Adrian leaned on the terrace railing, his eyes scanning the settlement and what lay beyond. The Earth had changed so much, but at the moment, he didn't seem to care about all that, as his thoughts kept drifting back to his mother.
He had disowned her, shut her out of his life over mistakes she had made in the past. At the time, it seemed like the right decision. But now, with the world in chaos and no way to know if she was even alive, he was suddenly filled with regret.
She was his last living relative, the only connection to his old life. He wondered if she was somewhere out there in the barren lands, struggling to survive or, worse, already gone.
But there was more to his regret. If she were alive, he could ask her about Vernian. Was Vernian truly his twin, or was it another of Maria's twisted experiments meant to torment him? These questions haunted him, and without his mother, he feared he might never find answers.
