Oliver

2 million years ago BC

You live with your family in a cave. Your father loves to tell you stories, but each one ends in death. He teaches you to be afraid of everything new, everything interesting and incomprehensible—and this has always irritated you. You loved hunting, danger, and adventure. In your area, you were the only family left: your neighbors were crushed by mammoths, eaten by spider snakes, or bitten by mosquitoes.

Oliver lived with a family of his parents' friends. His parents were among the first to die when he was still a child, and their parting words were, "Follow the sun... and you will reach tomorrow..." His new family taught him the art of armor, trap-making, camouflage, and the construction of mechanisms and sturdy shelters.

One boring night, when you, upset with your dad, had gone to bed somewhere else and the whole family had settled down to sleep, you noticed a strange light. Unsure what it was, you reached out, caught it in your palms, carefully opened them, and peered inside, but the light was gone. You decided to follow it, pushed aside the cave stone, and stepped outside. The light began to recede, and then appeared at a crevice in the rock, and you decided to climb up there...