An old man, dressed in brown, loose-fitting pants, and a long beige coat, waded through one of the many busy Tokyo streets, carrying a bag of groceries with a smile on his face. His wife was waiting for him at home, so he quickened his pace. The old man stared up ahead, determination in his expression, but failed to notice the uneven path; he stumbled with a yelp, and the groceries fell.

His glasses slipped from his face and slid along the sidewalk the moment he landed. With a slight groan of embarrassment, the old man looked up with blurred vision and reached out in front of him for the spectacles. Many people rushed past, too caught up in their own lives to notice his predicament, but the old man continued to look, and the fact that no one managed to step on him or trip over his crouched form surprised him.

Clink.

Oh.

The old man knew exactly what that sound was; instead of stepping on him, they stepped on his only source of sight, which made him feel extremely pathetic considering his background.

He moved toward the sound and grasped the lenses; stumbling to his feet, he brought the specks close to his face, only to inspect the damage with a sigh. "I'll have to somehow make it home without them," he said to himself, and suddenly, the need to return to his wife became overwhelming.

"Watch where you're going, old man," he heard a rude remark when he accidentally stumbled into someone before moving away to the left.

"I apologize," he replied quickly and took a few steps back.

Suddenly, he heard a loud horn and turned his head in confusion, bright lights clouded his already fading vision, and he raised his arms to try and shield himself from the offending light, unaware that he was standing in the middle of the road. Another horn echoed loudly, and the oncoming vehicle stopped abruptly before skidding sidewards and tipped at a slow pace. The old man felt a sharp painful impact against his side when the vehicle crashed into him. Screams erupted as the truck continued to skim further before halting near a cross intersection, causing the motorist to burst through the windshield, eyes wide and lifeless, already dead.

An explosion soon followed from the more substantial part of the truck, drowning out the onlooker's cries of horror; fires began to erupt, and people immediately tried to disperse to safety.

A young girl with shoulder-length brown hair, dressed in a black waistcoat and dark-blue jeans, medium height, with a slim figure, stood on the right side of a road, one mile from the accident. She stared in shock and wondered how many people died from the explosion. Suddenly, she felt a rough pull on her arm, which forced her to turn around; her eyes widened with fear as she fixed her gaze up at the familiar male in front of her.

The male screamed in her face. "Why'd you run out on me, you little bitch!"

The girl frantically shook her head and replied hastily, "I didn't, I swear!" How did he catch up to her this fast? She tried to shove him off, but his grip was firm on her arm, and fingers dug painfully into her skin.

"Lying whore!"

She winced and let out a cry of protest, "Please, stop it, you're hurting me!" She wondered if leaving him this way was the right decision.

"Who fucking cares!" The male laughed hysterically at her cries; no one could hear them due to the sirens, the accident much more critical. "No one is coming to save you!" He hauled her into an alleyway and threw her to the ground, pulling a small handgun from his jacket.

The girl's eyes widened when she saw the weapon, and she immediately climbed to her feet. "No! Please don't!" Tears fell from her face. "Don't! I'm sorry I left, let's talk and-"

Her pleas were cut short when a bullet pierced her skull; blood seeped through the single wound on her head, her eyes greyed, and a tear trickled down one cheek as she was left lying in the alleyway alone.

A small girl ran out of her school gate; she rounded the corner excitedly, eager to get home to her parents. Her house was opposite the school, so she could walk home by herself. She smiled happily when a dog ran to her once she was safely across the road; the dog was a stray, and the girl fed him every day after school. Today, she would pluck up the courage to ask her parents if they could keep him. The dog barked and wagged its tail, tongue hanging out as he sat in front of her. "You must be really hungry today," she said and pulled her lunch box from her bag to open the lid. She pulled the leftover piece of chicken out and threw it. "Fetch boy!"

The dog barked once and chased after it.

The girl giggled at his eagerness before a stricken expression crossed her face when she realized her throw was too far and cried out to the mutt, "No puppy come back!"

The chicken landed in the middle of the road, and the dog, unaware of the danger, began to happily eat the treat. The girl turned her head to the sound of a car and tried once more to get the dog's attention, "Puppy!"

A whimper from the dog was all the girl heard before facing the bloodied canine as the car continued on.

"Okay, see you tomorrow," a man called behind his shoulder and walked out of a medium-sized building, dressed in an all-brown suit. His height was on the shorter side with short combed black hair. Placing his hand in his jacket, he pulled out his phone before looking up ahead and saw a small boy fall in the road. He could hear the possible mother's cries for the child to move, and the man dropped his phone to run to their aid. There was a car heading their way, breaking the speed limit, and the man wondered if he would make it in time. Reaching out his hands, he pushed the child to the pavement.

The mother immediately engulfed her son in a hug, and when she turned to thank her child's savior, she saw the man's body lying in a dysfunctional heap and screamed.

The top half of his head appeared first, and the old man opened his eyes; the first thing he saw was a large black ball. He stepped forward once he could move the rest of his body and observed his new surroundings with confusion, noticing he was the only one in the room. His eyes scanned around the not-so-decorative space; the floors were pinewood, walls an off-colored yellow, and there was nothing in the room except for the black sphere near the very back. He thought it was a small apartment as he looked toward the windows, which led out onto a balcony. It was dark outside, but he could see the illumination of the city lights in the distance, and it caused his mind to flashback to his horrible accident. "I'm alive, but how?" He looked over at the black ball. "Is this the waiting room to heaven?" He thought it was a rather far-fetched analysis even as he said that.

There were two wooden doors on the left wall and one on the far opposite; the old man tried both left doors and found that neither one opened and proceeded to try the far one and pulled on the handle. With a smile, he pushed against it when he heard a click.

A strange noise behind him interrupted the silence, and when he turned to the sound, colorful laser-like beams emanated from the black ball. The old man walked over, curiosity filling his mind, but he soon jumped back in alarm when the lasers began creating a person. The old man watched the person appear; it was another male, lying with his arms wide out beside him. Incredible, he thought as he waited for the person to fully form.

The guy startled into awareness and quickly sat up, fear evident in his eyes as he took in his new location.

The older man suspected he came into this room the same way and found the possibility absurd until his hand came to his chest and felt his heart hammering against it. "Hello," he finally said to the new arrival with a soft tone.

The guy realized there was someone else with him and looked to the one speaking; his eyes widened before he jumped to his feet. "You!"

The old man blinked.

"Yeah, it was you," the guy continued and shouted, "what the hell were you doing in the middle of the road!" With a gasp, he fell silent and slumped. The old man ignored the other's fetal position and pondered the guy's words. "Oh my god," the guy whined, causing the old man to look up. "I'm dead, aren't I?"

The old man shook his head in response. "I don't know for sure…"

The guy shuddered when he thought of what his words meant. "My truck…it overturned, then everything went dark."

The old man tilted his head and finally made the connection. "You were the driver of the vehicle that hit me."

The guy frowned and became defensive. "Well, you shouldn't have been in the road like that!" He sighed. "I tried to stop, ya know."

Placing a hand on the guy's shoulder, the older male smiled. "My heart is beating."

The guy looked up with a hopeful glint in his eyes. "Yeh?" He felt his chest rise and fall, followed by the steady beat of his heart. "You're right, holy crap, we are alive, but how? I mean, if we aren't dead, then how did we get here?"

The old man turned and pointed at the black ball, which seemed idle once again. "You appeared from that ball, it started like a formation of colors before it formed your body. I must have gotten here the same way."

The guy walked over to the ball and rapped his knuckles against it. "For real?" The ball felt solid to touch, almost like it was made from obsidian. "I thought things like this only existed in sci-fi movies." He jumped back when a colorful laser shot from the ball to form another person; he stiffened as he and the old man gaped with a mixture of shock and fascination when the form of a young-looking woman materialized, her head drizzled blood briefly before it disappeared completely. "No fucking way," the guy stuttered.

She bolted up in panic and staggered backward, fearing her attacker was still with her.

"It's all right, Miss," the old man spoke first.

She became less afraid when she looked around, and her expression changed to confusion. This isn't the alleyway, she thought and immediately started to panic again for a whole different reason. "I'm alive." She looked at the two people with her for answers. "How?"

The younger of the two males shrugged, "It's going to sound crazy," he said and pointed to the black ball; she followed his finger. "We all came from that."

The girl frowned skeptically and wondered if they were trying to trick her until she heard him speak again.

"I know what you're thinking, we didn't physically come from inside, it was more like – erm, jeez, help me out here, old man."

"A transfer," the old man replied with a smile.

The guy clicked his fingers. "Yeah! That'll work, transfer is the perfect example." He sighed and leaned against it. "Maybe it's some kind of innovative technology that saves people or something. I did just die, or is the term almost die, more accurate?" The guy stepped away and placed his palm on top of the ball.

The girl looked up in surprise. "What are you saying?"

The old man tapped his chin as he hovered over the sphere and said, "The way it brought us back sure wasn't normal."

She wrapped her arms around her legs and pulled them to her chest. "How did it bring us back exactly?" As if to answer her question, the ball started the process again, and this time, with four paws.

The guy gulped. "Just – like – that."

The girl was startled when the transfer stopped to reveal a brown and white mutt. "It's – it's a dog."

The guy tilted his head. "Wow, so far, it's only produced people; I wonder why a dog this time."

She shifted forward to pet it. "Do you think it got run over?"

He shrugged. "Sure, probably. But how many dogs get run over on a daily."

She looked up at him in confusion. "Your point?"

He tutted as he rapped his knuckles against the ball again. "I'm saying, this thing is kinda specific about who it brings back. What do you think, old man?"

"It's certainly a good theory," the elder replied before the dog started to bark in excitement.

The guy sighed in annoyance. "It probably doesn't understand a single thing that just happened…lucky bastard."

The old man turned toward the wall on the left and pointed. "I tried the doors, but they wouldn't open."

The two others shifted their attention, and the guy turned around to nod in the direction of the window. "What about them?"

The old man shook his head. "I haven't tried yet; however, the door over there leads to a hallway."

The guy stretched his arms up and scratched his head. "Do you think anyone else is coming?"

The three turned back to the ball.

"Maybe it finally stopped," the girl commented as she pet the dog once more.

There was a sigh from the old man before he spoke. "I need to find a way home to my wife, she's waiting for me to bring back dinner, she must be worried sick."

The girl smiled. "How long have you been married, sir?"

There was a far-off look in his eyes before he replied, "Thirty years. It's actually the day of our anniversary."

She tipped her head in sadness. "Oh."

"I was supposed to deliver a truckload of C02 canisters, that obviously ain't gonna happen now," the guy spoke with a sour face and wondered what his boss would think when he found out.

Just then, another person started to appear. "It's happening again," the guy said.

They watched in amazement as the ball formed the body of a man, and he appeared standing with his arms crossed in front of him. He looked around and saw that people were staring at him. "Am I alive?" he asked. "Is this a hospital?" He started to panic.

The old man stepped forward to take the lead. "All we know was that black ball was responsible for bringing you here. All of us," he knelt in front of the man, "are supposed to be dead."

A small gasp escaped the man's lips before he replied, "I'm positive I was just hit by a car, so I suppose that would make sense."

The guy grunted and grasped his head. "Not you too, damn, do you think we were all in the same accident?"

The girl shook her head. "I-"

The people shifted their attention to the ball once more, causing the guy to groan in dismay. "Just how many people died today!" The transfer completed, leaving a boy lying on his back, arms at his sides. "And he's young too, dammit."

"Is he all right?" asked the old man before walking over.

The dog padded over to the boy to lick his face, causing the boy's eyes to snap open, his face was fearful, and his breathing became heavy as he sat up quickly to stare at those who were surrounding him, looking at him with what he assumed was sympathy. Am I dead? His eyes scan his surroundings. What is this place? He started to feel slightly insecure due to the unfamiliar atmosphere and brought his knees up to his chest for some sort of comfort. It was then he felt his heartbeat. I'm alive? The boy watched the elder kneel in front of him to smile kindly.

"Are you okay?" the man beside his right asked.

The boy simply stared at him. I just fucking jumped off my school roof; I should be dead. He didn't reply, just continued to stare, willing them to leave him be.

"Don't worry," the younger of the three men spoke. "We're in the same situation as you, we don't know why we're here or what's going on, but the black ball was responsible, that's all we know." The boy looked at the round object and frowned. "And it seems like everyone who was brought here were supposed to die."

The girl turned sharply toward him, a frown on her face. "You can't just blurt out things like that! He's just a kid!"

"But it's true!"

The boy stood up, and they watched him walk toward the ball. What gave it the right to decide what my fate should be? It should have been my decision. "Why?" he asked aloud.

"We don't know why we were all saved, but I am very grateful," said the old man.

"Me too," the guy agreed.

"Well," the man started. "Until we figure that out, let's try and get some fresh air."

The boy was the first to try and open the latch on the balcony windows only to discover them unreachable. His eyes grew wide, and he started to panic once more. Even though he faced away from them, he was sure they could see his fearful expression, so he quickly tried to mask it.

"Are they locked?" the girl asked as she stepped beside him and attempted the same thing, and to her horror, her hand didn't even reach the latch. "Oh my god, we're really trapped."

"What about the hallway," the guy said as he turned to the old man. "Didn't you say something about a hallway? Maybe there's an exit out there."

They watched the guy leave the room and waited….

"Dammit!"

They all slumped in defeat.

The boy's hands curled into fists. What the hell is going on?

Returning to the group, the guy sat down with a sigh. "At least that thing stopped producing people."

"Perhaps we should introduce ourselves; we'll start with our names, what we do for a living, and then – our accidents."

I wish they would mind their own damn business, the boy thought with a frown.

"Since I appear to be the oldest, I shall go first," the old man offered.

The boy slid down the window and pulled his legs to his chest. I should be dead, I – I wanted to die.

"My name is Jiro Sugihara, I'm sixty-five, and retired."

The boy snorted quietly. Well, we all figured that out, gramps.

"I'm actually ex-military, and as for my possible death, I was hit by a truck." Jiro turned and gestured to the guy.

"Ryo Ashi, I'm thirty-one. I'm a delivery driver, and I died when my truck tipped over; unfortunately, it happened to be the same truck that hit Sugihara."

Jiro bowed his head. "I am sorry, it was my fault, my glasses got broken, and I couldn't see where I was walking, I must have stumbled into the road. But the odd part is that now, I can see completely fine without them."

Ryo blinked in confusion for a moment. "Seriously? How strange." He then waved a hand dismissively. "And don't worry about it, we're alive, right?"

Jiro nodded with a smile and turned to the girl.

"My name is Yoko Shin, I'm eighteen. I've just started my first year at college, I'm also a part-time waitress. I died because my boyfriend shot me."

Ryo and Jiro gasped in horror. "Geez, some boyfriend. I sure hope that's ex-boyfriend now," Ryo said with a hint of humor.

Yoko nodded. "I was leaving him anyway, that's why he shot me."

The man took the nearing silence as his cue. "My name is Sora Tadashi, I'm forty-two. I help troubled kids at a community center."

The boy narrowed his eyes. I'll bet he's a pedophile. As long as he stays away from me…. I just had to be the fucking youngest here!

"I was run over by a car, saving a child who had fallen into the road."

"Such a noble act of kindness," Jiro complimented.

Sora bowed. "Thank you."

Yeah right.

Jiro turned to the last of their group. "And what about you, young man?"

The boy stared at them and wondered if they should even be worried about introductions. All he wanted was to be left alone, but they continued to stare at him, so with a heavy sigh and a lot of reluctance, he said, "Joichiro Nishi, eighth grade, fourteen."

"How'd you die?" Ryo asked bluntly.

Yoko frowned at Ryo and smacked him. "Are you kidding me," she said with annoyance.

Ryo winced. "I was only asking."

Nishi glared at him. I wonder if I should just tell him, that would shut his big mouth, he thought bitterly, but he didn't want these people to know anything about him, so he lied. "I fell."

The room fell into silence.

Sora knelt beside Nishi and placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, and said, "Don't worry, everything will be okay, you're safe now."

Nishi flinched and swatted the hand away harshly. "Don't touch me."

Sora backed off in surprise. "I – apologize."

Yoko let out a sigh. "What shall we do, we're trapped, and I don't think there's any food or water here." She briefly wondered why the ball brought people back to life if they were just going to starve. "This feels like a dream. Like I'm going to wake up at any moment."

Suddenly, a loud tune started to play, and the group noticed it came from the very object responsible for their survival. They stared in surprise; it was the first time the ball had done anything except form people.

"Isn't that song from an old exercise commercial?" Jiro asked.

Ryo chuckled, "Yeah, but it sounds way creepier coming from this then it did on tv."

"Look," Yoko said suddenly. "Something is appearing."

"What's it saying, are we finally going to know what happened to us?"

They stood closer, gathering in a group, all except for Nishi, who remained at a distance, yet close enough to see the ball, eyes demanding the same explanation.

Ryo began to read out the words as they appeared in dark green, obscure lettering. The obscurity was that some of the letters appeared backward, or perhaps as numbers. "Your previous lives are now over, what you do with your new lives is for me to decide, so there you have it?"

And just like that, Nishi's calm persona broke. "What the fuck is that supposed to mean?" He moved closer as Ryo continued to read.

"Please go out and kill these aliens." They watched the screen change to form another set of details. "The goblins?" An image appeared in creature form; it was grey with long arms, its mouth open to show sharp teeth.

"Kill?" Yoko stuttered.

Alien: The goblins.

Traits: Smelly, short.

Likes: Butterflies.

Phrases: You dinner now.

"It can't be serious, right?" Ryo exclaimed loudly while the rest stared in confusion. Suddenly, three sides of the ball burst open, and the change of appearance in the sphere startled them even more. The group took a few tentative steps forward and began to regard its content. One side of the ball appeared to hold various strange-looking guns; however, the second and third contained dark-grey cases. "I think it's serious." Ryo reached a hand for a weapon, causing Jiro to peer over his shoulder and chuckle.

"I was in the army for twenty years and never have I seen such a strange assortment of guns before, it's almost like they're made for a child to play with."

Nishi ignored them; he wasn't even focused on the ball's contents; his attention was on the form tucked inside it. Yoko stopped examining the weaponry long enough to offer concern, and Nishi glanced her way for a brief moment before returning his gaze to the strange sight. She probably thinks I'm shitting myself right now, he thought in slight amusement. "Are you okay?" he heard her ask and saw her approach. Unbelievable. Nishi felt her eyes on him as he knelt down with a thoughtful frown. Is this real? He reached a hand toward the still form. Nishi felt the girl's presence behind him now, and her sudden gasp almost made him jump.

"There's a person in there!" she cried in shock, causing the others to turn and slowly gather around to see for themselves.

"Holy shit," Ryo gasped. "What the hell is that? Is it alive?"

Nishi frowned and tensed at the sudden crowded feeling, especially from the man stood to his left, and suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder.

"This may be the reason the ball is communicating with us," Sora said.

Nishi gritted his teeth, and just before he was about to shove the man away, Sora removed his hand and reached for one of the cases.

"I think these are for us."

Nishi sighed when the others also backed off in favor of the new interest as Sora began to pull them out and pass them around.

"This is getting freakier by the minute," Ryo commented as they took the time to examine the case's contents; he tilted his head and pulled out an all-black suit. "Are these supposed to be suits?" He regarded it with disgust.

Yoko hummed, "The ball told us to kill aliens right, so maybe this suit is some kind of protection."

Nishi regarded his suit carefully; he didn't like the appeal any more than the rest of the group; however, he felt the suit was an essential part of what was happening; otherwise, his name wouldn't be written there.

"It sort of seems like these were designed specifically for us," Jiro commented as he stood up with the suit for a full-length view. "It's exactly my height and build."

Ryo laughed as he pulled out another case. "There's even one for the dog."

Sora gave a smile and lifted up his own suit. "So shall we put them on?" He looked to the rest of them as though relying on their decision.

Jiro nodded and addressed them like they were his troops. "We should put on the suit, at least until we figure out what's happening and how real the situation really is."

Yoko sighed but nodded. "You're right, I mean if we consider everything that's happened so far; the guns, the suits, coming back from the dead," she shivered at the mention of her death, "why should we doubt anything else."

Sora pointed to the door leading to the hallway. "Let's take turns to change; if we are going to face aliens, we might not be confined to the room for much longer."

Ryo gave a snort. "The doors are locked man, how are we supposed to fight when we couldn't even touch the handles on the windows," he replied.

Nishi, who had been quiet until now, spoke with a slight curl of his lips. "Unless one of us is the alien, and we just don't know it." He watched the group pale considerably at his comment. Idiots. Nishi rolled his eyes and sighed. "We'll probably be transferred somewhere else the same way we got in here."

Ryo huffed and slightly pouted. "Not cool, man, so not cool."

Nishi shrugged and tucked his hands in his pockets. "You're the one who believed it; it was a joke. But he who believes it might possibly be one." The boy couldn't help but grin, even though he questioned the possibility.

Ryo shuddered and bundled his suit close to his chest. "Shut up, stop saying that." He walked to the doorway quickly and said, "I'm going first."

While waiting for his turn, Nishi finally examined the weapons more closely; they were unlike anything he used to imagine when seeing a real gun up close. Definitely not ordinary guns. He picked out the smallest one; it was light and easy to manage, but the style was bulky. They were specially designed, Nishi guessed, but how did they work? He didn't think the ball was going to tell them, and its vague description pissed him off. Luckily, the people with him were much smarter than Nishi gave them credit for, and like himself, they could adapt quickly. He imagined how some of the students from his class would react, and he smiled in amusement.

Ryo came back into the room, fully clad in the leather-like suit, skin-tight, and hugging to his body's shape. An all-black design except for what looked like silver caps attaching to the limbs and midsection. "I literally had to take off every single piece of clothing, it's damn near tight as hell."

Yoko tensed and gulped as she said, "Um, every piece of clothing?" She almost felt uncomfortable knowing she was the only female.

"Yeah, but it's oddly comfortable once it's on."

Jiro turned to Nishi. "Why don't you go next lad," he told him.

Nishi didn't reply but made a point to give Sora a dark glare before heading to the hallway with his suit.

Sora hunched his shoulders in response and turned to the others. "I get the feeling that kid doesn't like me much," he said sadly, although it didn't surprise him; he was used to dealing with teens who were untrusting.

"He's the silent type," Jiro defended with a smile.

Nishi came back wearing the suit, but his clothes covered it.

Once the entire group finished changing, they prepared themselves for the next stage and grabbed a weapon of their preference, noting a holster attached to the right pant leg. The smaller gun fitted perfectly within and allowed them to take advantage of the larger ones that seemed to be shotgun style. There was a small device inside the ball also, and Nishi was the first to retrieve it, turning it over in his hands. It doesn't look like a weapon, but it must be useful if it's part of the selection. The rest of the group soon followed his example.

"It looks like a GPS or something," Sora said.

"You might actually be right," Nishi replied.

Sora blinked in surprise; it was the first time Nishi had spoken to him directly.

Ryo lifted the large gun to his chest. "Is that everything?"

Yoko turned to him and shoved the GPS inside her jacket; she had followed Nishi's example and wore her regular clothes over her suit. "I think so," she replied.

"So, what now?"

47