It was precisely 72 hours before the end of the world. But
nobody knew this; neither the rich folks like Devon, nor the poor nobodies like
Eric.
Eric Tendo found himself in a dreamlike state, observing
with unease the strange atmosphere. He felt like something was awfully wrong
but he couldn't tell what it was.
On this particular day everything seemed to spell doom. The
wind carried a sharp chill, though it was supposed to be summer. Grey clouds
sagged overhead like bloated corpses, refusing to rain. The air smelled of
rusted metal mixed with something sour.
Had something decayed around him? Eric wondered, then
shrugged. He couldn't tell anymore. Neither did he care. As with other days, on
this day he felt like his world had ended years ago. He lived in despair.
All around him people
walked with hunched shoulders and eyes glued to their screens, oblivious to the
subtle wrongness creeping into the atmosphere.
Eric Tendo hunched over a mop in the back alley of NovaMart,
scrubbing vomit from the concrete while passers-by gagged or jeered. His shirt
was torn under the arms, his sneakers eaten away by grime, and he hadn't eaten
in twenty-four hours. Again. A child tossed a crumpled chip bag at him and
laughed. The mother didn't even blink.
"Trash cleans trash," a familiar voice sneered.
Eric didn't look up. It was Devon, the shift manager. The
guy hated him. Everyone did.
"Don't forget to scrub under the bin, hero," Devon spat the
last word like acid. "You missed a spot yesterday."
Eric didn't respond. He never did. What would be the point?
He was a nobody; abandoned by family, ridiculed at school,
and fired from jobs for things he didn't do. Rumours stuck to him like a
disease. At twenty-two, he merely existed, not lived. Nobody spared him even a
glance. But something else was watching.
Eric returned to his rundown room. He threw himself, sitting
onto his bed, which was just a mattress on the floor in a forgotten tenement
block. He yearned for something to eat after a long day. He only had stale
bread. He sighed.
Eric had barely settled when something unreal happened. It
no longer felt like a dream. Everything about it seemed more than reality.
The world was literally shaking. It came as a subtle
vibration passing through the ground. It grew so unnerving that dogs howled and
lights flickered. The air tasted like blood.
Then came the voice, very strange and almost mechanical.
"[SYSTEM INITIALIZATION COMPLETE.]"
"[Eric Tendo identified. Synchronizing consciousness...
Please remain still.]"
Eric dropped the plastic bag of stale bread he was holding,
and froze.
"What the—who's there?" His voice trembled. No answer came
from the hallway. He rose and went to take a look outside on the hallway, but
there was no one either. No one had followed him.
Then the same voice jolted him once again.
"[Welcome, Host. You
have been selected as one of the Chosen for the Era of Reckoning.]"
"[Time Remaining Until Global Collapse: 72 Hours.]"
"Global Collapse?" Eric tensed. His mind started running
wild. "Is the apocalypse here?"
Eric was perturbed. A very vivid screen had opened right in
his field of view. His pulse raced as he saw words floating before him. He
blinked hard, trying to shake the hallucination, but the words burned in his
vision; etched into his brain.
"Floating text!" he wondered, "Impossible!"
But the words kept appearing, cold and unrelenting.
"[Initializing Unique
System: The Catalyst.]"
"[Primary Directive: Survive. Adapt. Ascend.]"
"Is this a joke?" he whispered. "Is this some kind of
messed-up dream?" he unconsciously asked.
The words typed themselves in response.
"[Negative. This is reality. Would you like to begin
the Tutorial? Y/N]"
He realized just then that he had actually received a
system. He would love to know more about it.
Eric staggered back, heart pounding. The lightbulb above him
buzzed violently before bursting, showering glass in every direction. A neighbour
screamed two doors down. Sirens howled outside.
He hit Y—not on a keyboard, but in his mind. He did so just
instinctively. And the system replied.
"[Tutorial Initiated.]"
"[You are now bound to the Catalyst System. All actions will
be recorded. All consequences are real.]"
A second later the screen changed to a new look, followed by
a ding sound popping.
"[QUEST UNLOCKED: THE AWAKENING]"
"The world as you know it is ending. Chaos will descend.
Humanity will fracture. You have 72 hours to prepare before the Reckoning
begins."
Only seventy two hours? What could a person possibly do to
avert disaster or prepare for the indescribable chaos so mentioned.
"What am I to do in preparation before this Reckoning?" he
asked the system. It replied instantly.
"OBJECTIVE: Gain 1 Ability. Find Shelter. Trust No One."
Eric's eyes widened as a status panel slid into view:
Name: Eric Tendo
Level: 0
Health: 100/100
Mental Stability: 72%
Abilities: None
Inventory: None
Reputation: -33 (Loathed)
Alignment: Unknown
Fate Rating: NULL
This too, shifted, and a new set of writings appeared.
"[New Trait Unlocked: Forgotten One]"
"You were overlooked, abused and ignored. But the shadows remember.
Your suffering has awakened the eyes beneath the veil."
"Passive Effect: +50% Resistance to Psychological Attacks"
"Hidden Effect: ??? Unknown."
Eric clutched his chest as pain tore through his body. It
felt like his bones were being carved from the inside out. He collapsed.
Then the vision came. He saw cities burning, oceans boiling,
people melting in beams of ultraviolet fire, and lightning that danced
sideways. He saw shadows crawling out of mirrors. More shocking he saw the moon…
bleeding!
Then a colossal voice echoed across the sky:
"It begins."
Eric jolted awake, gasping for air. All this had been a
dream, or so he thought.
Slowly, he rose up and checked the window. The moon outside
was full. But it was… flickering, just like a faulty light.
Meanwhile...Thousands of miles away, in a secret underground
facility buried deep beneath Antarctica, a row of twelve stasis chambers
cracked open. Cryogenic mist billowed out. Scientists screamed and alarms
blared.
Then majestically, a tall, silver-skinned humanoid with
empty eyes stepped onto the floor.
"Subject Zero… is awake," he thundered.
Back in Eric's room, his mind now fully awake, he realized
he was not dreaming at all. Before he could handle his emotions, a sudden alarm
rang in his mind as the system pinged.
"[Warning: Anomalous Entity Detected in Vicinity.]"
"[Threat Level: ???] Unknown."
"[Initiating Emergency Tutorial: How to Hide From
Predators.]"
"What is this Entity?" Eric wondered, alarmed. He turned
slowly toward the hallway.
Sure enough, something had followed him home, and it wasn't
human.