Destiny: Book of Light by Paul Allen Page A

were first greeted by crowds of stares and whispers. Nobody would speak to, or even go near them for fear of infection and their treatment within a community would be compared to that of a stray unwanted dog. Children would tease them, throwing stones and chasing them. Shop signs changed from open to closed at any time of the day as they approached and regulars only signs went up in all public houses. So the choice of the lesser of two evils would be to return to the city. Where their condition was normal. Quite varied, but normal. Also the daylight was an issue to them. They did not like it as it burnt their already deformed skin and hurt there light sensitive eyes. This kept numbers from trying to leave the city.
    "I chose to come back."
    The world itself went into economic depression. Much of the worlds technology was lost with the city of Riona. Many of the companies that controlled the worlds advancing technologies were nestled in the heart of Riona and most kept their secrets well hidden from the outside world. Products were sold throughout the world but never their secrets. Any products that did make it through the dark age were in need of repair and with no companies to do it for them, people were reduced to homemade, improvised repair. Cars and other vehicles were abandoned on a biblical scale. Massive junk yards began to appear all over the world. Roads began to deteriorate. And basically the world as people knew it was never the same.
    "Don't be so hard on yourself."
    Oblivious to Sean, thousands of eyes followed and analysed each movement as he made his way from the docks up one of the streets. There were many streets to chose from, all littered with destruction and shadowed with endless towers. There was no way of choosing which one he should take except that he had to chose one. He had no way of knowing where Jones would be and trusted him when he said he would find him should he ever step foot in Riona. Not long after he started on the street, he could make out a figure in the distance.
    "Miss you."
    The journey back had begun rough, but about a month into the trip a calmness came over the seas. Sean woke that morning and peered out the window at cleared skies revealing a relaxing blue day. The skies were blue, the sea was blue, and the light was blue. The sun, although still bearing the weakness of a dying star, warmed the air, but had no effect on the light, cool breeze. The captain slowed the ship to drifting pace. The whole crew were on deck marvelling at the rarity of such a sight in these parts. But those that were below stayed below. They did not wish to deal with the light any more than they had to. Even the captain made his way from the bridge, nursing a cup of coffee. But he did not share in the excitement of the crew. He had a blank stare on his face. A stare that matched Sean’s. A stare they each recognised and did not need to address. There weren't many in the modern world that didn't have a hint of the stare, but there were those who were defined by it. It was a stare that was the reward for dealings with death. The more experience you had with death, the more stare lay in your eyes.
    Sean watched a gull that climbed and dived in the breeze. The freedom it must have. He wondered how its life had been. If it had suffered hardships, if times were hard. If they were,he wondered did that gull worry about it. How it seemed so peaceful gliding through the skies so effortlessly and seemingly careless. He imagined its life being simple, with thoughts only being focused on food and mating. He wished to be the gull. He wished to be free. To not care like when he had been a child around the estate. It seemed that he had been a completely different person back then. That those memories were ones he had stolen from somebody else. But it wasn't and even if it was, the weight on his shoulders he felt now would not be lifted. There was nothing that could lift it. He reminded himself that he didn't want to