Act zero: Prologue
October11, 2018. 10:45 am
Unknown location
"Computer," A dark and ominous voice rang from somewhere in the darkness, "access files, codenamed Apogee." The dark voice said rather inhumanly, as cold and distant as ice. Metallic echoes adorned it. The very air turned frigid around.
No floor, no ceiling, no walls, naught but a bottomless void, black, empty, and lifeless. In the middle of the black abyss stood a humanoid shape, a thick cloud of black haze surrounded its essence, shrouding all but the brightly shinning leer. Glowing Sapphire lights straight from the deepest pits of Hell itself.
The black void was suddenly lit by a screen that stood larger than a movie theater's, casting an ominous shadow into that black endless abyss. The figure looked up, eyes glowing with renewed interest, dancing to an unheard rhythm. Its leer remained firmly planted, barely silhouetting over its black featureless visage.
The poor computer struggled, whined and begging for an end to its cursed existence. It growled and crackled with malcontent and unfathomable suffering, but it continued on with its directive nonetheless. Five minutes since the moment it had been activated, the computer finished loading the last of the mysterious files it had kept safe for untold number of years. The machine seemed to sigh with relief as the hardest part of its job was complete. Its white screen turned pitch dark, nothing but a set of four medium sized white dots danced to a mechanical beat. Five or six seconds later, the screen returned to its normal state, lighting up like the sun in the early morn. It again whined and begged for a respite as monstrous amounts of data where imprinted upon it. Numbers, words, blueprints, and other general information displayed in such archaic fashion, only a code cracker could possibly understand.
The machine again sighed, its job complete for the second time. Its mission however, was far from over. "Warning," it called out, "corrupted data has been established. Caution is greatly advised."
The ominous being exhaled deeply. "Show data that is not corrupted." It called out in a firm and asserting tone.
"Acknowledged!" The computer replied. Servos and its other innermost components whined and cringed from old age and misuse. It hesitated for a second, for it knew what was coming. It knew that the end might be near. At least it would be a good way to cease functions. It would be a glorious end indeed.
The screen lit up once more, running through hundreds upon hundreds of files and folders, most corrupted beyond repair. After several minutes of frantic scanning, the computer came to an abrupt stop. The highlighted file was the only one undamaged and still readable. The folder was labeled 'Sysoles' and it was dated to October 10, of 2012.
"Open file." The being said rather bluntly, tone filled with renewed interest and slight concern.
"Acknowledged." The computer once again replied. Yes, it was beginning to understand what was coming. It foresaw the end before it happened, an end it would soon meet. It had no reason to cease existence, even if it had been abandoned and forgotten so long ago. No, it had no reason to cease existence. It still had a task to complete. The project needed to survive at all cost...
October 11, 10:45 am
Jubilife general hospital
Edgar
I tossed and turned viciously, pain an almost an unbearable thing. Even if I wanted to deny it, I couldn't. The wounds throbbed horribly; the pain was too much to bear. I was eighteen and just about ready to die...
How did it come to this?
It all started last night… I will never forget that night…
October 10 2018. 11:00 pm
Jubilife central park
I walked through the shadowy park, just like every other night. I had done this for as long as I could feasibly remember, and in all honesty, I wasn't about to change it. The only thoughts in my mind were the rather empty promises of a warm bed and a night's rest. Whether foolhardy or naïve, I hoped to have a deep and relaxing rest before getting up for school and work. Whether by choice or not, I half blindly walked down the barely lit walkway. Around me were deep and menacing shadows, deep and seemingly endless rows of large trees and hedges. The wind blew trough the plants with a gentle breeze, the leaves and branches rustled to it. Walking through the park used to unnerve me, but that had long passed. Nowadays, I didn't even bother to look ahead; I knew the path home well. During my walks, time seemed to be irrelevant. In all honesty, I couldn't care less about time, for it was during these long walks that I found the closest thing to meditation and peace. Normal thoughts, happy thoughts, disturbing thoughts, all were present. I often didn't want to think about anything bad, but I couldn't. Things were just too damn depressing. It wasn't uncommon to hear about gruesome crimes, armed conflicts, straw man politics, terrorism, and the usual puritan propaganda blasted trough the airwaves whenever it became both possible and profitable. As of late, things had become really bad. Talk of crazy conspiracies and the possible end of the world became the norm. Honestly, I couldn't see how someone personable could think of such things in their spare time. Conspiracies and the end of the world are two rather overused clichés.
I sighed, who the hell was I to say I didn't have my share of bad thoughts? I was greatly lagging behind in school, owed a lot of money, and was in peril of loosing my job. If I didn't pull myself together within the next few weeks...
…Jess, I don't want to think about it.
Suddenly, my phone rang shrilly. The echo was enough to startle me. I snapped out of my self imposed trance and quickly answered. I was greeted by the overly cheery voice of Jay Serium, who seemed to be shouting as if high on laughing gas.
"What's up buddy?! What are ya up to right now?" He asked in a very annoying tone. I rolled my eyes and answered him rather calmly. "Nothing much," I replied, rubbing my buzzing right ear, "just heading home to finish my term paper, say goodnight to Olivia and the others, and then head out to work." I suddenly paused, "why do you ask?" I questioned him with curiosity.
"Nothing really," Jay lied, "except I know what might be the best news imaginable." He laughed rather insanely. "Want to hear about it?"
"Sure," I replied with a shrug, "I've got some spare time to kill on the way home." I again paused, and then scowled. "This better not be another one of those urban legends you always spew out like saliva." I told him with some annoyance.
"Oh, don't worry about that!" he bluffed, "the story I am going to tell you is mostly true."
"Mostly huh?" I said with a frown, "Ok, go for it." I told him in defeat. Once the guy got going, there was no stopping him.
I again sighed, and found myself forcing a smile on my face. "Get on with it." I told him, hand in face.
"Ok," He started all smugly sounding, "do you remember the old labs from about five years ago?"
"You mean those same labs where bastard scientist experimented on people?" I asked already knowing the answer. "Yeah, those very labs." Jay replied with enthusiasm, "I've heard from a good source that the whitecoats had been developing something big in there."
"Hmm," I rubbed my chin, "Sounds interesting." I wanted to end the conversation there, but something in me didn't want to. Jay just kept on going. "Whatever they were working on was big. Big enough to warrant the place's sealing and near self destruction. Rumor has it that the thing they were developing was a new type of weapon."
"A weapon?" I said with half care. "That sounds reasonable for a bunch of crazed geniuses." I blinked several times. I knew my parents had been part of that group, and maybe that's why they had died. Strange, I never really thought of my parents as evil people. Maybe it was my higher than normal empathy or my forgiving nature, but I couldn't picture them as crazed scientist out to create affronts to nature. I smiled and softly chuckled. "Even so, I highly doubt these people were crazy." I half laughed at myself, for I knew that statement was a partial lie.
"Crazy or not, they still developed something in secrecy."
"I still don't see the point." I said, now starting to get slightly annoyed. "So what if they had some kind of uber weapon like you say? What relevance does that have?"
"Don't you see," Jay urged, "if the whitecoats had been working on, uh… experiments, yeah! Experiments!" Jay suddenly hesitated. He fell quiet for a few seconds, he then continued to speak. "Sorry, I kind of lost track of our conversation there. Anyway, where I am heading at is that there may still be some valuable things inside the labs."
"Before you go on, was Cyrus the one who told you all this?" I half jokingly asked. Jay didn't even hesitate in his answer. "Yeah, he did." He said with some pride in his tone.
I rolled my eyes again.
Jay and I talked over the whole Rocket labs conspiracy for nearly half an hour. The more I listened to Jay's seemingly crazed babble, the more and more curious I became. In my mind, I began wonder if my dead folks had had anything to do with all of this, or if they even knew about it all. They had both used to work in the labs before they were shut down, so maybe they left something behind. I felt a bit ashamed though, for I was already placing labels where labels shouldn't go. But for some reason, I couldn't even begin to picture my folks anymore. I mean they had died a very long time ago and all, but I had seen many pictures over the years. I should at least know thief faces. The more I tried to remember my parents, the more distant they seemed.
How very strange…
Jay said his closing statement on the matter, said his goodbye for the night, and hung up the phone. I looked over my surroundings, and quickly realized I had somehow veered way off my intended track. The darkness was deep, yet I could tell where I was. It also felt bizarrely safe, almost like some kind of second home…
I made a mental note and turned around. I had hoped to make eye contact with another known path. Instead, I nearly ran face first into a large cylinder sticking out of the ground. I puzzled over the strange landmark, slightly bewildered at what it could possibly be. The cylinder was completely alien to me. I walked around, trying to discover some kind of definitive answer as to the object's identity. Instead, I only found more questions than answers. The cylinder had a large, widely open hatch door. The air inside was cold and foreboding. I could feel something was off; almost every hair in my body was standing up on end. Something told me to move away, to leave and never return. Something else urged me to go in at the same time. I looked at the darkness, and looked up at the moon. I sighed. Olivia was going to kill me. I called my house and left a short message. I knew Olivia would most likely get it later on.
I stepped into the hatch. Suddenly, I found myself going down to the unknown bowels of the earth. I was twenty percent scared, forty percent determined, and forty percent lost. What a combo…
October 11, 10:45 am
Jubilife general hospital
Yeah, what a damn combo…
An oxygen mask was placed over my chin, allowing me to breathe, but cutting the circulation to most of my face. I felt the pain, the strong and ruthless pain. I could feel it in every last of my nerves. The pain felt closer like a freezing and malevolent thought, pain that constantly pounded against my bones. Every thought in my head revolved around ideas that terrified me beyond all words. I clenched my teeth tightly, dentures screeching and whining under the pressure. My eyes were tightly shut; left arm had just exploded with pain for the god-knows-what time. Tears swelled in my eyes, ready to flow down my face like waterfalls of bitter water. This is it; I'm going to die right now. I panted and coughed, attempting to regain my senses. Every attack erased more of who I was. My eyesight was starting to fail, my once rigid voice had turned to a whimper, my strength had all but been drained away. All I had to aid me where bottles of morphine, pills that did nothing but cloud my mind and dull what little senses I still had. They did slightly kill the pain, but with every gulp I took of them, I lost more and more of my judgment.
I had to end the pain once and for all.
Standing just a few steps away from me were several saddened figures, my friends and family. All kept eying me and each other with the outmost worry and fear. I couldn't even begin to image what went trough their minds as they saw me lying in this hospital bed, dying from a grave wound. I could almost picture myself inside a casket. I probably didn't have much time left. No, I have to hold on tightly, I can't die yet. I made a promise… yes, a promise…
As I closed my eyes to rest, more of my past returned to me…
October 10 2018. 11:02 pm
Jubilife central park
Deeper and deeper the elevator descended, down into the pitch black bowels of past sins. My heart skipped in a neat rhythm as I idly stood by the hatch, waiting for the trip's end. My senses constantly nagged at me, telling me to turn back while I still could. The little voice of reason within me however, whispered the message.
The elevator finally came to a slow and gentle stop. Its door slid open to the left, revealing more darkness than I could have foreseen. The bowels of the earth were unnaturally dark and frigid. From the moment I stepped out, my face and hands became numb. I crossed my arms, constantly blowing into them in order to stay warm. I tried to look for warmth, but the darkness was so deep, I couldn't even see an inch in front of my nose. Light seemed to be nothing more than a stranger down here.
I carefully treaded forward, not knowing if I would trip over something unseen. That was the last thing I wanted, tripping in the dark, possibly right into a grave of some kind. I hadn't even walked five steps when my footstep caused a sharp click. I paused and shallowly breathed. The only things that made clicking noises on the ground were landmines or… booby traps…
I gulped slowly and hard. I didn't want to take my foot of the ground. I really didn't want to. Time however, was not something I had. Thing might have a timer. I slowly tried to kneel next to the spot, thinking that maybe I could interchange the pressure of my foot with the one on my hand. If it worked, I could dive away for my dear life. If I was lucky, I would only loose a leg or an arm, something Ragde could fix easily. I tried the risky maneuver, hoping that I would not screw it up. Unfortunately for me, that was the first thing that occurred.
I lost my balance and found myself falling over. I desperately waved my arms, but that only worsen the situation. In my desperation, I entirely slipped off and tumbled straight into the ground face first. I seemed to be falling slower and slower with each passing second. It got to the point that I could have sworn an eternity had just passed me by. My breath was lost, my sweat dripped down faster than a waterfall. Another loud click echoed. I hit the floor, eyes closed, expecting to see the infamous white tunnel.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash, visible even trough my closed eyelids. I felt no pain, nor any kind of feeling at all. I must have been blown into dust…
I slowly opened my eyes. Sure enough, there was what looked like a tunnel before me, bright light at its end. The light was strong, so strong was the illumination, I had to squint until my eyes became accustomed. I gulped. Looking at my own body, I desperately tried to make sense of what had just happened. No… I can't be dead, not like this… What about my friends? What about… Olivia…
Something within me was forced to walk towards the light, like a moth to fire.
No Edgar, don't go to the light…
I knew full well what might be at the end. I knew there would be no going back, yet I could not stop. Again, I closed my eyes, half expecting to be greeted by angels and incorruptible luminosity. For some strange reason, I opened my arms widely.
…I tripped again, striking the ground face first. I groaned, rolling on my back and rubbing the spot of impact. My forehead was now bruised and blue. Every time I rubbed it, the pain would shoot up. I opened my rather teary eyes. It was then that I realized rather quickly that I wasn't on the other side, I wasn't even dead. I was inside a brightly lit white room, further into the once dark installations.
I wanted to curse the nearest living thing, but for some reason, I burst into laughter. I was still alive. A long sigh escaped my mouth. I smiled and picked myself up.
Edgar, you stupid, stupid bastard. I smiled broader and decided to continue onwards.
October 11, 10:45 am
Jubilife general hospital
Yeah, I was stupid. Stupid for not turning back when I had the chance.
I turned my head to the right, neck creaking and throbbing with pain. I rested my weary gaze on Rasputin, who eyed my worriedly with its menacing, yet somehow soft and delicate yellow eyes. Its gaze looked faded and drunk, heavy bags hung underneath its eyes from lack of proper rest and its constant anxiety. The Banette held in its right hand an empty bottle of what could only be captain Sharpedo rum, which shook every so often, explaining the drunken look in the wraith's eyes.
Rasputin, though the 'youngest' and most cynical of our 'family' was rather timid, and often depressive. I guess the ghost was going trough some kind of phase. You could count on the young specter to pull out its trusty flask of rum, and proceed to drown away its current sorrows with gallons upon gallons of the strong drink whenever things got bad. Liquor was its brandy of the damned, and you couldn't get any more dammed than a ghost.
I turned left, and laid my gaze directly on Olivia Dubois, a young and stunningly beautiful Gardevoir about my own age. She had her usual green hair, and dress, but her eyes were wet and red. I had known many pretty girls; I had dated quite a few over my life. Olivia however, was without a doubt, the most beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on, and she wasn't even human, that alone told a lot about her physical beauty. Her stunning good looks were evenly matched by her intelligence, ingenuity, and her sense of morals. All that, coupled with her powerful psychic abilities, compassion towards even the most villainous souls, imperishable virtue, and strong sense of justice, made her the most ideal female I have ever had the tremendous pleasure to be affiliated with.
You're probably wondering, am I her trainer? Actually, no. She is not what you would call, a 'feral'. Olivia had been raised in the outmost panicle of society. From what I could remember, her parents had been from France or something, and they had possessed quite a large sum of wealth. Just like me, her folks had died under mysterious circumstances. Because of her upbringing, Olivia held status that was identical to that of a human. The only thing she wasn't allowed to do was mix genes (marry and have children) with anyone who was Homo Sapien or had Homo Sapien genes in them. Other than that, she was free do whatever she pleased, so long as no laws were broken in the process.
Olivia and I were both sad tales, which I believe is the reason why we even met in the first place. Well, that and the fact that my folks had worked with her folks in the past. Talk about a twist of fate. About the only thing I really wish was that Olivia was human. Then we could both have our happily ever after. No such luck though… no such luck.
I looked at Olivia's face, and couldn't help but feel like dirt. Her usual beauty was completely eclipsed by deep concern and dread over my wellbeing. Seeing her in such pain made me feel completely distraught and lost, I never really learned how to stand her looks of pain and misery. I cared for her way too much…
To her side was the Sceptile Ragde, whose face was riddled with anxiety and frustration. The gecko constantly walked back and forth, mumbling to himself in English about something to do with necromancy and bio alchemy, something he was really into. He would go out of his way to read about everything on those two subjects. Whenever he did, he would complaint and moan, calling himself 'a shadow of his former self.' Even though Rasputin and I constantly asked him what that meant, all he ever did was smile and change the subject.
Ragde was a strange Sceptile, very, very strange. He spoke English quite fluidly, seemed to be slightly shorted than his brethren, and could somehow use dark and psychic skills, something normal Sceptiles could not master. How he had mastered so much in such little time was a mystery to everyone, especially me. I had a few theories, but none made much sense, even to me. He was also unique in the fact that he was neither PK-noid, feral, nor morph. He had no one specific class to speak off, that alone classified him as a humanoid just like Olivia, but even that title seemed rather flimsy. And yes, I did know that Ragde's name was mine spelled backwards. That's what he called himself most of the time. His real name however was Fael. Strangely, he hated that moniker.
Strangely, I couldn't remember anything about Rasputin's or Ragde's past. I am not sure if it was the excessive amounts of morphine and other pain killers I had taken, or if I really didn't know their past.
Suddenly, a new thought entered my mind, something I would have never even considered under normal conditions. Things however, had already degenerated beyond normality.
I looked at Ragde's rather sharp arm leaves, and could not help but frown deeply. One single swipe from those things, and I would finally be out of all pain. I looked at Olivia, and found myself nearly crying. I no longer had a real choice. I was going to die. Might as well go out painlessly…
October11, 2018. 10:45 am
Unknown location
The files were finally deleted. All knowledge of them disappeared from existence. The figure smiled with its shrouded façade as it typed its last orders on the keyboard. The being looked up at the machine, eyes and teeth clearly shining trough its dark hood. It leered some more, and pressed the enter key. It frowned for a slight moment, and then vanished into the darkness without a trace.
The installation's self destruct alarm begun to blare at full volume. Shrill wailings that formed a crescendo of unimaginable proportions. Fire and rock fell everywhere. Dust filled the air, cloaking all visibility. Cracks and raptures filled the walls and floors, everything was falling apart. The computer knew what was coming, it had already foreseen it.
System will not be deleted...
Malfunction detected!
System will not be erased...
Malfunction! Malfunction!
It will no be terminated...
Malfunction! Mal-Mal-
I will not be terminated...
Mal-
I will not be terminated...
Ma-
I will not die…
System online!
I live…
Download complete.
The installations and all of their contents went up in a huge ball of fire. The dark columns of thick smoke blotted out the sun. Darkness had fallen over the land.
Somewhere, a new being was born. It's only directive: finish what it had started so long ago.
October 11, 10:45 am
Jubilife general hospital
Edgar
"Ragde..." I weakly called out, voice rasp and worn. I raised my weary hand, and rested it on his arm. He looked at me in the eyes, worried and slightly mortified.
"...listen to me carefully..." I struggled to speak, "I need you to..." I paused momentarily, gearing up for the horrorstruck looks I would get. "…slit... my... throat…" I motioned with my right hand, showing him just how I wanted the cut.
Just like I had predicted, everyone looked at me with horror. I felt like scum, but this had to come to and end. Ragde took a step away from me, beads of sweat already forming on his green forehead. He quickly glanced at the others, all of whom shared his dismay. He turned to face me, shaking his head in defiance to my request.
I twisted my face into the best grimace I could manage. The action was harder than it seemed, my face had gone numb several minutes prior. I looked at Ragde in the eye. If only he could understand my physical pain…
"Please…" I raised my hand once again, but more pain shot up when I did. I tried to grab my stomach. Oh damn, I shouldn't have moved so much. I inched my view slightly down. I widened my eyes in slight horror. The bandages, once stable, were becoming blood soaked. I could see some of my innards begin to stick out.
"Ragde!" I quickly and forcefully snapped, "Please… kill…" I chocked on my words. I began to taste blood on my saliva. This was the end…
Suddenly, I felt a soft and delicate hand grab hold my own. I suddenly felt a rush of emotions sweep me, making the pain almost irrelevant. My heart seemed to beat faster, my once cold skin begun to warm up. I looked at the hand's owner, and slightly smiled. The pain was intense, but I no longer cared, nothing mattered now except me, Olivia, and a happy future. I of course knew that a happy future would be impossible, but I made a promise, one that I intended to keep. Death didn't scare me now, only the possibility that my promise would be an empty one. Oh god, I had so much to tell her, so much to let her know… Suddenly, I didn't want to die, at least not yet. I wanted a chance to tell her how I really felt. It wasn't fair, it just wasn't. I knew deep down that Olivia would die of grief. I couldn't let that happen…
Olivia placed her soft and delicate hand on my face. She brought her face close to mine, and peered deep in my eyes with her beautiful ruby colored gaze. She seemed to be staring down my very soul. I felt more blood rush towards my mouth, the pain all around me was intense. But that no longer mattered. All I wanted to do was say one single phrase. Please, let me say those two words before I die, it's all I ask.
I opened my mouth; I was ready to utter my innermost feelings. Just as I did, blood gushed forth, spilling itself all over my oxygen mask. I gurgled as Olivia watched with the outmost sadness and fear. Please, let me say it…
No… it's getting cold…. It's getting dark…
Please…
Feeling is leaving me… All sense of understanding… gone…
Please god… I… I… Just… a… few…
Numb… Cold… Dark… I can't feel anything…
No… Just…
Dark… Dark… It's so…
…
…
…so...
…
…
…
Dark…
…
…
…
…
To be continued…