Time capsule-ish
Naos and the rest of the town were able to finish the well quickly, and everyone benefitted.
Children could drink clean water, their parents could have peace of mind, and Naos was fully accepted.
Naos's house became the center for the flow of gifts throughout Calico. Begrudgingly, he acted as if the newfound attention was welcomed.
Logan was the most frequent visitor. The boy would stop by often and dig the knowledge out of Naos's brain, the kind that he unconsciously let slip out during a conversation.
"So, what did he do next?" Logan persisted.
"I would continue but it seems your mother is outside waiting for you." Once he was reminded, Logan sighed slightly before bolting out the door to join his mom for dinner.
After the entire day of being bombarded with rapt attention from anyone who passed, Naos was tired. All he wanted to do was relax for the remaining daylight hours. He observed as the lights in the town went out one by one. Once Calico had been shrouded in the darkness of night, Naos left quietly.
Naos was a man who had lived in Calico for decades collectively, and it would be foolish not to leave a backup supply somewhere. Of course, he wouldn't be able to reach it with all the prying eyes of the residents.
The box buried nearby could be called a time capsule by anyone who knows how long it has been there. Of course, Naos never considered it like that. It was just a box with supplies that would be incredibly useful for starting anew.
Perhaps a rapidly changing future?
Regardless, Naos had to be careful when he was digging it up. From what he remembered there was only a house nearby that could notice his actions in the night.
Sneaking over there was relatively easy. All Naos had to do was take careful steps in the dark and watch out for branches. When he arrived at the approximate location, he stabbed his hand into the ground.
Feeling the tough rock around his hand, he took his hand out and stabbed it into another area that was next to it. The sound this made was why he had waited for a while just to ensure that everyone was asleep.
Repeating this process a few times, Naos looked into the most recent hole he had made. A section of the hole deep in the earth was unstable and sand poured into the whole briefly.
Naos pulled his arm back more than before and stabbed his hand into the ground. Feeling the sand through his fingers, he continued until he reached something more solid than the rocky surface.
He chose that spot to start digging around. Within the hour, a hole was 2 feet deep and a few feet wide. A black metallic box was uncovered, and its lid was shiny despite the many years buried under sand.
Naos pulled the box out of the ground and placed it to the side before covering his traces the best that he could. Most of the holes were filled and he put thoughts about them out of his mind for the time being.
If someone were to wake up this very moment, they would see a figure of the night holding an ominous box under his arm, walking to the outskirts of Calico.
After checking the surroundings for unwanted spectators, Naos closed the door so he could be the only one to witness the unboxing of his prized items.
Inside were a few things that Naos thought might be helpful for the future. One of these things was Naos's favorite weapon: a pistol that had been the peak of all his creations.
The barrel was slightly longer than an average pistol with a similar structure, and it had a revolver's cylinder that could hold up to 6 shots. The gun had a look that made it seem from the future.
The intricate blue and purple engravings twisted around the black body like overgrown vines with an artistic sense, coiling around the entire gun, but they stopped at the back of the handle.
The back of the handle had descending letters that spelled out: "Nova"
Setting Nova aside, Naos pulled out the other weapon inside. It was a knife made of an extremely durable metal that wouldn't break even if it were to be thrown to the lowest spot in the ocean.
Not only was it near-impossible to break, but it was also extremely sharp. One could slice metal like butter if they wanted to. Naos didn't think that he would have to attempt that, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
The knife's blade itself looked like it had the same theme as the gun before. Blue, purple, and black covered the knife, as if one were looking through a powerful telescope into the unknown.
The 10-inch blade was much more complex than the simple black, slanted handle. But on the back of the handle, a word was written in descending order. The letters spelled out: "Orion"
Nova and Orion were strong ranged and melee weapons, only fools would deny it. They had never seen use outside of sporadic tests that Naos performed on a whim. But it seemed like they would finally see the light, and taste the blood of whoever threatened Naos.
What remained in the box were miscellaneous items that Naos knew would be important if something were to force him into a corner. Other than the spare bullets, some grenades, and stims would force a turning point in a tough battle were inside the box.
Now that Naos was done taking everything from the box, he hid it under his bed where very few would look. The items themselves were hidden in his clothes the best that he could. Nova had a holster, and Orion had a sheath, but the rest had nothing to hold them.
Naos ended up just putting the grenades and stims back in the box because they were the least useful out of everything he had.
Feeling satisfied with his preparations, Naos sat down on his bed and thought of what he would do next. After all, he had no goal at the moment.
A bolt of curiosity struck his brain as he thought about the rumors about superpowered people appearing.
Project Flair started as an outlet for Naos's quest for death. It ultimately failed beautifully, but he was still curious how people started having powers.
It didn't long for him to connect the dots and make a few theories, but he decided that he would find out later. Perhaps then he could finally be done with his endless journey that had persisted longer than he cared to remember.