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	Amber was looking glum now. She turned her face away uncomfortably. Cleared her throat again, but didn’t say anything. Meanwhile the Chilli had woken from her sleep. She remained puffed and seemingly comfortable on the barrel, but now had her head askew, slightly cocked. Listening.  

Jack continued, ‘Over the following few years the handful of survivors did what they could to rebuild a new society. And they succeeded to a point. But it was obviously a lot different to what it used to be.’ He thought for a moment, scratching his cheek as if casually recalling the result of a football game, then added, ‘Three main groups of people rose; Those that attempted to establish a new world order, Those that sought to destroy any effort made by the new world order, and then there were those who wanted little to nothing to do with either. But I cant really call the third group an actual organisation. They consisted of all different types of people. Basically those who lived free of any authority influence. Adventurers. Wonders. Bandits. Hunters. A lot of smaller subcultures formed as well. In the shadows. The world became a dark place.’ 

‘And what about you, Jack?’ said Amber, her voice notably breaking with feeling for his plot, ‘Which group do you belong to?’   

‘None of those I mentioned, actually.’ he told her, sitting back in his seat, dropping his hands to his lap, and turning his look to the Chilli that was gazing back at him, ‘I became part of a different organisation. A small covert group who have…. Uh, how do I put this?’ He thought for a moment, turning his eyes back to Amber. He said, ‘We’ve been looking for… something.’