The year was 2452 AD when the event happened. A wave of undetectable particulate matter passed through the Milky Way galaxy. It was travelling at 99.999% the speed of light. When it passed through the galaxy, all of a sudden the wave simply stopped. No one knew why.

Humans, in all their presumed scientific understanding, were nearly wiped from the earth. Only those who happened to be shielded beneath a meter or more of concrete, were underground, or were protected by the highest level energy shields on the market were safe. All others were simply vaporized instantly.

The changes didn't stop there. All existing power sources were rendered nonfunctional. Planes fell from the skies and crushed skyscrapers. Military grade weaponry no longer functioned due to all metal almost instantly decaying. More buildings collapsed.

Nuclear facilities suddenly stopped functioning as their cores decayed.

Changes began to happen to the flora and fauna as well. All plants suddenly started to turn purple. Their trunks began to form circuitry of a sort, feeding on the particles in the atmosphere. They turned into quasi-biological replicas of their prior selves. Odder still, they glowed in the dark.

Animals didn't escape either, they also mutated and changed. Some became faster, others became stronger, others developed strange abilities, and still others changed their shape. As the particles interacted with their functions, their changes were numerous. Entire eco-systems suddenly were re-arranged.

Humans, the few that remained, were driven underground before they could learn the new rules of their existence. That didn't stop them however. Over the next 20 years, the best and brightest of those that were left, did one thing. They learned. What's more, they created. Eventually, they discovered that these new particles were there.

Instead of their prior technologies, they arrived at a way to use the particles for themselves. Using artificial bio-polymers, they developed circuitry that functioned in the place of the metals of bygone ages. Specifically, this was through by the work of one genius name Dr. Aaron Blake. With a team of scientists (all who happened to be together working on a government project at the time of the event), he managed to create a simple generator.

It consumed the particles, drew out their latent energy, and then converted it into a usable form. He then discovered that this entire process was amazingly odd in that it didn't release heat, and it was incredibly efficient. A small generator only 20cm by 20cm could produce enough new energy to power an entire city.

So that is what they did. Over the course of the next 200 years, they rebuilt humanity. First, they founded a city. Then a nation. Finally, they rebuilt the world.

---

August 25th, 265 AC (After Cataclysm)

A woman named Marta lay in a hospital in the poorest section of New Berlin. The lights flickered slightly from loose bio-conductive materials, but it was the best the hospital could afford in the slums.

"Push, Marta! Push!" a nurse by the woman's feet hollered to the expecting mother. There was no father present.

Sweat beaded across the woman's brow as another wave of contractions washed over her and threatened to drown her consciousness.

"Doctor, the baby appears to be breach. There is also evidence of internal hemorrhaging. Should we prepare for a c-section?" another nurse asked with a concerned look on her face.

The doctor frowned, "No, it's too late now. We'll have to take care of the baby first, and then we can see to the mother."

A worried look passed across the first nurse's face, "Marta, don't worry. Everything will be fine, alright? Let's just get this baby out now."

Marta's face, stained with sweat and now worry, shook her head to acknowledge. Speaking was too difficult. Another contraction was coming on now. She groaned as the pain intensified.

"Alright, this is it. I think I see the baby's shoulder, Marta. When you push, I'm going to help the baby. Here we go!"

With a scream of strain Marta pushed. The nurse reached in and finally managed to successfully rotate the baby. The baby coughed and then cried.

"Good work, Marta! That was it! Congratulations it's a boy!" The nurse smiled as she quickly wrapped the baby up and went to hand it to Marta.

It wasn't until she turned around that she realized something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. "Marta? Marta!"

The alarms on all of the machines started ringing as Marta, who heroically had just pushed her baby into the world, passed on to the next one.

The nurse, holding the baby, stood to the side as the doctor and nurses tried to revive her, but it was to no avail. Marta was gone.

The baby, however, was aware of none of this. He was quite warm and comfortable as he looked up at the nurse and made new baby sucking noises with his mouth.

"Oh, little one, I'm so sorry." The nurse frowned at the baby with sympathy in her eyes.

A flicker of blue light.

"What was that?" The nurse looked closely into the baby's eyes. She was sure she had seen something... that was odd.

Over the next month, the baby was taken care of by the hospital. Finally, after it was confirmed there was no one that would come for the baby, he was sent to a nearby orphanage for care and education.

---

January 3rd, 281 AC (After Cataclysm)

Snow fell all around Gareth, tinged with the slightest purple tone. He had read that once upon a time, before the cataclysm, snow was pure white. That would've been cool to see, but it was still quite beautiful. He appreciated the silence as well.

It was night time. Though he didn't have a watch it was around 7:30pm, a large clock tower on top the orphanage (powered by the same energy particles as everything else) was visible from where he squatted. It glowed a light blue color through the storm. The snow muffled the noises and drove those in the nearby homes and businesses, outside the orphanage walls, to quickly and quietly hurry inside.

Peaceful moments were difficult for orphans to come by, and after nearly 16 years Gareth had learned to make the most of the opportunity. He currently was on the stairs of a small storage building composed of stone. It was used for housing the gardening tools that the orphanage needed during the summer months, and the snow shovels needed during the winter.

He reached in his pocket and pulled out a small food bar. Since the cataclysm, food bars like this had replaced a good portion of the available food. Instead, artificial nutrients were used to satisfy the needs of most. Once in a rare while, "real" food was able to be obtained, but more often than not food bars were the best and cheapest option.

He took a bite and chewed. This particular food bar was one of his favorites. It tasted like roast beef, perfectly seasoned. With a little imagination, he could almost picture it being warm.

The back door of the orphanage opened and several children rushed into the snowy yard to play. Soon teams were formed and they started up a snowball fight and started laughing, yelling, and screaming. It didn't seem that there was any winning or losing, and betrayal was common as suddenly someone on one team or the other would pelt their supposed ally with a snow ball and run away laughing. Gareth smiled. It was good to see them have their fun. Entertainment wasn't easy to come by for the impoverished urchins.

He finished his food and quickly slipped away. His quiet had been interrupted, so he sought someplace else to enjoy some solitude. Slipping behind the stone shed, he walked to the nearby wall and pull aside some mostly-frozen vines that (along with every plant) glowed with purple circuitry. Behind the vines was a small wooden door through the wall.

Nobody ever used the door, and with the overgrowth of the vines it was quite forgotten. Sometime in the last century, it had been retrofitted with polymer hinges. Most people in this desperate era had never taken the time to read their history. Between mandated Defense Corp service at 18 years old and simple survival before and after that, their lives were full.

Gareth, as an orphan, had a little more time than most and a good portion of it was spent in the library of the orphanage. The library wasn't too prestigious, but there were a dozen books going back until almost the time of the cataclysm. Gareth had read them all at least once, and a few of his favorites more than once.

Gareth slipped out the door and closed it behind him. A nearby park had a bench and a small creek where he could relax.

He walked through the alley behind the orphanage lost in thought, and was completely caught off guard when someone suddenly jumped at him and slammed him into the opposite wall. "Give me all of your stuff kid! If you don't I'll gut you like a fish!"

The stranger wore a mask and a hat, a hood was pulled over his head. No identifying features were visible, but he held a knife. Like everything else, the knife was made out of a polymer now, but it was sturdy, sharp, and a small wisp of green energy arced up the blade from hilt to tip.

His eyes wide with fear, Gareth looked at the man and said, "Sir, I'm just an orphan. I don't have anything to give you. If I did it would be yours immediately."

"Look, kid, I don't believe that. You've gotta have something! Hand it over or else!" He flipped the knife in his hand and readied a downward plunge with the blade.

Gareth believed he was serious, and figured that he was about to die. He really didn't have anything to give the man! Without another option, escape became his highest priority. He kicked the man in the chest!

With a gasp, the man let go of his shirt collar and took a step back, but the kick wasn't very effective. Gareth turned to run.

"You're dead, kid!" With that, he swung the knife side-armed towards his chest. Gareth had no time to react and simply stood there with his eyes wide as the knife slide through his coat, shirt, and skin. He could feel it cross through his ribs. It didn't stop until it hit the hilt. He was dead. There was no doubt.

Blood poured out through the gaping wound as Gareth stumbled back against the wall and the knife was removed. He couldn't do anything but fight the encroaching darkness as the man rummaged through his pockets. "Dang it. He really didn't have anything... dumb kid." With that, the man kicked his leg and started to turn to leave.

Something flickered in Gareth's vision. Words? They were read into his consciousness. He could hear them in his mind.

*Initiating system... Stop... System initiated... Particle transference confirmed... Pause... Emergency treatment needed... Restoration functions articulating... Saturation of particles at optimum levels...*

A slight blue glow stopped the man from leaving. "What the heck?" He turned and stared at Gareth's face and his eyes widened. "What the @$#% are you!?"

He looked at the wound on Gareth's chest and his eyes widened further. It was sealing itself!

"Holy Hannah! Crap! Sorry kid, I can't let you live. It'd be trouble for me!" With that he drew the knife again and prepared to cut Gareth's throat.

*Treat Detected... Host unable to defend himself... Initiating defensive EF... Firing...*

A silent explosion of green energy filled the entire alley, radiating out from Gareth's body. The man was ejected from the alley, flew through the air, across the street, and slammed into the opposing wall. Blood splattered everywhere on impact. The knife followed and penetrated the man's skull. Gareth saw none of this though, as he had blacked out.

*Threat eliminated... Resuming restoration function... Biological integrity restored... Heart failure detected.... Initiating resuscitation...*

A burst of red energy flowed around Gareth, and Gareth gasped as a jolt of energy restarted his heart.

*Stabilization complete...*