Into Civilization

Ren walked for what seemed like days. He had a couple of sleepless nights in the woods, but he suffered through it. His source of water was the occasional stream he came upon on his journey. His source of food was more scarce. He found some berry bushes that he was pretty sure weren't poisoness. He figured if they were, he would have one hell of a night, but the core would eventually sift the poison out of his system and repair any damage.

Ren traveled through flat plains, hilly valleys, and saw some Mountains off in the distance. Ren had to admit that the nature that surrounded him was indeed beautiful, but he couldn't wait to eat some actual food and sleep on a nice soft mattress.

Ren finally found a road to walk down in hopes of finding a town. He finally saw a sign that said, 'Welcome to Missoula!' It was a very large city. As he walked through the city, people were giving Ren some wierd looks. Some even looked scared. Ren was confused at first, but after thinking it over, he would have been scared as well if he saw a tall, powerful looking young man, wrapped in torn up clothes and covered in dried blood.

Ren was penniless, so he figured the best course of action was to report to a police station. They could at least provide him with some food and shelter, or help him claim his inheritance from his dead parents.

"Um sir, he's claiming his name in Ren Lennon." stated a deputy officer.

Ren was confused. All he did was introduce himself. He wasn't complaining though, since they sat him down and gave him a sandwich to eat after he told them he hadn't really eaten in four days.

"You mean someone that went missing from one of those attacks is sitting in one of our questioning rooms?" questioned the Chief of Police. "Are you sure he is who he claims to be?"

"Yes sir. His face matches the identification picture, although he looks older and taller now."

"Hold on, make sure he doesn't leave. I'm going to call the AAA." (American Authoritarian Association)

After the Chief of Police called the AAA, he went to meet the boy personally and break the news of what the AAA wanted to do with him. He walked into the room where they were holding Ren, and instinctively covered his nose and mouth because of the fowl stench coming off of Ren.

"Son, you need a shower." declared the Police Chief. "I'll explain what we are going to do with you after."

Ren took the longest shower of his life in that police station. He was surprised the police station even had showers. He had to scrub his body hard to get all the blood stains off. The police station provided him with some spare clothes after he was done and met back up with the Police Chief.

"Ah, that's much better," breathed the Police Chief. "I can breathe around you. Anyway, I know you probably want to go home since you've been missing for such a long time, your parents must be worried..."

"My parents are dead," interrupted Ren. "I have no home." Ren's expression went dark as he said this.

The Police Chief didn't know why, but he felt intimidated when Ren spoke. "Oh, well... I'm sorry to hear that, but the AAA wants to question you personally at their headquarters in Los Angeles."

"I don't have any money," retorted Ren.

"That's alright, the AAA is covering all the costs."

Ren was completely fine with that. He had never been to California and was somewhat excited for it. However, he still had a lot on his mind. All he could think about was finding the other core soldiers. Ren connected all the dots earlier while on his journey through Montana.

"The doctor said there were more. I'm guessing he was saying that there were more facilities just like Burtgundy Facility. That would make sense with what Ms. Croft was saying earlier about more being sent from others to the front lines, but how does the white light fit into all this?" wondered Ren.

Ren got onto a flight that took him straight to Los Angeles. It was Ren's first time on a flight as well. He loved it, being able to look down at clouds, houses, and cities far below. A few hours later, Ren exited the plane and found a black limo was waiting for him with a man dressed in a black suit.

The man in the black suit drove him into the heart of Los Angeles towards a very tall building. The building looked to be at least 80 stories tall.

"Impressive," thought Ren as he stepped onto the curb where another man in a black suit greeted him.

"Hello, you must be Ren Lennon. I am Mr. Walker. I'll be escorting you to the Head of this Association. Please follow me." Mr. Walker turned and led the way as Ren followed him in.

The inside was as, if not more, impressive than the outside of the building. It was full of beautiful modern decorations and had shiny wood linings. There were also glass windows everywhere, allowing you to look outside at the city, or into the room next to you.

Mr. Walker led Ren into an elevator and pressed the button corresponding to floor 67. Ren felt a downward pressure as the elevator shot up towards their destination.

The elevator door opened to reveal a large open space with scattered couches tables and counters. It looked like a place to take a quick break and relax after finishing a load of paperwork. Past this open space was a wall with large double doors.

Mr. Walker walked straight towards those doors and opened them and gestured for Ren to pass through. Inside this room was a very large office with some couches and a large wooden office desk. There was a man staring out of the window into the city who turned when he heard the door open.

"Hello Mr. Lennon. I'm Mr. Zachery King. I'm the head of this Association."