Henry was a simple man. He lived in a small village near the sea. The village was home to a bunch of other simple people, just like Henry. They did simple things like walk around, look for things to eat, sleep, and sometimes, make babies. That didn't happen very much though. People would try to make babies, but most of the time it didn't work. The legends say that his ancestors had caused this by using monstrous weapons of tremendous power that left the land and its inhabitants bitter and lifeless. Henry didn't know if that legend was true, but he also didn't care. Babies were too much work, ate too much food while being unable to look for their own. He was far more interested in the magician that lived in the strange cave north of the village.
The inhabitants of Henry's village thought the magician was an odd man, and some were even frightened of him. He would come into town wearing his strange set of clothes that consisted of a bizarre mask that concealed his face and a smooth and stretchy material that covered the rest of his body. He would wave around a small black rectangle as he walked into the town, paying close attention to a smaller glowing rectangle on its side. He would then begin to search around the village for small puddles of water and any plants that hadn't been eaten by the villagers or their meager livestock. He would take these materials and place them in bags unlike any Henry had ever seen before. They were small and clear, and seemed to wave in the breeze. After he collected his things, he would leave the village as mysteriously as he arrived.
Henry had an interesting arrangement with the magician. On rainy days, Henry would use a small bucket to collect the rain water. He would then carry the bucket of rain water to the strange cave where the magician lived. The cave was a gray dome in the middle of a field north of Henry's village. On one side of the dome was a big black door. Henry would go to that door with the bucket, and place the bucket on the ground. The magician would come out, pour the rain water into a cylinder while staring intently into a small rectangle mounted on his wrist. He would then give Henry his reward. Mysterious blocks that could be cut open and revealed to contain many different types of food. Most of these foods were completely foreign to Henry, but he always found the food to taste better than the snails and rodents he usually ate. After the magician gave Henry his reward, he would return to his gray dome and close the big black door.
Henry had an interesting arrangement with the magician. On rainy days, Henry would use a small bucket to collect the rain water. He would then carry the bucket of rain water to the strange cave where the magician lived. The cave was a gray dome in the middle of a field north of Henry's village. On one side of the dome was a big black door. Henry would go to that door with the bucket, and place the bucket on the ground. The magician would come out, pour the rain water into a cylinder while staring intently into a small rectangle mounted on his wrist. He would then give Henry his reward. Mysterious blocks that could be cut open and revealed to contain many different types of food. Most of these foods were completely foreign to Henry, but he always found the food to taste better than the snails and rodents he usually ate. After the magician gave Henry his reward, he would return to his gray dome and close the big black door.
One day, when Henry was on his way to deliver some of the valuable rain water, he noticed that the door on the side of the gray dome was open. He looked around for any sign of the magician, but he was nowhere to be seen. Shrugging, Henry walked towards the opening in the gray dome, and eventually passed through. He found himself inside the magician's cave, but he quickly realized that this was not a cave at all. It was a room, just like the space inside of one of the bigger mud huts found in Henry's village. Unlike these huts however, this room had a hole in the ground. Upon inspecting the hole, Henry realized that he could climb down it. The hole was deeper than he expected but when he finally got to the bottom, he was instantly stunned by what he saw. He was standing in a cavern, but not like any cavern he'd ever seen before. The walls of the cavern were shiny and smooth. Henry realized this cavern was built, not formed. His mind struggled to comprehend the meaning of this even as his eyes continuously took in new wonders. On tables around the cavern were boxes that glowed and made humming noises. Henry stumbled backwards, knocking over a small box that was not glowing. When it hit the ground, sounds started coming out of it. Quickly Henry recognized the voice as the magician's. The voice inside the box spoke:
"Radiological Assessment #146097 - Results of rain water sample analysis conclude that ambient radiation levels in the atmosphere and water cycle are increasing, not decreasing. This is a devastating result. We all had hoped that radiation levels would begin to decline by now. It has been officially four-hundred years since Nuclear Event 2056 and the radiation levels seem to still be increasing, proving the situation to be far worse than we all had feared. - End Assessment"
The box stopped for a moment, emitted a noise, and the magician's voice again began speaking:
"Personal Log #10950 - Well, this is it. This is the end. After four-hundred years of constant monitoring by my ancestors and myself, it has become apparent that the Earth is dying. We killed it. Maybe it will recover in thousands of years, but humanity's time is over. We had our shot and we blew it. I'm going to leave. Take whatever I can carry and walk away from this place. Maybe the radiation will kill me, or maybe I'll find a new place to call home. Either way, my job here is clearly done."
Henry waited for the box to keep talking. He understood very little of what the box had said, only recognizing that the magician had decided to leave. This made Henry very sad, and he began sobbing. He sat on the floor of the strange cavern, letting the sadness echo throughout. After crying, Henry stood up and began walking back towards the hole he climbed down from. Before he began his climb however, he saw a note on the wall. Walking over to the note, he noticed it was attached to a small shiny stick. The note read:
"Henry, this is called a key. It will allow you to open and close the door to this place whenever you want. Good luck."
Below the writing was an arrow, pointing to the left. Henry turned his head and saw something amazing. A huge box, filled with more blocks than Henry could count, it must have been hundreds! He instantly knew what they were. He grabbed one and cut it open, inspecting the block for the delicious contents usually housed inside. He moaned with joy and gorged himself on several blocks before gathering his wits.
Ecstatic from his discovery and energized by the meal, Henry scampered back up through the hole and ran full speed towards his village. He could not wait to tell the village of the incredible gift the magician had left them.
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