《Eden's Echoes》
Daedalus Station
Dunn¡¯s flashlight lit the ice coated metal, light scattering in rays across the entirety of the hall. Floating motes of matter drifted by, lit by the mounted light on his rifle. He clunked further and further down, the clang of his mag-boots echoing out across the thin atmosphere. Behind him the rest of the squad moved in zero-g, pushing off and maneuvering across the halls with ease. None of them had lights attached to their weapons, their armor actually having optics.
¡°Dunn, I think I can get the power online. This shit¡¯s so old there¡¯s no grav generator. I think the shuttle can power this whole place, but there¡¯s a couple fuse boxes down here. I¡¯ll see what works and try to get something going towards the bridge,¡± Mallory¡¯s voice echoed in his ear. The gearhead was the best investment he¡¯d ever made, her natural instincts for tech keeping the Alliance floating.
¡°Copy, we¡¯re pushing towards the bridge now.¡± Dunn changed radio frequencies with a thought, his neural implants working in tandem with the psionic tech in the helmet.
¡°No lifeforms detected, but that¡¯s no excuse for being sloppy. Everyone, blades and runes ready. The hull is thin, so be careful. Nobody likes explosive decompressions, yeah?¡±
The rest of the team gave a series of affirmative hums or grunts. He grunted back at them and turned his radio off so they couldn¡¯t hear him complaining about them under his breath.
¡°Damn kids these days. No respect for rank or protocols,¡± Dunn groused. He had brief pang of empathy with his old trainer, before remembering what a psychopathic bastard he was. That flash fried the empathy, but he was still in a bit of a morose mood.
¡°How much we getting paid for this?¡± Barr asked. The youngest of the crew, he had just earned his first rune and was working on gathering his full set. The cost of finding the appropriate rune pattern was weighing on him and all he did was ask how much money they were going to make or how much something cost.
¡°Salvage only. So make sure we keep the explosive decompressions to a minimum,¡± Dunn said. It had been a miracle to find this planet out in the middle of nowhere. Corrupted databases cross referenced with library logs that had been written with pen and paper. Years of hunting, of crossing off a half thousand different destinations until they had arrived in system and found this singular floating station.
They hit a vertical hall and Dunn shut off his boots and kicked himself up, gliding though the station as he swept his rifle back and forth. A display popped up in his HUD as the Alliance¡¯s A.I had finished mapping the station. He was a floating blue dot against a white outline, each of the other five members of his combat team a different color. Mallory and Hazel were a pair of bright yellow dots isolated in the bowels of the ship.
¡°Salvage?! Dunn, that won¡¯t even pay for fuel! This shit is so old that it¡¯s not even worth steel scrap!¡± Barr complained bitterly behind him. Dunn grunted and stowed his annoyance with the younger man. Money wasn¡¯t his concern.
The display flashed and a green arrow pointed to a horizontal hallway to his right and he grabbed a well-positioned rung and changed directions. He kept the boots off and used the hand rungs to continue propelling himself further towards where the A.I said the bridge should be.
¡°Barr, you need to chill. You will have a full pattern soon enough, bugging us about money every other day isn¡¯t going to make it show up faster,¡± Daisy said. Her voice of reason was lost in Barr¡¯s retort of needing the cash now.
¡°Our grade is ass until we¡¯re fully patterened. That means only shit jobs. Can¡¯t upgrade the Alliance or try to find our own ships working shit jobs now, can we?¡±
¡°You leave the Alliance to me. As for your own ship, you need a bit of seasoning before anyone in their right mind lets you Captain one,¡± Dunn said, trying to end the bickering. He had only just earned his own Captaincy a year ago and his crew was young and inexperienced and it showed.This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
¡°Sorry, sir,¡± Barr finally took the hint and dropped it. There were a few snickers, but for the most part no one said anything negative as they entered what was indicated to be the bridge. Panels ran from one side of the room to the other, all of them dead. The team spread out, poking their noses around as Dunn activated his radio and turned it to the private channel for Mallory.
¡°We¡¯re in the control room. ETA on power?¡±
¡°Right now,¡± Mallory responded as the room came to life. Lights flickered and sputtered about for a moment before fully half of them stayed on. The rest faded away as the years proved too much an obstacle to overcome.
¡°Oh shit, we overloaded something, hold on,¡± Mallory said, and all the lights flashed out again. The sudden darkness took everyone off guard and a few complaints drifted his way as Dunn spun his light around. As fast as it had happened, it reversed, and light came streaming back in.
¡°Alright, can¡¯t get the fans going or the air circulating, but powers on to the bridge.¡±
¡°Thanks, Mallory. Good job,¡± Dunn said. He looked over to the center console and floated towards it. A series of input slots were there, and he grunted in annoyance as he fished around in a side pouch on his belt. This old tech was annoying with all its different sizes of inputs, but that was why he always came prepared. He slung his rifle and knelt down, using one arm to hold himself down, and found the appropriately sized jack. He inserted it and his helmet flashed a few times as the old language was slowly converted over to a text he could read.
Most of what was available were system diagnostics, the old station was in dire need of repairs, and a peculiar sized data entry. It was much too large to be simple text and when he went to access it he found that it wasn¡¯t even locked behind the most primitive of firewalls.
Something whirred, a projector sliding free of a metal panel in the center of the room, and light spluttered a few times before the image of a man was showing. There was a pale blue dim light to him, but he was undeniably human.
¡°Oh shit, this place is human. Wonder what fleet he branched off of,¡± Daisy said as she walked closer to the projection. The image was showing a man of slim build, his cheeks sunken in and his eyes dark and haunted. His head was cut close to the scalp leaving nothing more than a trace of blonde fuzz.
A speaker coughed, once, twice, and then with a third rattle it sounded off, distant and tinny. The words were undeniably a proto version of Fleet Standard, each word sounding like he should know it, but not quite. The A.I from the Alliance quickly deciphered the words and started to play them in through his ears.
¡°My name is Jon Caspar. I am the last survivor of Daedalus Station, and I have come to the conclusion that there should be some type of record here. Of what happened. Just¡just in case. So, if you¡¯ve found this without me, then I¡¯m dead. So¡that sucks.¡± The man shrugged his shoulders and then gave a melancholic grin.
¡°It should be expected though. I watched as the last of the World-Ships left the system two weeks ago.¡±
¡°Holy shit,¡± Daisy muttered over the comms as she started to piece it together. The rest of the team had yet to voice anything out loud, but everyone was paying rapt attention to the hologram.
¡°I¡¯ve done a few things that should be considered illegal, but seeing as all the governments have collapsed, I don¡¯t think anyone will be after me anytime soon,¡± the man chortled to himself.
¡°I used my admin privileges to raid secure systems to compile a timeline of key events that led to our demise. As for the general history of our species, well I downloaded as much as I could and stored it on hard drives and placed them in lockup. They should survive down there.¡±
¡°Mallory, I need you to get to wherever this lockup is and find it right now. Data recovery gear,¡± Dunn ordered.
¡°On it, boss,¡± Mallory said.
¡°As for the events that directly caused our destruction, I have compiled videos and interviews here and will play them in chronological order with my own commentary. Always wanted to narrate something,¡± Caspar looked off into the distance, eyes glazing over momentarily.
Then he snapped back to attention and looked over everyone. He sighed suddenly, shrinking on himself. The view changed a bit as he sat down suddenly, a chair appearing in frame.
¡°August 16th, 2037. That is the first time we have definitive proof of a metaphysical-perpendicularity. Layman called them rifts, portals, slices, or anything other than metaphysical-perpendicularity. Cause that¡¯s a fucking mouthful. On an undisclosed island in the Pacific, and I tried to find the island name, believe me, a group of Marines were sent to investigate an abnormality. No one knew what it was or could have even comprehended what they were about to unleash.¡± Caspar shook his head slowly, the weight of the events evident in his slumped shoulders.
¡°I have video footage that survived from Lance Corporal Shane Dupont. The Lance Corporal would also be the first person recorded to ever secure a rune.¡± Jon Caspar flickered away and a new video started to play.
Lance Corporal Dupont
Lance Corporal Dupont
Grainy footage appeared where Jon Caspar had been, and Dunn leaned in closer as the poor quality was hard to see. The view was bouncing about, thick jungle passing by in a blur as muted sounds came through. The audio clicked and voices came through clearly.
¡°What the fuck are we doing out here, Shane?¡± a disembodied voice called out. The camera turned to look at a sandy haired man who was driving with two hands on the wheel. He was lean and was scowling his face locked in a state of distaste as his uniform had a damp spots across it from sweat.
¡°Our jobs. So, can that shit and focus on the road Andrei.¡± The driver grunted and they kept moving as the indecipherable murmurs continued behind them. Shane was looking straight ahead, the narrow road a blur as the sun was beginning to sink down behind the horizon.
The vehicle slowed and then plowed off the paved road to a pair of ruts worn into the jungle. The claustrophobic feel of the encroaching jungle made it feel like a tunnel as the vehicle raced forward, leaping and jumping as they hit potholes.
¡°Wheeled vehicles with combustion engines,¡± Daisy whispered off to the side.
¡°Shush,¡± Bron chided her, nudging her with a shoulder as everyone moved in closer to the video.
The vehicle turned on its headlights, white blazes lit the dimming jungle as the vehicle plowed further and further into the inhospitable area. The jeep turned hard again and then branches were slapping the windows and a great racket went up, loud thuds filling the cabin. Then the jungle ended suddenly, a clearing opening up as the jeep came to a vicious halt, brakes squealing as voices filled the vehicle with virulent curses.
Doors were flung open, and the view of the jungle suddenly disappeared as the camera panned to a clearing. The ground was bare and charred, blackened from flame or heat. The black muzzle of a rifle swung up into view as soldiers streamed around the vehicle to look at the vertical red slit in the sky.
Dunn felt his heart pound. A rift. The first rift humanity had ever encountered, in the jungle in the distant past, intruded on by a handful of soldiers. He could feel the welling of his heart, the emotions as he looked upon the first step in the Exodus.
A figure lurched out from behind the portal, its dimensions twisted and wrong. It was bipedal, but each limb was a different length and size. Fuzzy black hair offered a matt of fuzz across its body, face plain as red eyes glared at them. Flat nostrils flared out and it lifted a primitive spear.
¡°What the fuck?¡± a voice whispered.
¡°Oh, hell no! Light it up!¡± Lance Corporal Dupont yelled, voice charged with excitement and fear. Cracks of gunfire and the figure jerked this way and that, blooms of red sprouting around it as it staggered and fell to the ground. Silence reigned over the group for a moment as the camera showed the rest of the detachment.
Five other men, all of them young and in good shape. All looking thunderstruck and holding smoking weapons as they walked up closer to the beast they had just killed. They stood over the corpse, rifles pointed down at the still corpse.
¡°Shane, what the hell is it?¡± one of the soldiers asked, turning sideways and having his back to the slash in the air. The camera looked up in time to see a corded rope come flying out of the rift, falling around the shoulders of the soldier who had just asked Shane a question.
¡°Dane!¡± a voice barked, but then the rope went taunt and the man was plucked from his feet and pulled through the rift. Silence reigned, nobody moved as the rift filled the camera view.
¡°Radio! Radio base, now Andrei!¡± Shane barked out. Muted sounds were heard and then Andrei was calling back to him.
¡°Radio¡¯s not working! Only getting static!¡±
¡°Fuck. Andrei, get back in the jeep and haul ass back to base. Get to Gunny Halverson and report what¡¯s going on,¡± Shane said.
¡°What the fuck is going on?¡± Andrei asked.
¡°Just get your ass to base!¡± Shane barked. Andrei was racing into the jeep and the vehicles engine was roaring even as the words finished tumbling from Shane¡¯s mouth. Headlights flared up and then the jeep was flying away, dirt spinning from the tires as the jeep shot back toward the road.
¡°Dumas, Springer, I want you two to set up a crossfire on this¡this fucking thing,¡± Shane said pointing at the rift.
¡°Valdez, on me,¡± Shane said. He turned his rifle to the side and Dunn saw a cylinder attached to the bottom rail of the rifle. A pale hand showed into screen and then a sphere was being shoved into it and the cylinder was slid back.
Valdez was a darker man with black hair who had a sheen of sweat of his nervous face as he stood next to Shane. The man double checked his own rifle, it didn¡¯t have the slung on cylinder attachment, and then nodded toward Shane.
¡°Stay on my hip. We find Dane and then we exfil. Springer! Don¡¯t fucking shoot me when I come back!¡± Shane spun and then the camera went red and then snapped back into view a moment later.If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement.
¡°It¡¯s the first rift,¡± Bron said. His voice reverent as everyone in the space station nodded along with him. Even through the camera view Dunn could feel the sense of change, of the power of the beyond weighing in.
The video paused and Jon Caspar came into view again. The hologram looked up and around the room, his face apathetic as he looked aimlessly toward the group.
¡°I have to interject here as some of the file is corrupted. Later on we will figure out that the rifts have some type of energy inside of them that negatively affects our digital technology. I¡¯ve recovered enough of the file to form something that resembles a video.¡± Caspar disappeared again and the video became grainy and choppy.
Flickers of an alien jungle. Blues and yellows and purples with twisted trees that spiraled upward. Valdez appeared then disappeared, jumping forward and then back, his rifle swinging one way or then the other. Voices cut in and out, individual words here or there and then the camera continued onward, smoothing out into something resembling a video.
¡°Where are we?¡± Valdez asked.
¡°Doesn¡¯t matter, we find Dane and pull back and get out again.¡± A crack sounded, gunfire that rose up and above the general background noise of the jungle. Both men froze, looking to their right before breaking off into dead sprints. The jungle became a blur, whipping branches and trees that disappeared in a blink.
Dane suddenly stumbled in front of them, shirtless and pale with streaks of blood across his bare chest. He was holding a pistol in one hand, his eyes wild and rolling about as he looked about himself, gun held at shoulder length.
¡°Dane!¡± Shane yelled, and the crazed man spun towards them, a tense moment filling the air as the bore of the gun stared at the camera for a moment. Then Dane lowered his pistol and came staggering toward them. Valdez reached him first, the shorter man propping up Dane in a moment.
Behind Dane the sound of splintering wood erupted, and a shape came rumbling free. A quadruped with thick, rocky carapace and antlers that jutted up into the sky. It swung its wide head around, antlers crushing trees with ease, toppling the twisted giants with ease.
¡°Oh, what the fuck,¡± Shane whispered.
¡°Run!¡± Dane screamed, his voice cracked and shrill. Valdez legs were pumping, half carrying the limp man back the way they had come. Shane stood still, aiming the rifle at the monstrous creature. A deep thump resounded, and an explosion of flame and fire billowed off of the creature. Rock shattered and exploded in a spray of razor-sharp shrapnel.
The creature staggered, legs went limping as it crashed into the earth, the video shaking as the ground shook. It swung its head about, slashing apart trees as it got back to its feet.
¡°Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,¡± Shane was muttering as his hands trembled as he ejected a spent casing free and then sliding a new grenade in. He slammed the tube shut and aimed back at the creature as it started to run toward him. Shane fired again, the rifle spitting fire again, rock disintegrating by the creature¡¯s head. An antler sheered off and fell to the ground as the beast shook with wrath.
Rifle fire cracked out as Shane continued to fire without pause, spears of fire and the thunder of the rifle consuming the camera feed. Pieces of rock chipped free and spouts of blood came pumping out of the creature. The rifle clicked empty and then the camera was spinning and Shane was running.
He was trying to reload the rifle as he ran, fingers clumsy as vines and branches caught on him. Up ahead Dane and Valdez were trying to run faster, but Dane was nearly limp as Valdez carried him.
Shane got a third grenade loaded and spun about to fire, the monster having halved the distance in the few minutes. He managed to hit its face, antlers exploding in a spray as the creature was flung through a tree. Shane managed to turn again and started to run again, the entire sequence taking a few seconds.
The rift appeared again and then the camera cut out again. The entire group hissed in displeasure as the tension in the room collapsed on itself as they all stared at the frozen screen. Then the video image started to play again and they were back on earth again. The small clearing empty.
¡°Dumas! Springer! Get out here!¡± Shane yelled as Valdez continued to drag their comrade across the field and toward the rutted road. The two soldiers came out of the edge of the jungle, slightly apart from each other, their rifles still trained on the rift.
¡°Behind you!¡± Springer yelled and the camera spun about to see the rocky creature come out of the rift. The entire rift bulged, the red split in the air expanding rapidly into an oval as the creature hit Earth with a heavy thump.
¡°SHOOT!¡± Shane screamed, even as his own rifle came up and he was firing. Each flash of light was marked with another piece of rock flying off of the creature. More rifles were firing, pieces of rock flying off of it as the creature looked about stupefied for a moment.
Then it leapt at Springer, clearing the air in a single blur of speed as it crushed the soldier into the earth. Its heavy claws breaking the soldier¡¯s body in a single moment, the man not having time to scream before he was dead.
Dumas was next as it spun about and leapt at him, Dumas ducked and rolled back into the forest as the heavy monster drove through the trees in a blur of motion. Dumas came sprinting around a wide tree, reloading his rifle as he ran into the clearing. Shane¡¯s rifle was tracking the impenetrable forest and seeing nothing.
Dumas was halfway across the clearing when the beast came racing out of the trees, catching Dumas before he could get close to Shane. It swung its wide head, broken antlers spearing through Dumas¡¯s body and picking the man up and shaking him violently in the air as Shane continued to fire.
An engine was heard faintly, but the noise was growing in volume as lights speared into the dimming clearing. A heavy blast crushed the air and then again and again and again, the monster breaking apart in a spray of rock.
Shane looked toward the heavily armored vehicle that raced into the clearing, a mounted machine gun firing constantly at it. Casings raining down across the armored vehicle as the monster was forced to hunker down as it broke apart. Shane continued to fire, each bark of his rifle lost in the thunder of the mounted machine gun.
The creature collapsed to the ground and Shane moved forward, rifle still firing as the monster broke apart at the joints, rocks crumbling to dust. Shane stopped firing as a mound of dust stood where the monster had been. A glow was emanating from the pile and Shane kept walking towards it.
The entire room held a collective breath as Shane stood above the blue glowing pile of rock dust. A flash of light filled the view and then the camera cut out and Jaspar was standing there again.
¡°This was the last image we had of the encounter. Afterwards Lance Corporal Dupont, Private Ignacio Valdez, and Private Andrei Hoult were isolated after the incident. Private Dane Jennings¡well, that¡¯s the next video we have.¡±
Dr. Winters
Dr. Evelyn Winters
Log One: 19th August 2037
Location: Undisclosed
The video blurred out and then snapped into being to show a middle-aged woman with black hair pulled back into a tight bun. She was leaning forward against a wide wooden desk, fingers splayed out as a feverish light filled her eyes as she began to speak to the camera in a raspy voice.
¡°Subject is nineteen years of age. Physical health is robust, medical records have no pre-existing conditions. He was transferred to our facility at midnight local time today.¡± She leaned back from the camera and the creak of her chair was loud as her smile was cold and clinical.
¡°Subject was registered with a temperature of 100.03 degrees Fahrenheit, elevated blood pressure and heart rate. Conditions persisted even after medical intervention. No bodily wounds were found besides a laceration across his chest, three inches long and half an inch wide. ¡°The doctor tapped her fingers together, lost in her thoughts.
¡°We will continue to monitor the situation,¡± she said, leaning over and switching off the camera with a flick of her fingers.
Dunn looked around at his small crew, all of their features hidden behind steel. There was sense of impeding doom in the air as they all knew what was coming. The energy from moments before had dissipated and now there was only a solemn sense of duty. A duty to observe the end.
Log 3: 21st August 2037
¡°Patients heart rate has continued to climb to alarming levels. No use of pharmaceuticals or natural remedies has been able to alleviate this condition. Furthermore, a rash has spread across his lower extremities.¡± She froze and she tapped a fingernail against her tooth.
¡°Rash is the best description I can think of. It¡¯s a skin discoloration that is affecting how the dermis grows. It has thickened and there is a changing to the structure of it. I have never heard of anything like this before. It¡¯s like there¡¯s a layer of rock, obsidian, growing right beneath the outer layer of skin.¡± She reached over and took a sip from a glass of clear water.
¡°Private Jennings reports minor irritation where the rash is currently. As well as the incision on his chest which has begun to heal and scab in a unique way. Similar to the change in the dermis, the skin in an inch circumference of the initial incision has begun to change. While the rash spreads a smooth texture through the dermis, this wound is causing a roughening of the epidermis.¡± A crash sounded outside and the doctor jerked her head uptowards it and frowned before turning off the camera.
Log 4: August 22nd 2037
¡°Last night there was an incident with the other two subjects. Both have been removed and relocated. Both were exposed to the same singularity event as Private Jennings, but neither sustained any wounds. Now, as for Private Jennings, his condition continues to advance with no sign of slowing.¡±
Log 9: September 3rd 2037 This story has been unlawfully obtained without the author''s consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
¡°Private Jennings has fallen comatose. Currently the entirety of his epidermis has become gray and has mineral like growths affecting him. All hair has fallen out and thick calluses developed over his eyes last night. Surgeons are discussing a way to open his eyes again. We removed a sample of the epidermis and looked at it under a microscope. The cells were like nothing I¡¯ve ever seen,¡± her voice had risen and there was a trace of fear in her voice.
¡°I have managed to communicate with my colleagues who are with the other two subjects. They are being monitored. They didn¡¯t say it out loud, but there were clues. Something is happening with those other marines. Something they haven¡¯t told us.¡±
Log 27: September 23rd 2037
¡°Private Jennings died last night. For two and a half minutes his heart stopped beating and all brain activity stopped. Then at two minutes and thirty-three seconds his heart restarted and all brain activity resumed. Brain activity is abnormal though, EEG testing shows a sharp deviation from normal patterns.¡± Her fingers were drumming on the desk in a rolling pattern that Dunn couldn¡¯t make out.
¡°Maintenance is trying to find a way to get him out of his room for further testing. His body is under rapid change, the thickening of the epidermis layer has created rocky growth along his skin. I will try to secure a video of it for my own notes. The dermis is now unfortunately obscured with no way to measure it without severe measures. His weight has increased substantially, but again, we have no way of measuring the growth at the moment. He has lashed out whenever anyone has tried to move him and no drugs are working on him,¡± she looked down at her nervous hand and frowned at it.
¡°He has yet to regain consciousness.¡± The camera clicked off.
Log 28: September 24th 2037
¡°He woke up. I can¡¯t explain it. One moment he was comatose and then the next he was awake and speaking. It was a language no one knows and honestly,¡± her face twisted and her mouth curled as if she had swallowed something sour.
¡°I don¡¯t believe it is human. He became violent and was restrained, but I don¡¯t know how long we can keep him contained. Director Vaught has reached out to the local command and they will be coming to secure the facility. Something is wrong though. His room is inexorably hot, no amount of fans or cooling can lower the temperature and the humidity is affecting the machines.¡±
Log 29: September 25th 2037
The background was different now. A red light was strobing behind the doctor as she sat at her desk. Her face had a sheen of sweat that was slick under the light as she looked about wildly as the camera recorded her. The formerly restrained doctor leaned in and began to whisper as fast as she could.
¡°Soldiers arrived last night and went into Jennings room to restrain him. He woke and broke free of his restraints and killed all four of the soldiers. Director Vaught immediately put the facility into lockdown and called the base for more soldiers. After the soldiers were killed a light came out of Jennings room, red and¡and¡and¡angry? I don¡¯t know, I turned and ran. I¡¯m going to gather my notes and leave the facility,¡± her rushed whispering ended as the sounds of gunfire rattled about. She looked back at the camera and then lunged for it and the camera went dark.
Caspar appeared where the doctor¡¯s terrified face had been before. He looked tired as he leaned in and looked outward and toward the middle of the room. When he spoke again there was anger in his voice.
¡°Dr. Winters never made it off the island she was stationed at. Her personal notes were recovered later by Sergeant Dupont and his team, though most were heavily damaged. When they arrived at the facility two weeks later after the island went dark there was a rift there at the facility. Sergeant Dupont cleared and closed the rift, but Private Jennings was nowhere to be found. With the knowledge we have now, I postulate that after forming the anchor to the rift that Jennings retreated under water and began to create rifts along the seabed.¡± Caspar¡¯s scowl darkened.
¡°It¡¯s hard not to blame them. That if Jennings had been euthanized quickly and humanely that humanity would have lived. That we would not be forced into this desperate act that I don¡¯t believe has much possibility of success. Maybe it was time though. Maybe we had reached some latent level of energy and rift would form naturally. Or maybe if we had killed Jennings¡I don¡¯t know.¡± He wiped at his face and then took a deep breath and began again.
¡°It¡¯s hard to say where to next point of our fall is at but I have found personal body camera footage of one of the earliest rift spawns in a populated region on the West Coast of North America.¡±