Chapter 1: Hao
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     He had been trapped on the island since the day the world had went to
hell.  503 days to be exact.
     "Will I ever get off this island?" he thought as he put yet another
mark, marking the beginning of another day, on the lone tree on the island.
     Several times he had considered swimming towards the tower in the
distance, but he could see no other signs of life in that direction, and
the beams of deadly looking light that reached out from the tower from
time to time had deterred him.
     This morning, like every other day, he picked up his makeshift
fishing pole and walked down to the beach.  "Pickings are gettin' to be
slim," he muttered as he looked for fish.  As he baited the hook he
glanced towards the tower in the distance.  For a second he thought he
saw it shudder.
     "What the ....?"  And that's when it happened.  With a flash of
light, the tower seemed to come apart at its seams as it crumbled to the
ground.
     "Now that's something you don't see everyday," he said with a laugh
as he let out the line into the ocean.  After half an hour he had caught
several nice-looking fish and carried them back towards his lean-to.
Gathering up a few pieces of driftwood, he quickly started a fire and was
soon cooking the fish.
     While he sat there, eating the fish, he stared towards where the
tower had once shown up on the horizon.  Every now and again he could see
flashes of ruby colored light go lancing into the air and then fade out.
     After finishing the fish, He crawled back into the lean-to and
retrieved his sword.  Just as he was about to start his morning
exercises, the island was struck by an earthquake.  At first, Hao paid no
attention to the quake, there had been many such quakes in the past
500 days.  Suddenly, the ground lurched severely, throwing Hao to the
ground.
     Once the shaking had subsided, Hao stood up, and his mouth fell open
in amazement.