The fire cracked silently as four Stalkers sat around it. The night was silent, only a small wind and the rustling of grass and leaves to fill the ears. One of the men spoke up suddenly: "Have you children heard the tale of the Monolith?" Hearing no replies, the man continued, "You see, in the center of the Zone, stands the Nuclear Power Plant. Many have tried to reach it, and almost all of them have failed. Their ambitions were mountains of artifacts and gold, and anything else their greedy minds could think of. But their ideas had a reason; they all had heard and tried to get to the place most sacred for the Monolith bastards."
"They all tried to get to the Wish Granter - a being, or a place, only God knows what it is, in the Plant, that can grant you your wildest wishes! Mountains of artifacts, eternal glory, fame, hills of money, immortality - everything. Possibilities a man couldn't spend in a lifetime! All the Wish Granter asks in return is a small payment, but what it is, children, I'll leave you to find out."
In the morning, the elderly Stalker had left, leaving nothing but an echo from the story. Strelok, Ghost and Fang would never see the man again.