Prologue
After many wars and natural disasters, the earth was ruined and poisoned with miasma. Mankind had no choice but to look to a higher power to survive. The earth's men of all creeds and color put their faces to the ground, cried out, and repented to God.
"Save us, have mercy on us, the rivers are filled with blood, the soil dead where not even grass will grow. The rain burns the ground, God forgive us let this not be our end."
God, ever merciful and gracious, heard their cries, put all who remained to sleep, and blessed them with new DNA—what is now known as the elementia gene. Every beast, bird, fish, and creeping thing on the earth was made anew; though they grew larger and more fierce, they could be tamed. Man's curse to till the ground was lifted, now able to control fire, water, air, and earth.
The world once again prospered, giving birth to men and nations so powerful the continents themselves shifted back into one. But for all this blessing and prosperity, man's sinful nature still persisted. With the elementia gene now coursing through man's veins, how would man's sins take form?
A period of time was lost—a lost history of 200 years. Yet a light in the darkness, a woman named Siya, burned brightly. She brought back hope so that the mistakes of the past and a terrible blight would never be seen again.
Now in the year 2649, the continent is split into five smaller nations: Seust, the largest nation in the middle of this world, is the most technologically advanced and least threatened by the Smoke organization. In the north lies Auwenzori, a cold country in perpetual night where the moon shines brightly and lunar rainbows decorate the city's skies. It is one of the most beautifuland mysterious countries, where some citizens make their homes out of ice and the use of the water element is like second nature. Aside from tourism, the nation has little to do with the others, leading to suspicious rumors of cooperation with the Smoke organization.The eastern nation of Zaria is a fertile farmland. The northeastern territory of Sassari has no real ruler and is often pillaged by outlaws and bandits; those who live there fear those with elemental power. The southern state of Boscage, the second most prominent nation, has a culture with a deep respect for nature and tolerance for using elemental energy. It is barely held together, although its government is a driving force in learning more about the power they could attain.Each nation is threatened with extermination by a ruthless terrorist organization code-named SMOKE, signifying the black-gray and red fumes that emanate from the terrorist bodies when they strike.
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Andrea, a twenty-something Black girl—preferably called Andy—is a member of a military research and development team. The different governments constituted these teams to access and chronicle anything of historical worth. In years past, this sparked a number of cross-border invasions among the nations. Some government representatives on the research team grew suspicious that otherswere conniving and taking independent decisions, violating the Equal Historical Information Act. This act provides that each nation must have a head historical researcher present for any new exploration; once findings are documented, each nation is at liberty to utilize them for any purpose without supervision.But as member nations exploit the powers of the natural elements, they have proceeded to equip their individual military organs and citizens with knowledge of controlling the elements beyond natural ability. The five nations then reached a consensus with The Equal Inquisition Act to dissolve the military research teams, allowing each nation to pursue its own course of research with history and the elements. This ended the arms race to acquire knowledge and power over this new transformation of the human race. Now, as nations discover more about the elements—mixing a variety of energy sources to invent sophisticated technological devices—information is shared the world over, but some resistance still remains.
