Death Note
Let's see, where to begin.
I'm a 22 year old engineer in the city of San Francisco, and I've spent the last four years pining away in Stanford to become one. Am I a smart guy? I don't really think so, but people seem to go out of their way to tell me otherwise. I like math, physics, and just about any fandom containing the words Sherlock, Marvel, or Star Wars. Naturally, this concoction of diversions create an affinity for design of some sort, which is why I'm in this field of work.
And I'm hard-pressed to say that what got me into this level III engineering position at the new Moscone Center Particle Accelerator wasn't exactly my smarts as much as my talk. It's a shameful pride, but I'm much happier to say that I can talk myself into and out of just about any situation more than to say I have a 4.2 GPA average to date.
Wait. Nah, this ain't a biography. Terrible way to start my story. Let's see, where should I really start... ah, how about the day I died? Hm, fair enough.
It's January 14, the year of 20-something, when the final stages of the main reactor are finally locked in place. Media people surround the building and the clock is ticking down to the launch of the first self-sustaining power-source the world has ever seen, meant to make the infrastructure of my home-town in the Bay Area virtually pollutant free in a matter of minutes.
And more than anyone, my boss, the lead engineer and architect of this marvel of science, is on his toes like never before. Doctor Harrison G. Wells. Aaand he's glaring at me.
"Have you checked the readings on the subatomic layouts along Delta Sector?"
I chuckle nervously, "Um... Heh, about that..."
His glare intensifies.
I merely deadpan at him, followed by a small smirk, "Of course, readings are normal along subsectors A through T, though I did find a muon anomaly in Sigma Sector."
Muons. Nifty little suckers. The stuff of comic books to be honest; that is, up until a few years ago. They changed everything - new metals, new weapons, new technology, all now possible thanks to this tiny little particle.
And I was in the perfect place to learn about them, the first generation of students to be exposed to this tantalizing knowledge! I could already imagine metals like vibranium and adamantium finally being forged, beam weapons and repulsor cannons finally becoming reality, and all the medical and physical applications these beneficial particles could have in the human body.
"And...?" The spectacled man prods, interrupting my train of thought.
"I took care of it," I scoff.
"Well check again, we wouldn't want anything going Boom on opening day, would we Savvy?" he mentions with an amused chuckle.
I shrug nonchalantly, "I suppose not."
Savvy, a nickname which has stuck to me since childhood. Or evolved, I should say. In first grade, coming up with user names in some lame learn-to-type program was a real pain since my real name was so darn common, a problem which had led to the creation of my nickname, SavageDandelion.
This nickname had stuck with me till freshman year, where my natural ability for most forms of archery - and contact sports like American football - had led to my being dubbed Savage.
Of course, all that changed when I was picked out of a pool of high-scoring SAT students into this brand new state-of-the-art engineering program at Stanford where I found yet another new iteration for my name, Savvy, which has stuck with me to this day.
Anyway, finally having sprinted my way down several flights of stairs and railways without losing much breath - despite my somewhat sedentary occupation, I still like to stay in shape - I'm now looking at a whole panel of LED screen layouts that completely bare out to me the whole story and workings of this amazing machine in all its glory. Every subatomic particle known to man closely monitored and calculated so the mix is just right.
Alpha Sector.
"This guy's a real Tony Stark, I'll say..." I mumble to myself about my brain of a boss before finishing my pre-launch checklist and turning away satisfied.
Beep.
At the sudden muted sound, I freeze in my tracks and strain my ears inside the room beside the giant donut-shaped tube that practically circles the entire city.
Beep.
That is not good. I quickly turn and scan the screens until finding the one in question, the little red light above it blinking as I watch a small spike in the readings growing larger every second. The muon count.
Beep.
"That is not good!" I exclaim before sprinting out of the room and toward Sigma Sector, at least a quarter mile away from my current station.
Two minutes or so later, I enter the Sigma Sector Station to find that Doctor Wells is already inside with a drove of men in labcoats murmuring over the plentiful screens around him. He turns to see me with a worried look on his face, his burly handheld tablet quickly filling with hundreds of lines of data.
"Solar flare, Savvy. We're not sure how, but it's spiking the muon count for some reason. And even though the particle accelerator is sealed, the outside count has tricked the machine into starting the launch sequence!"
"But we haven't run all the safety checks and hull procedures!" I cry out in worry.
"Yes, which is why these fine men are here," the doctor replies, "though we don't have much time. As long as they can stop the sequence from here, we should be fine."
But scientific instinct tells me it might not be that simple. I beckon for his tablet, to which he complies and lets me read the mountain of data he's wirelessly downloading from the same room. Mentally comparing it to what I saw in Alpha Sector, it takes me about a minute to realize that about two dozen men in labcoats are dead wrong.
"The launch won't start here," I conclude decisively.
"Are you serious?" Doctor Wells asks in disbelief.
"I am telling you right now. The root of the problem isn't here. It's in Omega Sector."
My boss takes a good long look at me before putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Savvy, you're one of my most promising engineers. Your capacity to memorize data astounds me to this day, along with your analytical abilities. Not to mention that silver tongue of yours," he adds with a chuckle, and then a slow sigh, "So if you're saying that this crap will hit the fan in Omega Sector, then we're going. Together. I'll let the boys tidy up in here."
I grin as I ready my body for another long sprint, "Just try to keep up, old man."
Amazingly enough, he does. We catch our breath outside the Omega Station before stepping in, only to have the air knocked out of us again as we look through the large window panels of the station into the Particle Accelerator itself.
"God I hate being right."
The entire area inside the tube is glowing red, already far along in its pre-launch sequence, and like two drones at work, Doctor Wells and I get to the panels to reverse the process.
But we don't have much time. I thought I'd have a full twenty four hours of it today, but if we can't stop this, looks like we'll all only get a few more minutes. And for the strangest reason, as I go auto-pilot on these machines I know so well, I recall a singular memory in my first physics class about the subject.
"Time," my first physics professor ever said, "the only immutable constant. Which is why it is what invariably makes the universe TICK. Sure, it can be skewed, maybe even warped. But it is only in relativity. Time itself never changes-"
"Unless you move fast enough."
The peeved man whose lecture has just been interrupted snaps his head at the rude student in the classroom. Me.
"Oho, and how do you suppose one can do that, young man?"
All attention now centered on me, I shrug it off with my reply, "Easy. Energy. Supply an object with enough energy - in this case, thrust - and a person may be granted the ability to travel along different measures of time. Maybe even backwards."
"Oooh, quite the Einstein today, are we?" The Professor retorts sarcastically, earning a few chuckles from the other students, "But there's just one problem: to grant an object such speed and energy, the force must be applied kinetically. A little concept the science world likes to call MOMENTUM. And seeing that momentum refers only to subjects with MASS and the energy to travel through time - as you've so eloquently postulated - involves speeds rivaling those of LIGHT, then I'm afraid to say that the energy necessary to accomplish such a preposterous feat would have to be nearly INFINITE."
As a moment of saturated silence stifles the room, he then turns his hardened gaze away from me and is about to continue his lecture when I interrupt him again. C'mon, I can't help myself!
"You wanna know what people's problem is? They always think in terms of size. Mass. But what if instead of using particles for 'thrust', we use them as catalysts - letting the mass-less particles bombard us AT the speed of light, imbuing our very SELVES with enough energy to transcend the barriers of time!"
My professor scoffs, "Rather philosophical today... you do realize you're in the wrong class, sir. Yes? But to argue such a point would mean that the fabric of time and space itself could be bypassed, permitting such fictional notions as teleportation, time travel, and entry into alternate dimensions, maybe even alternate universes!"
Having slowly made his way all around the class during his god-awful monologue, he finally pauses at my desk right in front of me, nearly slamming his two hands down at either end of my desk and looming over me.
"And the only problem with THAT idea, is that such a particle does not exist. Not one that wouldn't kill you with radiation poisoning, at least. So I'll tell you what, SAVAGE, how about you bring this up to me again the day you've actually DISCOVERED it!? Otherwise," he now calms down as he gets off my desk and proceeds to the whiteboard in front of everyone, "you can face an entire month of detention for disrupting my class."
I exhale upwards sharply to get a lock of my hair out of my eyes.
"Savvy? ...Savvy!" My thoughts are interrupted once again by Doctor Wells, who motions at the large screen between us.
Good news is, we've at least managed to control the launch. Yeah, it'll be a few hours early, but I'm sure the people of San Francisco can forgive us.
Bad news is...
"The launch is imminent, and we have a problem. A main hydraulic valve in this sector hasn't been closed yet, and if we can't close it before launch, it'll cause a catastrophic meltdown in the main reactor! The entire city will be laid to waste!"
"Where is it?" I ask flatly.
"Inside the main accelerator chamber; but Savvy, we've less than two minutes! I'll go and-"
"No." I keep him from turning and walking towards the double blast doors leading into the particle accelerator with my hand on his shoulder, "I'll go. It's a one-way command to open them during the launch sequence and they won't open again until everything is sealed, including that valve. And frankly, Doctor, you're of more use out here than in there. Just make sure everyone can get to safety before this thing launches - it'll pack a heck of a punch!"
And without another word, I sprint into the one of the open blast doors and shut it behind me before the Doctor can react. In the cramped room are two radiation suits. Well, no time for that. I punch in my code, bypass the prompt about it not being able to open again until the hydraulic valve is shut blah blah blah...
And I'm in. And jeez it's hot in here!
It sounds like I have my ear right next to a hundred jet engines at the same time! But looking for my target, I find the Valve Control Access in a box in the middle of a bridge connecting both sides of the tube.
Oh, and did I mention that the tube itself is about as wide as a large building? Yea, I'm about to sprint a few hundred yards over a tiny metal bridge over several stories of nothing.
Not that I'm afraid of heights. I'm already at the Access Panel in less than a minute. Wells' voice blares out over the intercom, the Doctor looming over a lone mic in the Station Room.
'You'll need to enter Access Code Tango-Victor-Whiskey-One-Five-Niner to shut the valve.'
"Got it!"
'Follow the prompts...'
I click trough the list of valves and make sure I select the main hydraulic valve before hitting CLOSE.
"Done!"
And with some metallic whirring underneath me, my heart jumps in realizing that a major crisis has just been averted. I turn to the Doctor with a celebratory fist-pump.
"Woot! And the day is saved!"
BOOOM!
Oh no. The launch! I'm about to make my way back to the door when I realize the blast locks are still in place! I turn again toward my boss and see him frantically dashing back and forth among the panels trying to find a way to get the doors to open once more. By the look on his face, I can already tell I was too late.
I'm about to die.
Oh my god, I'm about to die!
'S-Savvy...' the broken voice on the intercom begins, 'I-I've tried all I could. The locks are jammed... David, I'm so sorry...'
WHOOSH!
The intercom shorts out when the first wave of particles hits me like a heat-wave. Invisible, and with no real effect on me, but I already know I'm doomed. I don't know why, but I lock my gaze with Doctor Wells'; I dunno, I guess it's like that when you know death is just around the corner... you focus on any human connection you have left around you and hold onto it.
But I've already made peace with my family. My friends.
I love you guys. I hope you can forgive me for the stupid things I've done and how annoying I could be or all those times I shot you guys between the armor with BB guns during our Saturday gunfight skirmishes. And-
WHOOSH!
My thoughts are interrupted when the second wave hits, AND IT HURTS MORE THAN ANYTHING I COULD POSSIBLY DESCRIBE! The agony is excruciating, and I almost fall to my knees as I cry out. But I remain standing, propping myself against that stupid access box.
I look down at my hand and expect to see third degree burns and stuff. Nope. Half the friggin thing is burnt off! The rest is glowing orange as I see more and more of it coming apart... I shudder to think what the rest of me looks like, and judging by Doctor Wells' wide-eyed expression, it's probably not very pretty.
Heh, I probably look like that dude in the Riddick movie that gets jacked up by the heat blasts of Crematoria. Shut up, man! This isn't the time for humor!
WHOOOOOSH!
I hear the final wave coming before I turn to see it with my only good eye left, a now visible wall of blinding light as a final quote passes through my mind from one of my favorite works of Charles Dickens. Yes, I'm about to die, but I've saved millions with my final act.
"It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."
And then everything goes white.
And then everything went red.
Red? That's weird. I would've thought black. Midnight blue, maybe?
Oh, crap.
Am I in hell? You gotta be kidding me, so there's a Hell after all!? Aw c'mon, I never even cussed while I was alive, this isn't even fair!
And just as I would've done had I been alive, I throw my arms up in frustration. So... You can imagine my surprise when both my arms are thrown up in frustration, the sea of red around me thrown up as well in the air like a pile of...
Leaves?
Oh. I'm lying down in a bed of leaves? Hm, I guess Hell isn't that bad. I slowly get up and analyze my surroundings. I'm in a forest. Full of trees with blood-red leaves.
"Well, that's something you don't see everyday." I laugh, not at my obvious observation, but at the fact that wherever this is, I at least have my voice!
Laughter of joy that continues as I see my hands intact and feel my face is as complete as it ever was.
"I LOVE THIS PLACE!" I exclaim, thrusting both arms up towards the heavens and happy to be alive. Or dead. Jeez, that's kind of a complicated subject. But then I look down at myself.
"...aaand I'm naked."
And I mean, butt-naked!
Not that I'm uncomfortable with myself. I take good care of myself and am pretty proud of everything about me! But... the idea of exhibitionism in Hell is kiiinda worrisome.
But then the sound of something large ambling through the woods in my vicinity causes me to crouch down instinctively. The steps are slow... heavy... too much so to be human. I wait to make my first acquaintance in Hell.
And once it appears through the canopy and sees me with its blood-red eyes, I decide that I'm pretty sure I've been sent to Hell after all.
RAWWWR!
A huge bear-like creature with an exposed skull charges me in the clearing. I should've known... Bears are attracted to sweets and sounds, and unless my reconstructed body is made from honey, this thing's here because my stupid self made too much noise!
I dodge the beast's pounce by somersaulting to my side on the ground, rolling around and ducking under two more paw-swipes from the thing before it stands back from me, seemingly winded. Seriously? C'mon, Hell.
"Jeez, buddy," I begin with a chuckle, "you couldn't hit the broad side of a-"
CRASH!
Suddenly, another one of those hellish bears ambushes me from the tree line, landing a solid paw-strike with long sharp claws that dig into me across my chest with an impact that sends me flying back dozens of feet into a tree with a loud crack.
I can immediately tell that the second bear is much worse than the first. Considerably larger and donning the same exposed skull with red eyes, it also sports a host of bony spikes on its back and along its forearms. Satan, you definitely outdid yourself with that one!
I get up and feel behind my back to survey the damage... but my skin isn't even broken! I risk a quick glance behind me and realize that the tree I hit has pretty much been reduced to wood chippings.
"What in the world are these trees made from, styrofoam!?" I cry out in surprise before I turn to see the smaller bear charging at me.
So, I read one time that when facing a bear, you don't run. Never run. Stand your ground, yell, scream, look big, and throw stuff at it or something. Advice that I currently take as I quickly bend down and pick up a fist-sized stone beside me.
"YAH! YAH! GET OUTTA HERE, SMOKEY! YAH, SMOKEY!" I scream at the top of my lungs as I wave my arms around madly, hoping to get it to turn away before reverting to my last resort. But it doesn't. So I ready my stone.
"I said... SCRAM!" I chuck the stone as hard as I can like a grade A pigskin - a football - and can only stare in shock as the stone then leaves my hand with the sonic blast of a friggin' cannon and goes straight through the bear's head.
The larger bear merely stares at the growing gurgling mess in the middle of the clearing when I finally regain my senses and begin shouting at the larger bear too.
"THAT'S RIGHT! YOU WANT SOME? YOU WANT SOME OF THIS!?"
But seeming to have lost all interest in me, the spiky bear lifts its nose up to the air, sniffing around for a moment and then following the scent right out of the clearing.
"Wha-" I begin to talk but fall to my knees light-headed. Was I shouting too much? Maybe... heh, I can feel my heart racing within my- wait a minute.
How can I have a heartbeat if I'm dead? I place a hand to my chest and bring it back up, only to see it covered in blood. My blood. I'm... I'm alive?
"Where in the hell am I!?" I cry out.
Mind you, I'm not cursing. I'm actually in Hell... I think.
I look back up to see the smaller bear has nearly disintegrated in a puff of smoke, leaving behind a black tattered sash of some type behind. Maybe from a previous meal a long time ago? Well, I sure as heck need something to cover my junk, and I'm not about to get picky!
I get up and barely take a step towards the center of the clearing when I suddenly feel the ground leave me completely... wait, I'm leaping! Having overshot the sash by several dozen yards at my landing spot, I look down and test my legs, flexing them and doing a few crouching motions. They feel fine... nothing out of the ordinary.
I prepare to lift my leg to take another step back towards the sash, "Easy does IIIIIIT!"
Needless to say, I accidentally leap through the air once more like a stinkin astronaut, overshooting my goal yet again.
"Oh, c'mon legs!" I shout in self-derision.
The process literally repeats itself five of six more times with growing levels of frustration until I'm finally reduced to carefully... CAREFULLY... dragging my feet across the leaf-strewn ground towards the sash. Finally taking a step forward to reach it, I underestimate my strength and overstep, tripping forward and landing face first on the ground next to the sash.
"OW..."
Clearly, the gravity in this place must be significantly weaker than that of Earth's.
I stand very slowly and finally grab the sash on the floor, quickly wrapping it around my nether regions and tying the knot. Heh, I guess watching all those Man vs. Wild episodes finally paid off! Who knew that one day I'd actually have to make myself a decent loincloth! It works well enough; like a thin diaper with the remainder of the ends hanging in front of my junk and behind my rear like fabric flaps, it fits snugly around my waist without hampering my movement. Sweet.
"Now to learn how to walk. Like a baby. Ugh."
Ten minutes or so later, I've finally mastered it. I walk naturally enough while taking the terms 'staying light on your toes' to a whole new level, and am finally ready to get a better idea on where I am. And following that big bear just might be a good start.
If it stopped paying attention to me, it must've been smelling easy food. Maybe a common area that can give me a better gauge as to where I'm at?
I sit while making my calculations. And talking to myself. Cuz I do that while doing math.
"Assuming it maintained its speed with which it left of about five feet per second which was about a half hour ago... That puts it at a little less than two miles in that direction," I conclude, glancing at the hole in the canopy where it left.
Now to see how fast I can catch up to it. Crouching down in runner's position, I begin a brisk sprint in that direction before taking off clear over the treeline.
"WOOOOOHOOOOO!" I yell as I feel the air rushing through my face, landing somewhere in the forest and taking off again with a single step.
"YEAHHH! I'M LIKE THE HULK!" Yep. I can get used to this!
Finally landing on a taller tree, I gauge my distance travelled.
"Half mile in under a minute! That's a quarter mile with just a step! So let's see..." I think to myself as I plug in the new variables in my mental kinematic equation, "Yep, so about a fifth of the gravity of Earth! Hm... Does that make me five times stronger as well?"
I put that thought on the backburner as I realize that about six more steps should get me to the bear. And leaping down, I continue my exhilarating trek.
About three minutes later, I land in an artificial clearing in the forest full of jars of varying sizes; some empty, and some full of a viscous red substance. Sap? I also note the tracks and claw marks on the trees. Very fresh.
"Thank you, Man versus Wild..."
It doesn't take much more tracking to hear some sort of skirmish that suddenly takes place on the other side of some dense red shrubbery with roaring of the huge bear and... Yells! Human yells!
But just as suddenly as it started, it stops. The silence sends a chill down my spine, and I finally dare to try and peek through the canopy to see the outcome of the fight.
CLUNK.
"Holy fu-!" I quickly cover my own mouth as the bony bear's head suddenly drops in front of me and rolls to my feet, nearly scaring the friggin' PISS outta me!
Extremely surprised, I peek through the canopy that much faster to see who could've delivered such a lethal clean cut to a creature of that size. I then see two young men, each clad in armor.
At first, I think it's the red-head that did him in, cuz that blonde guy standing next to him? ...sheesh, someone give the kid a sandwich. But as I look closely, I have to change my impression as I notice that the blonde is the one with the sword and is also helping up his peer. I catch the conversation that the red-head starts.
"Holy crap, Jaune!" Jaune? That's a weird name.
But the blonde doesn't look nearly as impressed as his associate - threatening, even, "Don't ever mess with my team - my friends - ever again. Got it?"
Hm, I must've missed something. The red-head looks intimidated, possibly even apologetic. But with his order spoken, Jaune turns and walks away from the kid... right towards me!
I step back into the shrubbery and let this guy pass right by me without noticing. I debate whether or not I should make myself seen by him - after all, he does look pretty pissed - but he might be my only hope at reaching civilization. And apparently, he can handle himself. I make my decision.
Stepping out from the tree line before the blonde can get too far away from me, I hold a hand to my mouth politely.
"Ahem!"
"AAAIIIiii!" The guy shrieks femininely as he turns to me, weapons drawn as he fumbles with his shield until gripping it right. Well, that was unexpected.
"Sorry to startle you."
Quickly regaining his composure, and whatever was left of his dignity, the blonde sighs but keeps his weapons drawn.
"I-It's alright. I just thought you were one of them."
"Them?"
"You know," he explains, glancing pointedly at the disintegrating head by my foot, "One of the Grimm."
Ah. So that's what the kids call them these days.
"Right. Anyway, I was hoping if you could get me to some kind of village, or city? Any kind of civilization, really. I have no idea where I am."
Jaune narrows his eyes at me, and I catch a flicker of whatever warrior must've come through when defeating that Grimm. He exuded an aura of power that kept me on my toes.
"And why should I trust you?"
I should've seen that question coming, though I didn't really think it'd be from some guy that looked like an eighth-century knight. But he's still a kid, so I go with the obvious as I hold both hands up placatingly.
"I'm unarmed, I have no supplies, nor food, water, or clothing. And did I mention no clothing? This seems like a really dangerous place and I have no idea how I got here, and I doubt I'll last too much longer. I'm just asking for help."
"But you can also be lying."
Alright, I'm calling out his bravado, it's a bit much, "Oh really. Wanna check my loincloth, then?"
Bingo. Receiving the reaction I'm looking for, the blonde staggers, holding up an arm-guard to his now-green face to keep from blowing chunks all over the place.
"GERK! You know what? Never mind, I'll take you to Miss Goodwitch..."
"Thank you."
But 'Miss Goodwitch'? What is this guy, a student or something? Oh well, either way, she seems like someone of authority. I just hope that if this is Hell, Lucifer isn't a female that goes by Goodwitch.
"By the way, what's your name?" He asks me after a minute or two of us walking through the woods.
I debate with whether or not I should tell him. But if I'm in hell, wouldn't everyone know who I am to begin with already? It just seems kinda pointless to go through introductions in a place of torment. So I think of a test - a white lie, to see if he'll catch it. So, thinking of a name of a man who awoke in a strange place filled with strange creatures and a strange strength, I answer with as much conviction as I'll ever muster.
"Carter. John Carter."
"Well, John Carter," the blonde knight begins as he pulls aside some shrubs beside our path to reveal a majestic building of arching architecture over a spectacular cliff, "Welcome to Beacon, the finest academy in Remnant."
Remnant? Not sure what that means, but it seems fitting. Without my family, my friends, and the life I knew, I know everything's about to change.
Enter John Carter of Remnant.
A/N: Well, that was a thing.
It's a self insert, yep, and the only things about me that aren't true is where I went to college and where I currently work. Let's just say, it's not in California. But, San Francisco is my hometown, so it felt like a fitting setting! Also, the coverart is me, wearing my brother's glasses. Though my hair is a bit curlier and usually messier. Anyway, I hope you liked the fic!
Review if you'd like, fave and follow if you want more. Reviews help me improve and the counters help me gauge which of my stories people are liking more at the moment. Right now I have fics like Jaune Arc: The Force Unleashed, RWBY: Switched! and Chronicle in the works, so feel free to check those out if you'd like as well!
In any case, till next time!
And Happy Reading!
