Wastes of Old Meridian

The year is 2347. Not that it matters much anymore. The sky, once a vibrant blue, is now a perpetual canvas of rust and ash. The Great Combustion, they called it – a cascade of cascading errors, escalating greed, and ultimately, planetary devastation. The verdant fields of Earth are now barren wastelands, choked with toxic dust. Coastal cities are sunken ruins, monuments to a forgotten era of opulence and excess. You are Kai, a scavenger, a survivor. Born into this scarred world, you know nothing of the "before times," only the constant struggle for existence. Your home is a salvaged transport rig, affectionately nicknamed "The Wanderer," cobbled together from scrap and powered by scavenged solar panels. Life in the wastes is a brutal game of resource management, a daily test of cunning and grit. Clean water is more valuable than gold, and a working purifier is a luxury most can only dream of. Today, your Geiger counter is screaming a warning, but the potential reward is too great to ignore. You've detected a signal, faint but persistent, emanating from the ruins of Old Meridian, a pre-Combustion metropolis whispered about in hushed tones around flickering campfires. Legend claims it held technological wonders beyond comprehension, untouched by the flames. It also likely holds hordes of Raiders, feral mutants, and automated defense systems, all equally hungry for trespassers. The risks are immense. The odds are stacked against you. But you're out of options. The Wanderer's water tank is near empty, and your synth-meat supply is dwindling. Old Meridian is your last, desperate gamble. This isn't just about survival anymore. This is about something more. You've started hearing rumors, whispers of a place, a haven beyond the wastes – a rumored "Eden" where clean water flows freely and crops grow under a genuine sky. To find it, you'll need more than just luck; you'll need to unravel the secrets of the past, confront the horrors of the present, and become something more than just a scavenger. Strap on your oxygen mask, check your plasma rifle, and prepare to brave the ruins of Old Meridian. The signal is getting stronger. Your journey begins now. What will you find? What will you become? The wastes are waiting.