-Year 2050, Tokyo, Japan-
The world has been in crisis since the dragon and the giant fell from the sky, the world order was shaken, with the giant crumbling to dust, and the dragon shot down by a jet.
It was thought to be all over until the White Chlorination Syndrome started to infect people. The disease was unstoppable so a wall was erected to separate the Shinjuku Region from the rest of Japan, the disease had two outcomes, turn into a pillar of salt or become a monster of the "Legion" led by the "Red Eyes".
The combined power of the JSDF and the US Army failed to stop the legion so the nuclear option was used, the Shinjuku Region was destroyed along with the "Legion" and the "Red Eyes", but the explosion only served to spread the "WCS" for the rest of the world.
"Red Eyes" survived the blast.
Research of the corpse of the dragon proved the theory of the existence of other worlds, and along with it was found a particle that does not belong to this world called MASO.
The giant's MASO was the cause of the "WCS", this particle could not be destroyed by any physical mean but thanks to MASO, the technology advanced. It was also discovered that MASO broke the law of conservation of mass, generating infinity energy, this was called "MAGIC".
To combat "WCS" the Project Gestalt was created, the process of separating an individual's body and soul into two beings the Gestalt, a soul without body, and the Replicant, a body without a soul.
Several crusades were held against the "Legion" and the "Red Eyes" using child soldiers empowered by the drug "Luciferase" and commanded by the organization "Hamelin".
Hamelin Crusaders fought the Legion all over the world, destabilizing economies and making the gap between rich and poor increase, large slums expanded across the world.
"Red Eyes" was killed in Jerusalem in the 13th Crusade, with the death of its leader the "Legion" was disorganized and exterminated but the WCS still spreaded around the world.
The Project Gestalt gained even more strength, with people around the globe having their souls and bodies separated to escape the WCS, Gestalts are put to sleep, and Replicants are made immune to WCS and given minimal awareness to be able to follow orders from the androids created by humans.
The Replicants goal is to collect the giant's MASO scattered across the world and send it back to where it came from.
But not everyone trusts the Project Gestalt, some people prefer to survive on their own, one of these people is called Alan.
-Streets of Tokyo-
Another day surviving in this city, I thought as I walked back to my apartment, it was daytime but the sunlight was barely passing through the dark clouds in the sky in what was left of Tokyo.
I managed to find food in an abandoned grocery store, I don't know how long I can live like this, sometimes I find myself thinking if I should participate in this Project Gestalt.
But I don't trust the Hamelin Organization and the Government after everything that happened, surrounding the infected with the wall, then dropping a bomb on them and now wanting volunteers for a secret project.
Not to mention of course the disappearances of children who were taken to the Organization with promises of food and shelter, they were never seen again.
Passing by a store I looked at my reflection in the glass, messy black hair, brown eyes, skin a little pale from the lack of sun, wearing a gray coat, dark jeans and black boots, a backpack on my back and a metal baseball bat in my hand.
As I continued on my way I looked at the sky and saw white flakes falling and covering the ground of the city, this is what happened to the people infected by WCS.
They became pillars of salt and were carried away by the wind, enough salt to cover a city, I heard some rumors that infected people could hear the voice of God giving them a choice, become a pillar of salt or join the legion.
Maybe whoever said that was crazy, but if it's true… I'd rather not think about it.
On my way, I couldn't shake the feeling of being followed, but when I looked back there was no one there.
After some time, I arrived at my apartment, it wasn't exactly mine, but I don't think the previous owner would mind. After all, he was spread across the city streets, wiping my boots on the carpet, I entered the apartment.
I closed the door behind me, turned on the lights and I looked around, in the hallway, there are frames with paintings I've never seen before, a white flower, a cathedral, and what looks like a dragon.
In the living room, a table with a red sofa behind it, a brown shelf with a TV turned off, and to the left, a bookshelf. In the way, I glanced at the titles.
"Multiverse Theory, Parallel Timelines and Their Ramifications by Acco..." The rest of the author's name was illegible.
"All Discoveries About White Chlorination Syndrome."
"The Red Dragon and the Giant."
"The Story of Midgard Part 1 Intoners."
I never stopped to read these books and I think that I never will, the only book that interested me was the one on the table.
It was a red book with golden drawings that formed a maze shape, on the cover it had a circular face, also golden, with "eyes" making a perfect circle with "scratches" in the "eyes" to separate the eyelids, between the eyes a small "nose" and below it, a square "mouth", the book was 30 cm long and 23 cm wide.
I found this book being thrown away by the soldiers of the Hamelin Organization along with other books with faces, they were in a pile in the middle of the city and the soldiers were going to burn them with flamethrowers, I managed to save the one that was furthest from the pile, the soldiers called them failures.
This book gave me a bad feeling, it was like it was looking at me, following me with its "eyes" . Sometimes it seemed to have moved a few inches to the side, but I dismissed it as paranoia due to isolation.
Going to the kitchen I emptied my backpack on the table, I got mostly canned food, beef, sausage, millet, peas, instant food, and bottled water, a lot of wate.
I didn't require any of that at the moment, I was well stocked with water and food, but it never hurts to have more. I made some instant noodles, after eating it, I went to sleep in my room.
While sleeping I had a strange dream. I was walking through a destroyed city while talking to a floating box, but before the dream could continue I was woken up by my apartment door opening and the sound of voices.
"Are you sure about that, what if he's still here?"
"Don't worry, it's going to be okay, we'll get the food and leave before anyone knows."
"I don't know. What if he gets mad?"
I got up and grabed the baseball bat beside my bed, going to the door and opening it slowly; I walked along the wall and approached the living room, the voices getting louder.
"Are you sure he lives here?"
"Yes, I followed him for quite some time."
So they were the ones following me. I approached the corner of the wall and ran into the room with the bat ready to swing at someone's head.
"You picked the wrong house fool!"
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
I stopped as soon as I heard the screams, they weren't thieves, they were just two children, a boy, and a girl, the boy must be thirteen years old and the girl must be about nine, both had white hair and were dressed in old warm clothes; the girl was hiding behind the boy as he stood in front of her protectively.
"Please sir don't hurt us, we were just looking for food, we haven't eaten for days. When we saw that someone still lived in the city we thought we could get something to eat."
The girl nodded at everything the boy said, I was tempted to send them away, with the world in this situation it was every man for himself, but after looking at the condition they were in I didn't dared to do it.
"Sit at the kitchen table. I'll prepare something for you."
They looked at me in surprise but did as I said.
I put some eggs and meat to fry, while working on the food I asked him "So what do you guys do here? In the city, I mean."
"Our parents are no longer here." The boy said in a sad voice, the girl was quiet; I think she is not one to talk much.
"I'm very sorry. Now tell me how did you guys know I lived here?" I asked.
"We saw you a few times walking the streets and entering stores, we decided to stay out of your way, we didn't know if you were friend or foe so we always went in the opposite direction of yours, but we ended up running out of food, we were out of options."
"I see, by the way. What are you two called? My name is Alan."
"My name is Nier and this is my sister, Yonah." Nier said as he pointed at Yonah.
"Nice to meet you." Yonah said.
"A Pleasure." I replied, as I picked up the food and placed it on two plates.
"Do you two have somewhere to go?" I asked as I set the dishes on the table.
"No, we're just trying to survive." Nier replied as he looked at his plate.
I took a deep breath, thinking about what I was about to do, I'm a bit greedy, I didn't want to share my resources with anyone but at the same time I couldn't leave two children on the streets
"I have a proposal for you two. How about you live here with me?"
"Seriously?" They looked at me with disbelief.
"Yes." I replied with a smile, hiding my nervousness. I'm not a social person and I like to stay out of trouble. This simple decision took a monumental effort.
"Thank you!" They both said as Yonah ran and hugged my leg, I shivered inside, my anxiety beating hard.
"Do you have any more questions?" I said as I escaped the hug.
"Can I eat more food?" Yonah asked.
"Of course," I replied.
At that moment I was uncomfortable, but little did I know that as time went on I would find myself enjoying their presence, and I would also find myself missing them after what happened that day.
END OF THE CHAPTER
