Chapter 1: The Clouded Sun.
Only when you are true to yourself, will you truly be free.
°
Illuminated dimly by a hanging yellowing light, a man in an office attire with light brown eyes softening his complexion, pulled his info binders from his desk into a little box. The man walked right to his side, to a large window dimly illuminating his cold brown rug because of the distant lights of the sector.
He closed its shutters and walked to the door, swallowed hard and slowly turned the knob.
Informationlist had one job: know everything humanly possible. He had worked as one all his life and yet he knew nothing. In all honesty, he was proud because he never wanted to be like the people in front if him
Co-workers eyed him with scowls on their faces from their white cubicles. All of them had wanted his job, but now that he was leaving without appointing a substitute they hated him. The room these people were in was a normal blue-white office; Man and machine. Not a single automated hiss sprung from robotic joints as the orb-like machines rolled over desks in a well illuminated office, carefully operating as helpers and videotaping the employees.
"Fucking robits, right?"
He stared at the dude standing next to him. A confident man adjusting the collar of his shirt and standing straight as a bow. Each of his steps spoke of great strength and he always wondered how the man had become an office junkie.
Still, the arrival of the man was not that surprising, even if the man kept to himself most of the time. "Yeah…" he said quietly, moving around the hateful cubicles to the elevator door.
It was odd, his co-worker didn't stop him for his usual sales pitch and regretted the man had not done so, because he kinda liked the 'recruiting,' as his co-worker called them.
His co-worker with his retired general look,(not that he knew how a general would look like, but he liked to imagine they would look like his sneaky co-worker;) would display a card and give his militia's call for arms, parading heroic poses in the office and occasionally crying on a little wooden box he got from inventory.
Many people asked why he did it and he explained that they were the audience and he was the showmaster. It was surely his only source of leisure in this queasy office.
He figured the man had dipped a card in his stuff and rolled his eyes, glancing down at the box holding his papers and family pictures. Behind the image of his long gone hamster, was a card, a blue card. The blue card was perhaps for another place like this, maybe an active one looking for someone like him.
He glanced back at the man.
"Take an opportunity, Eugineeee,"The man said, standing proudly and slowly parting his lips into a dumb grin before the elevator door hissed close.
Maybe one day, big guy…
It was the year: 1.18LK, the first circle of the Gornols calendar.
He turned away from the door and gazed at the see-through glass behind him.
The company he works for doesn't matter but what does matter is that he lives in sector 1; the great paradise of Gornol. Situated in the depths of Aferca, a country in the middle of the equator, east of the country of Amurqeca, flourished sector 1. But sector one was not ancient...it was a recent addition to the world.
It had all begun with a great war.
{Bargast vs the union.}
Bargast, before 0.01LK had destroyed the union of heroes under the government's nose, and that had made the world want the head of the man who created the despicable cult. This was the spark that ignited the war on bargast.
No one expected the war to be a long one but those were people who never fought a war.
Taking more than a century, the world became impoverished. Legions all around the ancient world had died fighting the various abominations that called themselves human for years. Many nukes were used and many resources lost to space. After 105 years the union won and took the head of the leader for all to see.
They paraded with the thing and using the great technologies of the world developed in the war and the tech of the cult of Bargast, the heroes created the 105 sectors. 105 concentration camps that designated who was rich and poor.
The metropolis outside. A sector made mainly of skyscrapers, with impervious bridges of rare metals attached to their sides and tubes of insulated gold attached to the bellies of the bridges was the ultimate brainchild of these heroes. But not everything was how it looked like.
This world was…sick but now it was getting worse…
The elevator's swirling engines died, and the automatic door opened. The clicks of shoes were the only clue that someone arrived, followed closely by a thin smell of peach and roses.
He kept himself in his musings and looked at the gaping holes of light in the sky. He continued: something huge had happened a year and a quarter ago.
Political madness has been the main course of interest, until a giant veil of darkness had fastened itself to their sun. Scientists demystified the incident, by informing the masses it was a natural event; a simple chemical response of two varied elements.
Skeptics called these scientists idiots, and denoted how the clouds were the reapers of the holy manuscripts. A faction of scientists and skeptics said something else was amiss (the light) and called the event, "morbid and apocalyptic." The actual sun-clouds had a weird effect on the sun, as the light would fall but not disperse.
If everyone turned the lights of the city off no one would be able to see. Only the people inside the light. Any who was not inside would be perfectly blind until they entered the light.
The individual touched his shoulder. "So, you too?"
He gaped when he saw the source of the sweet voice drizzled with a pinch of softness. A woman leaned on the wall, looking like a high school brat, with red hair, and sugary brown eyes. Her face had that youthful spark, amplified by her dimples and raw tan.
He couldn't stop looking at those beautiful eyes. (Now, that is hot!)
The corners of her mouth raised a little, as she revealed a company card just like the one his co-worker had given him.
"Not really...," he admitted and focused on the sharp circle markings on the automatic doors.
"Really? Well, nice to meet you. My name is Roda." Even her voice was high pitched with energy, as she held her downturned hand in his face. He ignored protocol and leaned on the wall too.
The need to get out expanded in his heart and his hands began to slightly clench in the tension.
"Nice...to meet you, Roda. My name is Eugine. And no. I'm not leaving to work there. The card was simply an...invitation...from a friend." He kept eye contact.
"Nice. You are not one to follow protocol. Are you by any chance from Mest?"
"What is Mest?" He asked, with a raised eyebrow
"You don't have to hide it. You are no doubt one of those big brain suck-ups. No offense, I believe I heard your name quite a few times."
As much as it should, It didn't shock him. The whole building hated him since he came here, because of how sloppily he did his job. Everyday, he wondered how he had received the position in the first place.
"I can assure you, being high in demand is the best thing in this industry a-," the elevator cut her off as it reached its destination.
The door whizzed opened to reveal a tidy reception, with mantled desks holding plates of bundled food and Bluemountain drinks.
"...Well, see you at the new department, Eugenie. Call me." Her voice had alluding undertones, as she slid a neat piece of paper in his jacket. She walked by reception and opened the door to the bright outside.
He could feel the quickening beatings of his heart and so he closed his eyes and let out a tired sigh. "Peach..." he tried to remember the smell.
He extended his hand to stop the automatic doors from closing. "Roda..." He said her name in wonder and began walking to the final obstacle between him and his dream...the large wooden door of the skyscraper.
(There is something I must do first,) he thought and walked through the hallway of mantled desk to the tidy receptionist.
Organizing papers; an auburn-haired beauty, wrapped in a polka dots butter-sleeve with cocoa colored eyes, full cheeks accentuating her smooth skin, wrapped up for the day. The beautiful receptionist waved at him with a smile the moment he stood in front of her desk and he waved back.
"I will miss you, you know…who will bring me flowers and ask me out on dates?" The receptionist said with a weak smile, eclipsed by her downturned eyes.
"Hahahaha. It's not like I'm going to war, Leila.''
(He was just going to be a new man. A better man. He wanted to live...not just survive.)
He stepped towards her. "Here, something to remember me by." He brought out a heap of papers out of his little box.
"Really?" Her head tilted and her eyes softened. A lazy smile began to form on her face.
"Just kiddin."
"You meany!" She gasped and did a cute pout with crossed arms below her large chest. He smirked at her reaction and rather put the picture of his hamster on her table. "Oh, poor Meraud. Are you sure I can have this?"
Meraud had been the hamster in the photo but he had lost him in the park a long time ago...
"No," he admitted. "But, I wouldn't want anyone else to have it. I love you leily, and someday I will come back for you."
"Oh, you Romeo." Leily grabbed the picture and hugged him. "Please, please be safe, and stay true to yourself bubby." He wanted to stay with her and kiss her. He wanted to stay with her and never leave her side again...but he knew she didn't look at him that way.
"Always."
They parted, and eventually he had the courage to stand in front of the great wooden door that led out of the skyscraper. With fear in his heart, he moved each of his steps with purpose, and only when he finally stepped outside the threshold of his home; his work, his life, his family...in the street, did he feel…(free.)
He stood on a spirited street and began looking around.
Groups of tourists walked around jointly. Students took off to their floating schools as their parents saw them off from the ground. Traveling businessmen and businesswomen strolled in search of the new big thing. Fashion devotees shuffled from store to store to gain inspiration for the next trend.
He put his office box on the floor, in his own way of declaring independence.
His small blue car sat on the other side of the road. He just had to walk to it, but he chose in his heart and soul to carry on in the opposite direction. "To new horizons…," he whispered and decided to step into the outskirts of the next area of the commercial district of the sector.
He was where the retail region met the lodging area, and a few blocks away from the correctional coalition where they put the criminals of the sector. He was currently walking into the retail district where the sight of tremendous chlothing stores and skyscrapers was the norm.
He passed below the great bridges he had seen from the transparent glass of the elevator. Robits worked in the structural core of these bridges, and inside the numerous shops that prospered under the shade of the bridge.
Off to the side, in the distance, a few famous robits were doing live concerts with the cream of the city enclosing them. The elite covered themselves in luxury and the finest of innovations, cheering with their small families at the swaying robits.
"Yeah, yeah. Mmmmm, look at me. Seeee me my loovvveee. You are going to faint when I wrap, wrap you, warp you around my fingeeerrr…uuuuuu" the robit sang the sticky song. She shook her hips to the beats of the melody. This was definitely not for him.
He instead looked at the odd sun; nearly completely gulped by the darkness but battling in defiance to give the world some of its sunlight. The light burned his retinas but it made him look a bit interesting to a stranger's eye. He didn't call it narcissism but trying to see things differently.
[Hi, what is your name?]
...
He spun around. "Who said that?" He had heard the feminine words but they were not the typical ones. It was practically as if he had imagined them.
"Who's asking?" He glanced around, and stared at the gorgeous women walking their pets or boyfriends.(Not that the world noticed the difference.) Some were alone on their phones, waiting for their pets, but none of these women were looking at him or asking for his name.
Maybe, the voice was his imagination...
He began walking with the crowd again. (The streets in the retail region are awfully swarmed today,) he thought, a bit annoyed at the tightening streets but with a slight smile on his lips..
Not that the retail region was not supposed to be stuffed, the whole region was a big square afterall and where people met to mingle. It reminded him of a school open yard where the girls would be pushed to pick wich boy to have sex with. After that, the girls were taught that all men were their dogs and in the rest of the school year they would need to gather their…'collection'.
There were some girls that didn't do that of course, but they were rare.
My first and last master had been Leilla. She had picked me and only me and they had lived happily for a time, but that was a story for another time.
Suddenly, somebody unawares crashed into him. "Sorry, sir." The old man, outfitted in an assortment of ragged clothes, stitched together, and holding the edge of his hat mumbled as he quickly walked away.
The guy would have to be crazy to rob him…
Had he been robbed? He touched his left pocket and began counting. 300,000 stets he concluded.
No. He was good.
[What is your name?]
The voice resounded like if it came from a loudspeaker, and It was cold...for lack of a better word.
He looked around again for the mysterious woman, watching out for someone to give any indication that they heard the voice too. (Had his sudden actions made him insane?) He reckoned, but then the people around him began to look around in alarm.
[O̸̪̠̲̒̂-̸̰̻̤̭̹̫͔̆̊̄͒͐̄̓͆̓́̊̚p̴̨̨̯͖͖͍̦̓̾͊͊͑̆̽̄̈́͘d̴̛̤̭̙͛́̔̀̚ų̸̛̙̪̘̻̜̭͇̫́͊͑̈̇̔͜͠ͅs̴̡̢̱̒͆̄͒̾̚͝ĺ̶̩̺͕̠̦̮͕̯̞̩͔̮͆͗̌̈́̈́̐̈̀̈̃̕͠ô̴͖]
̸̢̧̡̘͕̥̯͙͉̠͂̅̓̎̈́̆͐͊̈̇͠
"Did someone hear that?" A kid donning a sheepskin coat asked.
"Who wants my name!?" A man with glossy black hair and dressed solely in slacks, screamed. The same phenomenon occurred all around the sector of Aferca and was quickly the standard, as the square was crammed with the accumulated cacophony of the voices rising from the crowd.
"STOP FUCKING ASKING FOR MY NAME!" A screech cut into the cacophony but was rapidly swallowed by the heightening racquet.
The singing robit, acting as the main entertainer of the square, squealed in agony and stumbled down the stage. This captured the attention of the people, as the one's around him gasped and hurried over in a jog towards the stage of the fallen robit.
The particular robit was famously known for being modified to look like a gorgeous woman with flowing locks of golden hair and voluptuous curves. (This robit reminded him of those famous Japanese singers high school girls went crazy for. (He had seen a picture of such a particular band in an old folder when he was in middle school, but this particular robit had more meat.))
His niece loved this specific robit, before she had taken off to the red planet, and he had to check if she was alright.
"Bey Clauuuddeee!!!" A large crowd of her fans blurted out and sobbed on the shoulders of their families. Encircled by the respectful crowd, the entrails of the robit sat as a crumple of steel, carbon fiberglass, and a combination of an unknown liquid suspension over soft rubber; specially designed to make the body of the robit have the springy feeling of a woman.
Newcomers arrived, as the news spread and they were soon weeping alongside the others. Whoever had done this was surely on the loose, and taking the lives of the robits in the sector, just like when the robits had become the world's symbol of peace.
[Ǫ̴̮̻͈̙̠̳͓̱̆͐̆̀͊̈̆̂̎͛͑̈̃̐̽̍̑̈̓̒̆͗͘͘͜ ̵̢̧̨͈̖̙͎̮͔͕̮̀ǵ̷͖̘̝̜̮̲̳̦͓̖̟̳̉̔̃͂̃̏̈͑̔́̀́̑͌̍͊̃͛͛͂̚̕͠͝h̸͉̼̄̓̿̽̆̄͑͑̌͆̉̃̀͗́͒̆̄̊̔́̃̒̎̑͌̕͠͝o̷̝̘̱̱̼̅ḡ̸̢͓̺̘͐̄̈́̿͑͊̀͊̓̚͝͝͝ͅh̶̨̪̝̬̙̜͔̝͖̰̞̺̝͇͚͎̳͔̻̤̲̬̹͈͙̲̖̣̟̼̓̈́̉̔͑̋̌́̃̒̅͊̅͌̇̈́̽͌͗̽͂̿̏̎̂̕͘̚͜͝͠d̴̻̟̗̟̥̹̩̗̻̰̳̤̘̝̱̑͜ͅo̵̧̫̗͎̖̞̘͔̯͓̫̳̹̺͈̺͊̃͋̎̅̏̄̓̋̎͊̐̏̉̏͌̆̐͒͌̋̍̈́͑̀̍̈́͌̎̽͘̚͜͠ř̶̨̩̟̥͈̯̪̼̥̫͙̜̩̬̣̔̉͆́̍̿͛͒̿́̆̍̈́̐́̑̐͘͜ ̶̡̢̨̧̡̧̛̟̣͖̝̼̜̯͓̲̞͈̺̝̝̞̝̯̖͖̬͎̗́̅̈̏͛̔́̀͂̈̕͘͜͜͝͝͝k̵̢̝͇̬̱͔̫̲͓͉͔̺̼̼̃̏͋́̇̀̊̊̓̅͋̈̇̓̓̇̀͆̓̊̎̄̆̓̆̓͊̆̕͘̚͝͠͝ĭ̵͉͚͔̤̩̿͗̌̍̏̈͗͂̈́͊̆̓͆͂͊̌̽́̓̏͊̉̋̕͝ͅȟ̴̨̡̨̘̜͔͕͚̙̹̙̲̰̪̰̘̲͉͚͚̀̈́̿̃̐̿̏̇͗̓́͆̃̓̄̂̾̂̑͌̏͑̎̂̉̆͜ ̷̬́͐̈̊̾̈̅́̅̇̐̚͘͝͠͠ǹ̶̠̤̟̼̤̜͖̟͍͈̜͕̪̖͙̱̝̳̻ͅî̷̥̥͉̰̖̩͖͇̩̙̫͈̰͉͖̲̝̝̣̖͜ͅh̷̢͙̺̮͙̰̜̯̯͈̾͊͋̔̈́…̴̢̧̛̗͈̦͙̮͙̯̮̫̤͔̘̰̭̜͔̹̥͈͉̯͕̫̲̱̥̬͔͈̥̜̃̌̽͊̉̾́̐̎͂̑̄̎̿̊͑̐̀̌̿̈̏̕̕̕͜͝͠͝
̶̬̺̠̣̩̣̪̣͚̱͕̆̈̽̓̀̓́̇͒̿͊̿̈́̋͒͆̅̃͑̇̈́̓͑̏̚ͅ
̴̡̢̛̯̰̣̝̻̘̼͔̥̝͍̆̓̅̓̈́͑̊̿̉̆̌͛̌͆̓̅͑͆͜ͅͅN̸̨̧̻͓͙͔̱̬͕͍̞̝͉̲̘̼͔̻̍͐́̈́͆̌͊̈́́̚̕͝ǘ̶̡̨̳̠̹̣̰̙͕̳̮͙̾́̋̈̾͋͑͘͝͝ļ̵̷̢̛̭̟̗͖̭̝̣̝͇̠̃̋̀̋̑͒͂̊̾͑͐̅͋̚̕ͅ...complete.]
[Implementing the system.]
[OPENING THE FIRST CIRCLET.]
[...Identifying restrictive system. ]
[...Identifying game system.]
[...Identifying host…]
[Animal classification.]
…
[Retrieving the system.]
Kill them all. Leave no one alive.
10 circles with words on them appeared around his body. Starting from the closest to the farthest was red, blue, yellow, magneta, rock brown, bright white, a seeping black smog, and then a burning circle of fire.
(Wait, what???)
The red circle began to expand and then broke to a million pieces. The impulse to hurl his stomach out began dissipating through his body and then the pressure built, and the more it built...the faster a wave of liquid fury expanded in his veins.
The energy injected blasts of superiority complex in his head, bloating his frame to the moment he felt his bones would shoot out of his body but then a parasitic emptiness coiled around the supremacy and devoured it all. Not an inkling of havoc was left in his body, as a refreshing gust of peace spread in him.
A shove jerked him from his half wakefulness state, as a petite girl in a sundress scrambled weakly to her feet. She looked at him with a tremble in her lips and locked her gaze at something in his left. He glanced down at what she was looking at.
...Red claws with sharp black tips formed over the normal nails of his left hand, as the head of his fingers glowed slightly purple. Strange purple veins superimposed themselves on his palm; Inky, viny veins that spread slowly into his forearms and twisted like snakes on his bones until they covered the full length of his arm.
"HELP!" The girl shouted meekly but noisy enough for the people around the two to train their eyes on him. He could see her wanting to invoke criminal charges on his head. "Please, don't say it," he uttered and began leaning back, he saw no mercy in her eyes.
"Monster." The moment he heard the word, he instinctively began to run away. (Fucking bitch!) The word had been used back in the war on bargast and it essentially let any woman kill any man who she thought was a monster. Generally, cameras or bystanders would be used to prove the integrity of the cursed word, but how could he expect a camera to survive? Whatever killed the robits in the area had appeared fast and swift.
All robits were constructed to resist army level bombs, so something like an EMP was required to be inside the machine to destroy it, because of the skin like material designed for the war on Bargast. It actually frightened him that the local siren hadn't blasted off, as they had been designed for this specific situation but now proved themselves useless.
It didn't take long for people to be on his tail. He could hear them stumble and push people out of their way, as he sprinted back to his workplace.
But what irony...he had left his job to be young and free. Now, he was running back like a little bitch. The public wailed like rabid animals and scooted away from various flashes of blue lights blooming among the crowds. The glowing gloves of blue light at least illuminated his surroundings as he ran by.
Turning over to a descending intersection, he could see the wooden entrance of his job in sight and entered. Quickly, he began looking around for Leilla and thankfully her friend had gone home.
"DON'T FUCKING FOLLOW ME, HE IS MINE." He heard a thick voice behind the entrance and hastily twisted to the inside of the hollow scanners, flanked on the sides of the automatic door. He nearly toppled over his hiding place when the loud beeping sound of the metal detectors blared to life. In a second, what seemed to be a hoard of people; trotted inside the reception room.
"FUCK YOU COCK SUCKER. I KNOW WHAT YOU WANT TO DO. HE IS MINE!" Said a man.
"THE VOID LIGHT SWORD WILL RULE THE WORLD." Said another man.
"SHUT UP REN! HURRY UP OR THEY WILL TAKE HIM!" A girl shouted.
"LET ME IN!" He heard the groans of a girl.
Luckily, these scanners were corner built and perfect for a person to lie low inside. He certainly didn't have the balls to sneak around in the presence of this arguing crowd and silently tried to plan his escape. His tailers took turns to scream at each other.
"FUCKING STOP THAT FUCKING JOCK! WE CAN'T LET SOMEONE LIKE HIM BECOME THE MAIN CHARACTER." The heavy voice of a man shouted out.
Keeping himself close to the ground, he scanned for a vent or something he could safely hide inside.
"THE MAIN CHARACTER? THE FUCK IS YOU TALKING ABOOUT FAT BASTARD!" The snappy sound of a woman's voice screamed.
(There must be something here to distract them.) He began touching around the floor for something, anything.
"SHUT UP!" The man with the thick voice screamed.
He could hear them turning over the tables in search of him. Glass and wet thumps were heard, as the plates of food fell to the floor. Had the cooks gone home?
"IF YOU KNOW WHAT'S GOOD FOR YOU. YOU WILL GET OUT OF THE WAY OF THE FUTURE RULE-" The next moment, he heard a nearby desk crack in two, followed by a single unevenly high moan of pain.
"MOTHER FUCKER, GET THE HELL OFF ME MAN!" A boy with a high-pitched voice howled.
"I KNEW IT, YOU ARE A VILLAIN! STUPID NERD FUCK!" The deep voice of a man dripping with religious piety growled.
He kept scurrying for ideas but his mind refused to focus on anything that was not his irritated muscles. The mutation of his hand had to be connected to the voice. What were those circles? What were those glares of light? If that voice had promised these people something for him...was the reason they were…
"LISTEN UP NUMBSKULLS! I WILL KILL HIM! WHOEVER DOES NOT LIKE THAT, I WILL RIP THEIR HEADS OFF! YOU HEAR ME!"
His heart began to beat fast as fuck, as the realization dawned on him.
(They are not trying to kill him. They are going to kill him!)
All those who had entered this building would murder him, IT HAD TO BE. No wonder they were so eager to find him. Would he ask for the protection of the cops? Would he follow the spoken word that everyone in the correctional coalition had morality? He had to work with what he had, but he wouldn't hurt anyone. Dragging somebody else in this mess was wrong!
He had to do something, and it had to be soon.