Introduction of Hosen 5: The Name On the List

Since his departure, Hosen saw many bizarre things unveil.

From giant hands descending upon earth, foreign horrors flaying humans alive, people driven to irrational madness, and corpses turning into spiraling, aggressive masses of screaming jaws, to the deafening mist with the void in its center, and whatever else was going to appear on his path.

He was aware that continents sank and that horrors overtook whatever was left of the world, feasting on fear, swallowing it all. But he was not omnipotent, nor could he exist in multiple places at once, so he focused on documenting just one.

To Hosen's misfortune, he could only witness just a fragment of history, not all of it.

Sitting on the twentieth floor of a skyscraper, from which a wall had fallen, he had a perfect view of the city at a safe distance from the disaster. With his pen, he captured every detail.

"It was the beginning of the next stage of the apocalypse.

The nameless mist moved south, immensely growing in size. Soon, horrifying creatures emerged from within, crossing the barrier between this world and their own.

A mass of flesh in a polypous shape, with bulging eyeballs and wide-open, screaming mouths filled with human teeth and long, wriggling tongues, glided freely through the sky. Its thin, five-toed foot seemed way too weak to carry its weight, and yet, it miraculously held it up in a standing position—coated with haunting grace, flying polyps had conquered the cold azure above. (1)*

Another wave was that of black masses with sickly green peepers and wet tentacles used to slither across the earth. Their countless mouths had razor-sharp fangs that could bite off a whole human torso—shoggoths crawled on the streets like a hive of ants after their nest was destroyed. They expanded everywhere, squeezing through any crevasses their elastic bodies could fit. (2)*

Living fires with blue cores glowing through their heat layers catapulted themselves into the stratosphere, from where they chose their new property, conquering mountains and volcanoes to make them their homes. They drained all life from the very lands they landed on, much like vampires feeding on the blood of their victims. (3)*

Others of yet unknown origin had infested the Earth with their enigmatic presence, spreading chaos across the globe. Ranging in size from tiny creatures to formidable behemoths, they took over what was once human territory in the blink of an eye. A mesmerizing sight to behold, but a terrifying one to be a part of.

Enormous shapes with hundreds of legs revealed their grand silhouettes to humanity as they strolled through the city unbothered, observing from above, and crushing remnants of ruins into dust.

Distant buildings crumbled under attack, and the screams of the dying echoed in the strong wind. Nevertheless, I could do nothing to change this outcome at this point in history.

Here, in Manhattan, it was just a spec, a small taste, of the chaos the world had currently drowned in.

And finally, the moon vanished.

Well, not quite vanished—it was devoured.

The sky tinted with dusk, and the stars had already sprinkled out when the moon glowed in transparency, reminding a ghost in the night.

Pulled by condensed eldritch activity, it appeared in the sky from the endless depths of the cosmos. A pale face became visible with every inch it closed in, and when it reached biting distance, it unfolded like an evening flower.

With a thousand pairs of six-fingered hands for its mane, the colossal entity opened its mouth, divided into four—a mouth that continued up to its midriff before it swallowed the moon whole. Its small, yet sharper-than-glass teeth glimmered under the fading sun, as the four jaws crushed the moon's surface with a powerful bite.

Pieces of the vanished celestial body were expelled by six orifices—three on each side of its corpus—shriveling into mere dust that hovered still in space.

The moon devourer was long in shape: a gigantic, colorful, meaty ribbon that, as far as the eye could see, coiled around each planet of the solar system, bending the space-time continuum and forcefully aligning them all at once.

Not yet satisfied with just one meal, it turned its three bulging eyeballs toward Earth. Thankfully, it was still too small to consume this beautiful blue planet, so instead, it curled into a sphere for a long, post-feast slumber. It resembled a planet, but was not one. Its soft, satisfied snore reverberated in the air, like an ethereal lullaby, making the very particles vibrate on a low frequency to its rhythm.

With the moon gone and the gravitational pull fading, the strangest of natural disasters swept across the home planet's surface. Floods submerged continents, tides shifted direction, hurricanes and typhoons roamed the lands, and earthquakes roared, announcing their fearsome presence,"

Hosen's pen ran out of ink just as he completed his last sentence.

"I've seen enough."

He closed his notebook. Staying here any longer would spell catastrophe for his own existence, for all who had been asleep now awoke at once.

"Time to go back."

A final glance at the dark blue sky sharpened the presence of many figures lurking from beyond. Though they appeared small from a distance, they were surely gargantuous up close. Hovering over the stratosphere, they observed how the fate of humanity unravels.

They hadn't done anything yet, but their menacing presence haunted the human mind...

The scientist was satisfied with what he had discovered during his dive. Calculating the danger, he pinpointed the safest route back to the portal and passed through its gates.

Once he opened his eyes, he found himself back in the tranquility of the familiar lab.

***

"Congratulations on coming back alive from your first mission."

Said one of the researchers when they all gathered in the warp room. Their attitude was very different in comparison to the previous time-diver who came back.

"It was a tough one for a beginner." Whined another. "I'm impressed. I wouldn't be able to survive even five minutes during the apocalypse."

"You wouldn't be able to survive outside for five seconds."

A roast came from his friend's mouth, to which everyone laughed, knowing his words were exceptionally funny yet painfully true.

"Hey!" The whining guy crossed his arms. "I wish I'd see you try that yourself. We are researchers, not adventurers!"

He bit back, slightly offended, but still knew they were right, especially when all of them lacked stamina.

Their celebrations and remarks faded into background noise as Hosen walked past, ignoring their welcoming praises. His steps led him straight to the head scientist, who was watching his return in silence from the other side of a thick glass window.

"I'm here to give the report."

Walking in, the door closed behind him with a quiet click. Hosen took his notebook out, ready to hand it over to his superior.

"Mm."

Just a nod from that man was enough to understand the message. The journal already rested in his hands while he skimmed through its detailed pages.

"And I'd like to use the archives."

Obviously, all of the researchers and time-divers were allowed to, though it didn't hurt to politely ask for permission.

Another nod.

The head researcher was already nose-deep in reading notes, so Hosen didn't wait any longer.

He followed a path to the archives, situated on the other side of the basement's corridor, where the dark room and cold, dry air preserved the old paper most effectively.

In the soothing silence of a cozy corner, he pulled out the records and diligently looked into the trail of events, checking whether or not they had changed the future.

Screenshots of dated websites passed on the old computer's screen.

It is worth mentioning that not only newspapers and books were stored here, but also the digital data from before the internet went down was important to the archive library. Anything that could piece together the lost-to-time history was more than welcomed.

So, one page after another, he was checking through every event related to the grand catastrophe, which was later referred to as the slow descent into the apocalypse.

"What are you reading?"

A curious voice made him lift his gaze from the screen, his concentration disturbed. And there she was—the infamous female researcher who loved to nag when something didn't go her way.

"I heard that you saved a kid that was supposed to die."

She sat beside him on the chair at the tall table where he was working. A concern grew—was she going to scold him too?

"It's a breach of the rules."

Fortunately, that didn't seem to be the case. Her expression wasn't angry but rather intrigued by why he was here—her motherly instincts kicked in when the topic concerned a child.

"You don't have to worry about it."

He was looking into it right now, clicking the mouse on the tabs to glance through the documents.

If any change in history had occured, Hosen would have noticed it right away. At this point, he knew it by heart, and his memory wasn't affected during the moment of change either, all thanks to the time machine's influence.

"Ehhh? Is that how you usually talk to your superiors?" 

His polite speech and tone weren't present currently, indeed, unlike the time he spoke to the head researcher. Although, his intentions for it were different than the usual lack of respect.

"I thought that would bring me closer to your team. It's better to get along together than-"

His index finger stopped midair when one of the websites caught his eye.

There it was—a big title written in a bold font that screamed for attention.

"Tragic News! Rescue Shelter At Sixth Avenue Faces A Monster Attack!

The spiraled corpses struck the shelter at dawn, destroying it completely in the process. The crumbling ceiling took the lives of half of the rescues. The unlucky ones who survived the collapse were then killed by the attacking monsters. Their bodies were feasted on for two whole days.

No survivors were found.

There was no burial. To send off their souls in peace, the citizens gathered for a final prayer before fleeing from another wave of danger, leaving behind only a wilted bouquet."

Hosen hit the mark, but his gaze was more focused on what was shown below. Scrolling with his mouse, he found a list of the deceased—those who were killed in the attack.

There, his eyes locked on one given name:

"Billy McGuffin" and a picture of a young boy attached.

The same big grin plastered on his face. The same knocked-out tooth. The same cheeky look. Just like he remembered.

Billy's destiny wasn't reversible after all. His sad fate was written in a future that couldn't be changed. He died by the very monster that once his father turned into.

The same death, the same cause.

"..."

What a shame…

"You knew… You predicted this would happen."

Said the female scientist once she noticed his calm attitude and recalled his cold words. "You don't have to worry about the breach of the rules..." He didn't look surprised or sad upon seeing the kid's picture, as if he had expected it.

"You hoped that boy would die."

"..."

"...how cruel."

Words seeped through her teeth like venom.

"Do you even call yourself a human-"

"Sometimes, sacrifices are necessary for a bigger cause. You know that too, Selena. If you are going to blame me for one death, then think about how many your research team had sent to die before the time machine was completed."

He stopped her before she could go on one of her usual tangents, firing an arrow straight to her chest, coated in facts and logic—was science always ethical?

"Besides, we are forbidden to change people's pasts, no?"

He was right. Everything was written in their rulebook. But still, what he did, in her opinion, was much too…

"Heartless." A frown clouded her pretty face. "You just gave that boy a slither of hope. A hope for life! And then you stole it mere hours later."

Such a young child, too, young and naive. Billy shouldn't have experienced the deceptive feeling of false hope in the first place.

"What was even the point of rescuing him, then!?"

"Call me selfish, but…" Hosen answered stoically while looking deeper into the news, "At least, he wouldn't die in front of me."

Empathy was a tricky emotion. If one got to like someone, they wouldn't want to see them die; however, if that someone died out of sight, distancing the pain afterward became far more bearable.

***

Whistles of satisfaction echoed through his tiny apartment as Inase placed the dirty plates in the sink after his filling afternoon meal. He didn't bother washing them—cleaning the house was even more of a curse.

Dishes piled in the sink and on the open kitchen counters.

Clothes, used and clean, lay scattered around the room because he never bothered folding them.

Cups, mugs, and empty bottles that rolled under the table created an illusion of the room being filled to the brim.

His gadgets, which he cared more about than his life, rested hidden in every nook and cranny of the condo.

And yet, as messy as it became after he found this place abandoned, he was able to find everything.

Mastery of chaos was what he called it.

Even an old cable TV, which was somehow miraculously working, sat atop a pile of stained, worn books in the corner, surrounded by heaps of useless junk on tall bookcases. From time to time, Inase had to climb onto the rooftop to mess with the antenna for a clear signal, though that only happened when he was bored—which, at least twice a day in counting, was pretty often.

Nevertheless, it was still a place he could call home. Cozy enough to properly rest in, and abandoned enough for its proper owners to never come back to.

"Phew~ I ate well."

Exhaling a satisfied breath, Inase plopped down on a comfy sofa filled with haphazardly handmade pillows.

"I'm in heaven."

Late autumns were getting pretty cold, so nothing beat a pile of warm blankets filling the corners of his lazily made bed. It was so snug that he could easily fall asleep on it in a heartbeat. But, he had some chores left waiting.

"Let's see what kind of trash came in for the past three months…"

His head turned to a tilting tower of dumped papers waiting on the short table beside. They finally had the honor of being sorted through, now that Inase had finally paid attention to them.

"This is spam. Another spam. Wrong recipient. Food flyer. Notes. Notes. Notes... Another flyer. A letter, a letter again, and…"

Slipping through one mail to another, he tossed the unnecessary trash on the floor over his head. Spam to the left and flyers to the right, he kept the wrongly addressed and non-important letters on the table to throw away later.

"Hm?"

But one in particular caught his attention.

"It's from the Facility?"

Turning it around, he noticed that the thick letter had his workplace for a return address.

"I wonder what's inside."

It must have been important for these guys to send it to his temporary house so he opened it with a crude rip of the envelope. The papers folded in half rustled as he unwrapped them in a bundle.

Inside was a document with a New Time-Diving Regulations title written on top.

The same paper was currently put down on the table Hosen was sitting at, smacked aggressively against the surface by the hissing woman—that document was the reason she came to find him in the first place.

"What is this?"

The man asked unaffected.

"Your new partner." She answered before he got to it. "Because of the previous incident, where our first time-diver tragically died on a solo mission, and to prevent any future losses, our team came up with a buddy system. We have decided to send you in pairs."

In other words, if one died, the other could safely bring data back to the lab instead. And, if one came back safely, they would get a direct report about the other's death rather than wait forever for a word from a missing man.

"Huh, very time-efficient. And I assume, because there are currently only two of us, we are going together."

"Indeed." She nodded in agreement. "It'd be better if you had someone to watch your back. Both of you have certain flaws and different strengths. It would be perfect if they complemented each other. We're letting you shine in your own domains."

If one messed up, the other could cover for him.

"With your overly passive dives and his very aggressive ones, you should balance out and hopefully learn from one another."

Keep a tab on each other and take action when needed. So this system was created to increase their survivability during their missions, and also, it was going to be used to restrain them—a clever solution to control the untamable.

"Here." The papers slid closer with her hand's one swift motion. "Better read through these before your next dive." Was the woman's honest advice. "You'll need all the information you can get about each other."

With that, she left him alone in the empty library in hopes he would heed her warnings.

"A buddy system, eh?"

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden changes right when he became the new member of the Facility's team, he slid the top paper out of the way to reveal the contents.

Aside from the usual instructions and rule clarifications, the next few pages underneath disclosed a personal file on a certain individual—Hosen's new partner.

"Ah, it's the janitor from earlier."

In the picture with the name Inase beside it, there was a mugshot of a blonde man. His blue eyes pierced the souls of those who looked at him for too long. From his appearance, anyone could have guessed that the man was up to no good wherever he went.

A crook, probably, or a thrill seeker looking for trouble—that's what Hosen could deduce from his profile report.

"Heh, so this is the guy I'm being paired with."

At the same time, Inase opened Hosen's file at his house.

The visible lack of color in his persona was very off-putting. The white hair, the black eyepatch covering the right side of his face, and the uncomfortable shade of magenta in his left iris—the only color popping out on his whole monochrome body—would make anyone uncomfortable in his presence.

A hunch of danger tingled in Inase's stomach; the always-accurate intuition about an impending risky journey set off all the alarms in his twisted mind. The countless opportunities of an entertaining future scattered away Inase's feeling of repetitive boredom.

"This just got much more interesting."

(1)*From: "The Shadow Out of Time" by H.P.Lovecraft, 1936

(2)*From: "At the Mountains of Madness" by H.P. Lovecraft, 1932

(3)*From: "The Fire Vampires" by Donald Wandrei, 1933