Winter was rampant by the time the war nearly reached a close. The 1599 AE; during the age of "enlightenment", the New Fathers started the years over again in hopes of marking a new era, calling this new time After Enlightenment (AE). This "enlightenment" meant finding a compromise between political differences by splitting into to provinces and leaving each other to do as they will.

Many, actually very many, citizens of the two provinces Pardaynem and Eacbad were eager for the end of the war. It was the first in millions of years, and humans were thought to be far too evolved to be fighting over petty oil- the last on Earth, found along the border of the provinces. Wasn't the Earth polluted enough anyway?

A little less than 200 years before the New Fathers brought upon the new era, humans began to alter. Fuel was running low and solar energy was becoming difficult to reach behind all the smog. This caused the major shut-down of most factories and the halt in the making of all weapons- except for a special kind of laser gun, which was only distributed to soldiers. Humans now had to fend for themselves bringing forth the Great Changes- a time in which humans evolved physically (and mentally, right?). Humans could now detect heat signatures with one eye and large scaly wings protruded from their backs. All this physical change brought a longing for mental growth, but had that been achieved?

Conflict had been avoided for all these years by splitting the people between political standpoint- those who favored monarchy in Eacbad, and those who favored democracy in Pardaynem. When a child turned 18, they were considered of age and were aloud to chose to either stay in their home providence or go to the opposite providence. The providences had no interaction with each other, so, if a child decided to go to the opposite place, they would never have legal contact with their families and friends again.

Amongst the last few battles being fought, snipers flew through the thick clouds searching for a brawl. Among them, Alice, a 19 year old from Eacbad who now resided in and was fighting on the side of Pardaynem.

She gently flapped her wings, propelling herself through the clouds, now brown with contamination. The only thing on her mind was why she was fighting- if Eacbad got the last of the oil, the king would keep it for himself, while if Pardaynem received it, the people would all get a share, she thought.

Alice noticed a small clearing in the cold, winter clouds and poked her head out to scan the area for an opposite sniper. this ended up being a mistake, however, because as she did a laser whizzed over her head. She hastily ducked back into the murky sanctuary of the clouds to mask her heat signature with the cold, while simultaneously searching for the opposite soldier.

The young troop noticed a quick and small flash of yellow heat in the freezing clouds and wasted no time shooting. She picked up a cry of pain- a hit! Alice quickly shot another time south of the original direction, assuming her foe had lost some altitude. Nothing.

Alice searched with both eyes through the dank, smelly clouds, careful to stay within the corridor or safety; however a few of her long, brown hairs had fallen out of the band holding them back and floated up just barely out of the top of the cloud she hid in.

Her enemy took notice of the heat that came with her hair and fired, going straight through Alice's left wing. She plummeted, stunned. Luckily, she came to her senses and started flying upward shortly before falling bellow the clouds and into sight where she would surely be shot. On her short journey back to her original area, she fixed her hair to distract herself from the deep pain in her wing. When she returned to her previous location, Alice sanitized her would as best she could in mid-flight with the bit of medical supplies she carried with her. In the mean-time, the sniper devised a plan similar to her previous affliction.

She gently pulled out a few hairs from the tie and let them float out of the cloud, newly loaded and prepared laser-gun at ready. Shots immediately came from the Eacbadian sniper, who had, in turn, revealed his heat signature enough for Alice to make out where his head should be. After easily dodging the lasers meant for her, she shot at the opposite troop.

The only thing that was returned from the shots Alice fired was a short but deep-sounding gasp. Sure she had hit her target, she raced to collect the body before it exited the clouds in order to dispose of it properly. The Pardaynian New Father declared that no body was to be left out like garbage, and the soldiers were careful to abide by that rule whenever possible.

Alice caught the body before it left the sticky billow. But as she examined her kill, she was shocked to see a familiar face- She gazed into the glassy eyes of her now dead brother. Alice let herself fall.