The Awakening

Elias Moreau's life was, for the most part, painfully average.

He wasn't a prodigy. He wasn't a rebel. He was just a regular college student, slogging through each day with the same routine. Wake up. Classes. Work. Sleep. Repeat. The days bled into one another, indistinguishable except for the occasional excitement of a weekend hangout or an unexpected quiz.

His apartment was small but cozy, cluttered with books he never finished and clothes he never folded. The city outside was alive with the hum of traffic, the occasional siren, and the endless buzz of people living their own mundane lives. It was a world of assignments, deadlines, and overpriced coffee. A world as real as it could get.

Elias had never believed in conspiracies. He had never questioned the world's structure. Aliens? Time travel? Alternate dimensions? That was all sci-fi nonsense.

At least, that's what he thought.

Until one fateful night.

Elias lay sprawled on his bed, exhausted from another long day of mind-numbing classes. He yawned, his body sinking into the mattress as his eyelids grew heavier.

"God, I need like... a whole week of sleep."

With that thought, he drifted off.

And then—

BZZT. BZZT.

The sound of an unfamiliar alarm clock startled him awake. But something felt off. The bed beneath him was softer—too soft. The scent in the air was different, faintly floral, definitely not his room.

His eyes shot open.

The first thing he saw?

​

A girl sleeping peacefully beside him.

"WHAT THE FU—?!"

Elias launched himself out of bed, tangled in the sheets, and crashed onto the floor. The loud thud made the girl stir, groaning in her sleep. His brain was malfunctioning. This was not his room. This was not his world.

The walls were sleek, metallic panels illuminated by an unnatural blue glow. Strange digital symbols hovered in the air, shifting constantly like holographic displays. The bed—if he could even call it that—was levitating.

Elias scrambled to his feet, frantically scanning the room. What the hell was this place?! More importantly—

Who the hell is she?!

The girl stirred again, her eyes fluttering open.

Elias did what any reasonable person would do in this situation.

He ran.

Bolting out of the room, he found himself in a futuristic school hallway. The floors were sleek and reflective, lined with glowing strips that pulsed with a rhythmic light. Doors automatically slid open as students—some in bizarre, high-tech uniforms—milled about. The entire school looked like something straight out of a cyberpunk movie.

"Okay, cool, I'm dreaming. This is a dream. Just gotta wake up. Wake up, Elias."

He slapped himself. It hurt.

"FUCK—okay, not a dream!"

Some students turned to look at him, whispering to each other.

"Who the hell is that?"

"Isn't that Sienna's room?"

"Wait, was he...? No way. No fucking way."

Panic surged through Elias as realization hit. They thought—OH GOD.

"NO! IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!" he blurted out, backing away.

Just as he turned a corner, a robotic drone descended from the ceiling, its mechanical eye scanning him. A cold, robotic voice echoed:

"Unauthorized individual detected. State your identification."

"OH, COME ON!"

Elias sprinted.

As he ran, he finally got a good look at the world he was in.

Towering skyscrapers stretched into the sky, their surfaces shimmering with holographic advertisements. Floating vehicles zipped through the air, defying everything he knew about physics. The people? Some looked normal, but others had cybernetic enhancements—glowing eyes, mechanical limbs, even entire robotic exoskeletons integrated into their bodies.

This was not his world.

This was something far beyond it.

"Alright... alright... keep it together, Elias," he muttered to himself. "You just woke up in a futuristic dystopia after falling asleep in your shitty apartment. That's totally normal. Yep. Nothing weird about that."

He turned a corner and—

SMACK.

Elias collided straight into someone, sending them both sprawling to the ground. He groaned, rubbing his head before looking up.

It was the girl from the room.

She had thrown on a futuristic-looking jacket over her shoulders, her hair disheveled from sleep. Her eyes locked onto him, and for a moment, there was only silence.

Then—

"You..." she muttered, narrowing her eyes. "You're not from here, are you?"

Elias gulped. Umm.

Elias sat there, still processing everything that had just happened. He was sitting on the cold floor of a futuristic bedroom, and the girl in front of him—who had just moments ago been just as surprised as he was—was now staring at him with an intensity that made him feel even more weird.

"Okay... Let's go back a step," Elias finally said, clearing his throat. "You're telling me that I just appeared out of nowhere in your bed? Like, poof—just spawned in like a video game character?"

The girl crossed her arms, tilting her head slightly. "Yes. Exactly like that, and might I add. Which, considering how I left my room locked, is very concerning."

Elias groaned, rubbing his face. "Great. Amazing. This is just fantastic. So not only did I somehow teleport into a cyberpunk fever dream, but I did it in the most embarrassing way possible."

She rolled her eyes. "You're focusing on the wrong part. You're in a world that's way beyond whatever place you came from. Let me guess—your world was all normal, right? No weird dystopian governments? No high-tech buildings or military drones patrolling the streets?"

Elias blinked. "Uh... yeah. My biggest concern yesterday was whether my landlord was gonna yell at me for late rent. So you're saying I... what, time-traveled? Like, into the future?"

She let out a sharp laugh. "Pfft— I mean you could be but If you were from the past, you'd be way more confused by everything around you. You haven't been gawking at the walls or asking me what a hologram is. You're confused, but not that confused. That could mean that you're from a different world entirely."

Elias stared at her. "A different world? Like, alternate reality? Parallel universe? I mean yes a lot of this stuff does exist in our world too but this is TOO futuristic for me LIKE.." He let out a dry laugh. "Okay, sure, yeah, why not? That makes total sense. I mean, that's way easier to accept than me just having the weirdest dream of my life."

She squinted at him. "You're taking this weirdly well."

"Oh, trust me, I'm freaking out internally," Elias assured her, waving his hands. "But I process trauma through sarcasm and mild hysteria, so give me a few hours, and I'll probably start screaming. By the way what's the date, i guess that's a better way to know what is happening?"

She sighed, sitting down across from him. "Alright. Let's start from the basics. You're in a world controlled by the New World Order.They saved us from like a whole ass alien attack 2.5-3 years ago. It was a massive event which left us all shooked…, and just so you know there's a global system that dictates everything, from who lives where to what people are allowed to think. And by the way the date is 29 February 2030." 

Elias frowned. "That sounds... incredibly ominous. AND BY THE WAY I AM FROM 2030 TOO AND LITERALLY THE SAME DATE!"

"LMAOO, that does mean that you are not an old tribal guy but someone from another world. And…Yeah, no shit," she muttered. "This world? It's been like this for as long as I've been alive. Surveillance everywhere. Government control over every aspect of life. If you're not part of the system, you're an outcast. And outcasts... don't last very long."

Elias rubbed his temple. "Okay, wait. Let me backtrack again—who are you, exactly? I just woke up in your bed, and you haven't even told me your name."

She smirked. "Sienna. And you?"

"Elias Moreau."

"Well, Elias, welcome to a world where free will is pretty much a myth, and stepping out of line can get you 're-educated'—which is just a polite way of saying brainwashed or executed. You're gonna have a great time."

"What a great world to enter it seems."

some moments later...

Elias watched as she rummaged through a small locker, pulling out a set of neatly folded clothes. She tossed them onto the table, and he stared at them in horror.

"A school uniform? Are you serious?"

She smirked. "What, you were expecting some cool rebel outfit? Sorry to disappoint, but blending in means looking like everyone else."

Elias picked up the uniform—a sleek, black jacket with silver accents, a crisp white shirt, and dark slacks. It was futuristic, but it still gave off that unmistakable school vibe.

"Okay, first of all, I'm way too old to pass as a student," Elias argued.

Sienna tilted her head. "How old are you?"

"Twenty-one."

Sienna snorted. "Yeah, not here, you're not. Congratulations, you're seventeen now."

Elias groaned, running a hand down his face. "Unbelievable."

"Believe it. I already registered you as a transfer student. Your name is Elias Moreau—"

"That's my real name."

"Yeah, well, lucky you. Less chance of you slipping up." She grinned. "Now, get dressed. I need to make sure you don't look too suspicious."

Elias sighed, grabbing the uniform and stepping into the bathroom. He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Just yesterday, I was living my normal life. Now I'm in a dystopian hellhole pretending to be a teenager.

He changed into the uniform and stepped back out. She gave him a once-over, nodding in approval.

"Not bad. You almost look like you belong here."

"Almost?"

"Yeah, you still have the 'I'm questioning my entire existence' look on your face. Try to look less lost."

Elias scoffed. "That's gonna be hard considering I am lost."

She rolled her eyes. "Let's go. I'll walk you to school and explain more on the way."

Entering the School

Elias and Sienna reached the massive gates of the school. It was nothing like the schools he knew—this place looked like a sleek corporate facility, with automated security drones scanning students as they entered.

Elias shifted uneasily. "Are you sure this is gonna work?"

"Relax," Sienna said, handing him a small ID card. "Just scan this and act natural."

Elias swiped the card at the entrance scanner. A small beep sounded, and the screen displayed:

NEW STUDENT REGISTERED – ACCESS GRANTED

Elias exhaled. Okay, so far so good.

Sienna nudged him. "See? Easy. Now, let's get inside before someone starts asking questions."

As they walked through the halls, Elias couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him. As he wasn't used to these many cameras on him.

Meanwhile, deep in the control centers of the New World Order...

The New World Order Detects an Anomaly

The surveillance officers sat in a dimly lit room, staring at an array of holographic screens displaying live footage from across the city.

"Sir," one of them spoke, his voice tense. "We just got an anomaly reading."

A higher-ranking officer walked over, hands behind his back. "Location?"

"Sector 4, near the education district."

The officer's eyes narrowed. "Another rogue citizen?"

The technician hesitated. "No... something else. We detected a new entity."

The officer stiffened. "Explain."

The technician pulled up the data logs. "We've been monitoring the population grid, and someone—or something—appeared out of nowhere. No record, no prior movement. It just materialized."

The officer's expression darkened. "Send a retrieval unit immediately. We can't have unknown variables in our city."

"Already done, sir. But..."

The officer turned to him. "But what?"

The technician gulped. "The entity vanished before we could lock onto it."

The officer's brows furrowed. "Vanished?"

The technician nodded and replayed the security footage. A brief glimpse of the entity flickered on the screen—a human figure, just like any other person. No monstrous features, no distortions. Just... another man.

And then—within an instant—the figure erased itself from existence.

The footage showed a rapid atom break—the air around the entity fractured, particles momentarily dispersing before stabilizing. In less than a second, the scene returned to normal, like nothing had ever been there.

The officer clenched his jaw. "What the hell was that?"

"We don't know, sir," the technician admitted. "But it wasn't like Elias Moreau."

The officer turned sharply. "What do you mean?"

"Elias Moreau was also a new appearance in the system, but he... fit. His ID registered without errors, his biometrics weren't rejected. It's like... the system had already accounted for him. His presence was logical. The way our world operates, it means that he is from our world just a new face that we didn't know even existed."

"But this other entity..."

"...did not belong. The system rejected it. It saw it as an error."

The officer exhaled sharply. "Keep tracking for any reappearance. And double-check Moreau's movements. If he's connected to this in any way, I want to know immediately."

"Understood, sir."