèard, had a population that barely reached triple digits such an epidemic could well have spelled the end of the haven. That had delayed Aiden by almost a month as he was forced to go foraging outside the walls further than most the locals dared for foods like carrots and chard that now grew wild across the French Countryside. He'd also found some broccoli that was flowering, so while not useful immediately it was an easy enough transplant for helping to seed a new crop for the locals to grow.
Between the healthier and wider variety of foods, as well as the creation of an improvised steam room in one of the abandoned buildings left by the dead, all but one of the afflicted managed to survive and recover.
"Well done, too many places now don't trust a Pilgrim regardless of how desperate their situation is, and treating injuries and illnesses is a skill even bandits and reavers respect. Speaking of which…" Seeing a patch of Chamomile off to one side of their path, Aiden nodded in understanding at what Spike was getting at, such a patch was probably the work of a previous Roamer who had passed through this area and had now grown enough to be harvested and used to create a new patch somewhere else.
Though as a Roamer himself now, Aiden had additional tasks that would be expected of him compared to a normal Pilgrim. In addition to the creation of new locations of flowers, vegetables and herbs that would benefit Pilgrims and other travellers, it was a Roamer's responsibility to help maintain the health and wellbeing of such patches so that they would continue to grow in the long term. With the loss of nearly all modern medicine production, such natural tools to fight infections and illnesses were vital to humanity's long term survival, as well as being very valuable trade commodities for when Pilgrims reached havens.
It took several minutes to weed and selectively prune the bed to improve the airflow through the remaining plants, during which time Spike helped remove several small saplings that had grown over the last year or so in areas that would be detrimental to the chamomile's growth in the long term. The half a dozen Chamomile plants Aiden removed as part of this process were harvested briskly, both for their flowers and in addition their stems. The flowers would need to be dried near a fire or wherever he ended up resting for a couple of days in the sun, which would slow him down again, but unless Spike had something new for him he wasn't in any rush to go further South.
"A good hand you have with the plants there, though don't be so quick to dispose of nettles. If you can treat them properly, they can be a good source of vitamins and can be dried for use in tea. Hell, one friend of mine used to make nettle beer, though if you work out how to do that properly you may find your medical knowledge is actually the second most useful thing you know. Still, with that Chamomile and the place I have in mind, all we need is some honey and we can follow that recipe we learned over in Normandy. Now come on, we're almost there. " Aiden nodded, both at the reminder to keep his ears open for buzzing and to the point about the nettles, separating the younger leaves off the stems while doing his best to avoid being stung.
The rest of the nettles were left in a pile with the felled saplings as an ad-hoc compost heap, which would hopefully survive the winter and return the nutrients to the soil when the next Roamer came by. Marking the site on his map so that he could report it up the chain, as it hadn't been mentioned before he came out, Aidan turned to follow Spike once more.
"Where are we going Spike? It's at least ten miles to the nearest Old Town, so I'm not too worried about volatiles, but we've got two hours at best before night sets in, and with those infected in the tunnel back there I don't want to try old fashioned camping under the stars." He wouldn't try it even if Spike had suggested such, it wouldn't be the first time he'd skipped a night's sleep, as a Pilgrim such was sometimes a necessity.
"Trust me kid, you'll like this. And with a bit of work the brass will like it too." That comment cleared a lot of confusion about their destination, while reinforcing Aiden's belief that Spike had probably been in a military outfit at one time or another.
So when a wall with a large metal gate appeared in view a few minutes later, Aidan wasn't too surprised as Spike loped up to said gate with his usual grin.
"Come on, help me with this!" Despite the call for assistance, the large gate was clearly not rusted in place or something similar, as Spike moved it with a grunt before Aiden could get into position to help him.
Despite the fact they had travelled at least a kilometre from the infected tunnel he had travelled through to get here, Aiden wasn't happy that the gate could be moved so easily if he and Spike were going to be inside scavenging the place. So even as Spike slipped through the small gap he'd created, Aiden scouted around and found what he was looking for a moment later, a rock approximately the size of a frying pan and of similar dimensions. Hefting it with both hands, he moved slowly over to the gate to follow Spike through, placing it down so he could shut the gate once more.
Jamming the rock underneath the gate, next to the roller wheels that allowed it to open and close, would serve to stop any normal infected from getting into the compound that way. It would also prevent the two of them from escaping quickly if they needed to, but Aiden was fairly sure he could climb the outerwall given the amount of vines and other foliage that now covered the interior.
"Normally I'd say you're being paranoid, but I suppose that's why you've lasted four years. Anyway, as you can see, someone had a nice little crib." That was an understatement, and Aiden could see why Spike had sent out the call for any other Pilgrims in the area.
The walls themselves were still in good condition, and enclosed a relatively large space before they reached the house itself. Part of the structure was set outside of the wall, probably a garage entrance that would have to be fortified, but this definitely looked promising for a Pilgrim's Post. There was however, one very pertinent question still to ask.
"Such a nice place isn't just left abandoned Spike, the only reasons are bandits and infected, and bandits wouldn't leave such a place so intact." Though bandits didn't tend to travel so far from the more populated parts of Northern France, the pickings far fewer here than there.
"My first thought too, but I scoped this place out for a couple of days before you arrived, no signs of activity either inside or out. No obvious infected entry points either." Spike tried the heavy set but stylish doors at the front of the building, his face becoming serious for the first time as the door rattled but showed no signs of movement.
"Damnit, locked." The fact that he could probably have forced the doors open went unsaid, it very much defeated the point of finding a new Pilgrim's Post if you compromised its security while getting in.
That and it could alert the infected, and just because Spike hadn't seen any inside didn't mean they weren't there or lurking in the woods.
"I'll try and get through here, you go round the side and see if you can find another entrance or something we can use." Aiden nodded, but the first thing he did was step back several paces and look at the windows on the upper stories of the house, trying to see any that were obviously unlocked or broken.
Roof or upper floor access would be implemented as the standard method of entry if the place was occupied anyway, easier to defend from both infected and living threats.
"On it. No signs of easy entry here so will circle round. See you soon Spike!" Spike waved him off with one hand, the other drawing out a pair of lock picks that Spike claimed 'hadn't failed him yet, unlike everything else'.
"Get going, if an infected gets you, remember to scream so that I know to get the hell out of here." The first time Spike had said that to him, Aiden hadn't been sure how offended he should be.
It'd taken several months of dealing with the man to realise that was about as close to 'be careful' he was ever going to get.
Moving away from Spike, Aiden took the time to grab a rusty spade that was propped against the building wall. It wasn't a great weapon, so weathered he doubted the shaft would be good for more than one or two hits. But he'd dropped his tire iron when jumping the overpass, and a shit weapon was better than nothing.
The rest of the outside area was a bust in terms of useful items, but there was a second entrance as Spike had either known or guessed at, a pair of large access roller shutter doors with three cars outside that showed that Aiden's previous guess about the parking area for the building compound being outside was incorrect. The cars were clearly worn down, probably not having been used since The Fall, but just because the exterior steel had failed didn't mean that the interior parts were ruined.
It was something he could check later, for now Aiden was focused on the roller shutter door, using the spade as a lever, he was able to raise the shutter door enough to get his fingers underneath, the door remarkably smooth in its opening given how long it had been left without movement. Unfortunately, when the door reached about his waist height it suddenly seized with a crunching/squealing sound. Thankfully it wasn't too loud, as Aiden had been lifting the door slowly as such seizing was common, but he wasn't prepared to try and force it completely open and attract any infected that might still be inside.
Ducking down, Aiden refrained from turning on his torch as he peered inside, as the batteries were almost as rare as purpose-built UV lighting. There wasn't enough light to see perfectly, but it was better than the pitch black that he had been forced to navigate in the past. He very nearly lost focus as he saw a car parked in the other garage space, an electric plug-in hybrid that had started to become popular towards the end of the 2010-2020 decade. It looked intact unlike those left outside, and that meant the batteries and other electronics would almost certainly be still installed.
Those batteries, and the copper wiring and electrical components he could salvage from this car and the cars outside, would allow this place to be turned into a proper outpost rather than just a Pilgrim's Post, once a windmill and/or some solar panels could be installed.
"Spike you lucky bastard!" If the higher ups approved the set up procedure, and given over-population problem of New Paris as well as the trouble that was happening in the UK, they were always on the lookout for new outposts to start up.
Such Havens were named after those that found and secured them, though Aiden already knew of two small havens in the area around Strasbourg that were named after Spike. It was very rare for a Pilgrim to found more than one haven, and three would move Spike to near legendary status.
A quick search of the garage area found a hatchet that he slipped into the loop on his belt, a well made Old World one with a plastic haft rather than the wooden ones that were improvised together now. The ride-on lawnmower and other gardening tools could be repurposed, but that could happen later. Until the building was cleared and he'd checked any other access points, Aiden wasn't going to get too carried away with scavenging.
Moving up the half flight of steps to what he could see was a living area, the stale smell in the air gained an additional scent, one that made Aiden ready his shovel. The smell of death and rotting flesh was one that pretty much every still living human was accustomed to now, though Aiden still paused to raise the scarf he used as a mask to cover his nose and mouth.
Disease had been a bigger killer than the infected in the first few years after The Fall, bacteria and viruses proliferating through the infected to the survivors with remarkable ease. There were no signs of infected in the kitchen he entered, though unlike most Aiden didn't relax as his eyes adjusted to the light pouring in from the multiple windows in the room.
Volatiles were vulnerable to UV light and therefore the sun's rays were deadly to them, but glass absorbed nearly all of the UV light that passed through it, meaning that volatiles could and often did survive just fine in such environments.
Following the wall round to the right from where he had entered from, as Spike would be coming from the left somewhere when he made it inside, Aiden found a small study area with the source of the smell seemingly inside. Sat at what had probably once been an ornate leather swivel chair, both corpse and chair were pretty much picked clean, the clothes turned rags the only thing keeping the skeleton in one piece.
There was no gunshot wound, or other sign of trauma to the skull or visible parts of the skeleton, those kind of wounds something Aiden could differentiate pretty well on sight now given the number of suicide or murdered corpses he had encountered over the years. That didn't necessarily mean this man had died peacefully of course, but he had been dead clearly long enough that it didn't really matter to Aiden and the Pilgrims.
Moving cautiously into the room, to double check there wasn't an infected or other surprise lurking behind the desk, Aiden nearly jumped out of his skin as the skeleton's head suddenly shifted. He repressed the instinctive urge to cry out with the practice of over a decade, and relaxed slightly as a small rat suddenly appeared through the eye socket before it froze for a second upon seeing him.
"Aiden, is everything okay there?" Spike's voice from behind him did make Aiden jump, prompting the rat to jump down onto the desk and disappear down away from him.
"Yeah, just a rat. Looks like another suicide in here, no weapons obviously in the open. The garage though is promising, electric car and enough implements to maintain this place or arm a squad or two. What about you?" Spike's face lit up at the mention of the car as he'd expected, but he shook his head while gesturing behind him.
"Some coats that might be in decent condition, shoes are all eaten through by your rat friends presumably. There's a door to a set of stairs heading down, I assume it's a wine cellar judging by the empty crate at the top. Anything in here?" Aiden shrugged to indicate he hadn't looked yet, the two of them spending the next couple of minutes searching. Cutlery, tablecloths and a glass chopping board didn't exactly sound like a treasure trove, but the tablecloths would be useful for making bandages or creating a sack for carrying things, and something that could be easily cleaned and used for food preparation would be a very valuable trading commodity.
There were also a lot of empty wine and beer bottles scattered around the room, which they took the time to pick up and stack near the sink. They'd need to be cleaned, but bottles like this as well as jars and other reusable containers were almost a currency on their own.
"We can check the rest properly later, up, down or out back?" Aiden thought for a moment and then gestured towards the back, if there were infected in each location going out to the back first would give them a better chance of running/escaping if they needed to.
Spike took the lead, a wooden bat of some kind at the ready, though he hadn't even reached the top of the stairs when he shook his head and relaxed.
"More dead, but open door means UV light and no signs of damage. Volatiles aren't that careful." Stepping up into a bar style area, Aiden was struck by the morbid beauty of the place, this section of the house far more overgrown and reclaimed by nature due to the open veranda.
There were over a dozen corpses in the bar area and on the covered veranda outside, showing that the 'end of the world party' that Aiden had seen a poster for downstairs had been just that. Mass suicide when faced with the prospect of death by the infected or just starvation or disease.
"Nothing like a party to celebrate the end of the world." Spike spoke more solemnly now, even as he moved to the veranda door and poked his head outside.
The air was fresh here, 15 years of exposure long having gotten rid of the smell of the corpses decomposition. There weren't even any flys anymore, anything edible long having been eaten by scavengers.
"Not what I'd do, but at least they died peacefully and went out on their own terms." Moving to close a book on the bar, the scribbled note 'Sorry Dave, goodbye' clearly the last thing the woman who had died at the stool did before she succumbed to whatever poison or drug this group had used to 'die peacefully', Aiden shook his head.
He wasn't quite sure if this kind of approach was merely logical, or cowardly. Certainly if less people had decided to take 'the easy way out' fighting the infected would have been a lot easier in the first few years after 'The Fall'.
"Let's hope we get that lucky too. Lord knows that most don't these days." Spike gestured back inside as he moved back from the garden.
"No infected obviously outside, and the outer wall looks in good shape. Let's check the cellar and then head to the upper floor. We can then lock the place up for the night and secure one of the rooms." Aiden nodded in agreement, though it barely took them thirty seconds from opening the cellar door to confirming there wasn't much of use down there.
It had been a wine cellar but only a small one, and nearly every shelf in the place was empty, no doubt their former occupants now strewn around the house and garden upstairs.
Still, a couple of bottles of beer were still unopened, and even if they were at least 13 years old, it would undoubtedly taste better than anything that had been brewed by the modern day 'experts'. Heading to the roof, Aiden found himself mentally and physically exhausted by the events of the day, his day starting just after sunrise at 5:30 am.
"Long day, take a load off buddy." Spike had dragged a couple of weather worn but otherwise intact wicker chairs towards the edge of the roof.
"Thanks Spike, this is one hell of a find, though I have to ask, why did you call for me specifically? There were half a dozen other Pilgrims that could have responded quicker than me." Handing the man one of the beers, the two clinked glasses as Aiden sat down and took a long chug.
"Damn, it's gone flat." Spike chuckled and took another drink.
"You and your sophisticated palate. I bet you aren't even old enough to remember what a good, ice-cold beer tastes like. Though I suppose you didn't get views like this back then… Who knew the end of the world could be so quiet and peaceful?" Looking over the roving hills and woodlands that now dominated this part of France, Aiden paused partway through nodding in agreement, a distant inhuman cry shattering the sound of birds and other wildlife.
"Until night falls at least. And don't think I haven't noticed you didn't answer my question." Spike chuckled again, though in a darker manner this time as he acknowledged the point with a raised glass.
"I was getting to it, thought the fact I agreed to the beer was enough of an indication that you'd get a hint. I've got news on that guy you're looking for." Aiden's exhaustion disappeared in a flash, the chair creaking as he sat bolt upright.
"What? And you're only telling me this now? What do you know?" Spike looked across with a grim expression, before pointing off to the South-East.
"There's a guy in Villedor, got in touch with him when I was at the nearby comms tower to notify command of this place. Supposedly he knows something about this Waltz character you're looking for. But before you go rushing off on whatever personal vendetta you're involved in, remember we've gotta fortify this place first. And call for more people once it's secure. I'll stick around until they get here, should be able to forage and hunt enough food to fill the wine cellar once we've set some rat traps."
Aiden barely resisted the urge to enunciate his frustration at Spike's points, but despite his knuckles turning white on the beer bottle he eventually relaxed a little and nodded.
"Fine, we can shore up the place tomorrow and then I'll head off to the Communication tower. I assume it's the one off towards Villedor I can see up there?" He could see the tower at the top most point of a series of hills in the direction Spike had pointed.
"Yeah, that one. Hopefully we can scavenge enough working equipment to set up a working radio here in the future, but for now that's what we've got. There's a safe room inside the tower, so if you set off first thing you should be able to make it there before nightfall." Downing the rest of his beer with a long, single swig, Spike gestured down and to the left of where they were sitting.
"We better start with that gate, it's the only place along the wall I can see a volatile getting over or through easily." Deciding not to follow Spike's example, setting aside the beer to finish later, Aiden repressed a sigh as he started looking around for some suitable debris of furniture to use.
In the apocalypse, there was no such thing as an easy night…
A/N: So, here we are again, another story in another universe, though this one isn't a crossover at least.
I started playing Dying Light 2 when it came out, but while I like the overall gameplay and some of the characters, the fact that there are only two factions that you can side with was in my opinion very disappointing. I got to the point where you have to destroy a giant windmill, and found myself more looking round the city going 'if I were to start a faction, where would I put it' rather than following the script with any real interest.
Even having sub-factions you could work with inside the two main factions, which influence the story and the missions you get, would have been a good start.
I also felt that Pilgrims, as a concept, were not just skimmed over but almost dismissed as a non-entity from the start. Despite the fact everyone seems to know their names even in a City that has supposedly been isolated from the outside for 15 years (Villedor has to have been isolated since before 'The Fall', otherwise it doesn't make sense.
Also, France as a setting? Given Villedor is fictional, I had to pick somewhere for this story to take place, and given the references to New Paris it makes sense in my head. It will also become important later for when I decide to massively change the storyline (I assume).
So I've given a bit more backstory to Aiden, a couple of hints to what I think the developers are going for in terms of his physical capabilities, and a reason for Spike and Aiden to meet up as they did.
Will skip the trip to the tower, though as I tried to make clear in this chapter it and Villedor aren't just a handy stone's throw away from where you start as the character. In a world with no cars, planes or trains, distances between towns and cities are something that cannot be underestimated.
Will be in Spain for the next three weeks, so hopefully I will get some scribbling done on my other stories as I know people will pester me. Let me know what you think!
Defias Out!