We were all on edge as the tall building we’d been trying to reach finally came into view through the smog. It was an older structure, large and 12 stories tall. The sides almost looked like a waffle, with perfectly symmetrical black cube windows slightly sticking out of the building. Broken glass littered the ground, slightly crunching as we got closer. It was hard to dodge with the smog resting at our feet, draping us in shrouds up to the knee. It was like the smoke was constantly drifting down and slowly piling up, getting more dense.
Greater Observation was still working, guiding my steps. I kept pretty close to the building as we turned a corner towards the entrance.
Ritesh looked uneasy as the sound echoed slightly around us. He was fidgeting with his antlers, like he was still remembering they were there.
“I really need to get thicker boots. I don’t want a piece of glass to go through these Jordans. They’re worth quite a lot, you know. I’ll be eating like a king when we’re fighting rats for foo-”.
He didn’t finish his sentence, as his foot made contact with something solid on the ground, sending it bouncing forward a few steps in front of him. It sounded dense, but there was a squish of some kind of liquid that faded as he swore, raising his leg to check the damage.
We all stopped as we noticed the blood now staining his shoes and pant leg. It was thick and dark, like he’d kicked a balloon of red paint. I swore under my breath, rapidly scanning the ground as Ritesh tried to control himself, his breath heaving and his eyes wide as he stared in front of him.
“W-what the fuck is that?” He said, his voice shaking.
I walked towards him, immediately on-guard. I only had 15/50 energy left, but I would use it if we didn’t have a choice. I scanned the ground with Greater Observation clearing away most of the smog from my view. I found what Riteh kicked a few seconds later.
Immediately, I could feel my fight or flight response flooding my tired body with adrenaline, as I processed the small, pink body part I was looking at. It was like we had come across the remnants of a wild animal’s meal. I realized it was a stomach, accompanied by a few broken bones nearby.
They were too big and familiar to be the remains of an animal.
The parts were on top of torn strips of fabric, like someone had thrown a hoodie or t-shirt through an industrial paper shredder.
I lost control of my stomach as I made out the now-separated embroidered UCLA logo of the garment, a large tear from some sort of sharp, jagged attack cutting through the LA letters. I dropped to the ground, fists pushing into the soil and grass.
Hot tears streamed down my cheeks as I tried to throw up quietly (and failed). Ritesh was gagging as I heard Maria whisper, “Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name…” continuing the prayer as I felt Zahra’s warm hand gently rest between my shoulder blades as I heaved.
There was no decency. No respect. No way for anyone to know what had happened, to honour or grieve the person who was dead.
No. Not dead. Murdered. For no goddamn reason.
How many people died like this? Separated from their families or friends, torn apart and desecrated by some monster?
For what? The slim chance someone on Earth would get enough power to stop the Void? What was the point if everyone else on Earth was dead?
It didn’t matter what any of us wanted. Whatever Graxis decided seemed to happen, from initiating the System Integration to screwing us over with this hellish difficulty.
There was no government left to help us. The destruction and chaos happened so quickly, sabotaging most technology and leaving us in the dark about what was happening to the world.
Hell, I didn’t know what was happening in Santa Monica, nevermind a different Domain.
I wiped the spittle from my lips as my abdominal muscles finally relaxed, having spewed the half-digested contents of my breakfast.
Damn. Sayde worked hard to make that.
I looked up as Zahra gently patted my back, a swirl of emotions on her face. She was hyper vigilant, eyes constantly flickering around, checking our surroundings in front of Bunche Hall. She looked back to me, a sigh of relief loosening the tension in her jaw as I stood up.
“You okay, Levi?” She asked, the warmth from her hand lingering on my back.
“I’ll be fine. I’m sorry for making you worry.”
“Don’t. I figure we’re just going tit-for-tat when it comes to saving each other, anyway.” She kept her tone soft, her voice melting away the heavy pressure on my chest. Her eyes scanned mine, and I couldn’t help the side of my lip twitching into a small smile.
“I feel like you’ve saved me a lot more than I’ve saved you though.”
“Really? I haven’t been keeping track. Besides the cart, the fire goblin, basically an entire evil forest, and of course whatever's coming up.” She teased.
Trust me, you don’t have to remind me.
The thought sobered me up, remembering how close we both had been to dying. We couldn’t take risks without planning ahead better.
I looked at her, the resolved focus on my face changing the once jokey atmosphere between us into a much more serious one.
“As much as I appreciate how kick-ass your skills and class are, we need to be more careful. I know it's unlikely for you to get hit, and even less likely for you to get hurt with your abilities. That doesn’t mean you can go off by yourself, especially when we’re out as a team. I… don’t want to lose you, so prioritize being safe, okay?”
My voice shook slightly as I said the last part, pleading for her to hear me.
Zahra nodded slowly as she clenched her jaw, her eyes locked with the spot on the ground where I had been.
It was unusual for her to take so long to respond.
“I will, Levi. I know I’m not invincible. Neither of us are. It's so… exhilarating and terrifying, at the same time, you know? All this new power… and I have my leg back. I can move better than I could before. It’s just so confusing. I guess I’m just glad we can team up to fight Graxis or the monsters or whatever is going on. I don’t think I’d be able to keep going if we had to fight against each other. I never watched Squid Game, it's too sad.”
I had sorta watched the T.V show, where debt-ladden participants volunteer in a series of games, where the eventual winner has their debts cleared, and the losers die. It was hard for me to watch shows with subtitles, and the English dub was kind of cringey at best. But the reference got me thinking.
If Earth was ‘out in the boonies’ as Art had put it, Graxis was probably desperate for a solution. The Void must be a major problem for them, and maybe the entire Universe as a whole.
Desperate people take risks. They use other people and they don’t care if it hurts them. The Graxis Institute obviously didn’t care about the destruction of our planet. We were just another means to an end, perpetrated and observed by humanity's final abuser.
The uncertainty was like a roiling ocean in my stomach, the anxiety filling the space where my breakfast had once been.
I shook it off as best I could, responding to Zahra.
“We’ll stick together, survive, and find a way to kick Graxis back to whatever rock they came from. We owe it to everyone who's died to survive for as long as we can, and make them pay.” I said, my voice shaking slightly from my anger. We started moving back to the group, who had huddled by one of the entrances to the hall.
“Sounds good to me. We also have to find our families, wherever they are.” Zahra said, pulling her map up to briefly check the street and larger building.
She was too distracted to notice my quietness. I wasn’t sure if my family would want to see me, even with the world ending around us. However, the question of if they wanted to see me was easier to ask compared to whether or not they were alive, at all.
We joined the others in front of Bunche Hall. Ritesh was taking slow, deep breaths as Maria guided him, helping the man regulate. Christian was a few feet away, trying to peek inside the cracked and dusty windows into the building. He had a long, thick rope wrapped around his right arm, the tail end magically floating in the air and swaying from side to side, like a snake distracted by the sound of a flute.
Ritesh took in a final breath as he saw us approaching. He had taken off his jersey, revealing the massive pit stains through his undershirt. His face gleamed with half-dried sweat as he addressed the two of us, grabbing the group's attention.
“Hey, sorry about that bro. I should have warned you, I saw that… that thing… first, it was like my brain just couldn’t process it. How the fuck does something like that even happen? This is like hell, bro. This is hell.”
“I couldn’t make out what it was at first either.” I said. Ritesh looked distraught and I didn’t want to make it worse.
Christian, on the other hand, took that as a challenge.
“Hell or not, we can’t stay here. Whatever did that is probably still around, and I like our chances inside where we can hide a lot more. I have no interest in being turned into a meal or getting disemboweled. Get up, get your shit together.” The man’s voice was harsh, nearing contempt for Ritesh or the remains we had come across, I wasn’t sure.
Christian had always been standoffish, but this was too much.
Maria spoke up.
You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Why are you being such an asshole? We’re all trying our best to survive, and we have no idea what we’re walking into. Of course that's going to be stressful. Of course we’re going to panic. What we can’t do is turn on each other with monsters down our throats.” She spoke quickly with passion, a flash of red hot anger on her cheeks.
Christian stared at her, looking down at the woman while keeping his head straight. His voice continued to rise with emotion as he spoke.
“The reason I’m such an asshole is because I’m trying to keep us alive, Garcia. I can’t sense the monsters like you or the cancer patient can. My powers, if you can even call them that, are restricted to this pathetic amount of rope around my arm. I won’t be of much use soon, and we haven’t even made it up the building! I won’t turn into one of those fucking monsters because no one could get this group’s shit together!”
He whisper-yelled at us, arms moving as he spoke. The rope snake around his bicep shook, drooping slightly as it turned toward Christian.
“You can call me Maria, Christian! We aren’t! At! Work! Anymore! Have you forgotten!?” She waved her hands around her, gesturing at, well, everything.
“Look, we can’t break down here. Christian is right. On that point.” Zahra said, interrupting the fight. She raised both her hands in a calming motion to the two, stalling them as she continued.
“Maria has a point too, Christian. We can’t run into things unprepared, physically or mentally. If we need to take a break, we take a break. There’s no way to know if we’re walking into another fight, so we have to just take the rest where we can. Okay? We can reassess when we get back to the hospital.”
“Thank you Zahra.” Maria said. Christian didn’t say anything, walking over to the 2 sets of glass double doors that led into Bunche Hall, beginning to look inside.
Ritesh looked somewhat better, although he was occasionally glancing in Christian’s direction.
“Thank you, girls. I can keep going now. The Deer lord has regained strength!” He gave a thumbs up and a smile as he put on his jersey, walking up to Christian who was currently trying to slowly open the door into the Hall. It was very dark inside, smog seeping through every crack and crevice. The rest of us followed the two inside, the invisible tension thick in the air.
The last thing I saw in the light was Maria staring daggers into Christian’s back, before raising her hands to scan the area in front of us. The sound of a distant fire and the soft crunch of glass on our shoes welcomed our group into Bunche Hall.
We slowly walked around the first floor, quickly finding a stairwell to take us up. The building was in relatively good condition, and there didn’t seem to be much damage in the hallway we walked through. Just the regular poster board full of ads and club event fliers, and the occasional vending machine. As we entered the stairwell, I saw a bloody trail at the end of the hallway, curving around the corner.
I didn’t want to explore, and that was an extra incentive not to. Hopefully we could just follow our path back to the hospital when we were done, while avoiding the garden. I followed Maria and Zahra up the stairwell, hoping there wouldn’t be a nasty surprise around the corner. Luckily, the stairwell was relatively clear, minus a few smaller splatters of dried blood on the black tile steps. When we climbed up to the second floor, I noticed the smog was getting thinner.
There were a huge set of glass windows to the outside at each floor level, and by the time we reached the fifth floor, we could start to make out the other buildings around us, including the glass greenhouses of the garden nest.
We moved quietly, pausing at each flight of stairs for Maria’s go ahead, sensing the movement of the area around us.
I couldn’t see shit, because, ya know. It was a staircase.
I could, however, look through the windows and get a better look than the others thanks to Greater Observation. In a couple more floors, I’d be able to see damn near the whole University. At the 12th floor (or hell, the roof if we could manage it) I’d hopefully be able to get a good view of downtown, Hollywood, and the mountains.
Then, we could make a plan that made sense.
We progressed without trouble, making it all the way to the 8th floor before something out the window caught my eye. About 30ft directly across from us was another building. It had a slightly similar structure, but only went up seven or eight floors. I stopped as I recognized a large sign someone had put up in the stairwell.
NEED HELP. 3 HERE. MONSTER MANTIS
Underneath the sign, pressed up to the glass, were two people sitting down. They both had long hair, so I guessed they were women. I could make out a surprising amount of detail with my new eye, including their steady breathing.
Thank god, someone was still alive!
I kept my gaze on them, Greater Observation giving me their stats. The first woman was older, her black curly hair put into a neat bun. I could see her grey jacket and her dark skin peeking out of her sleeve.
Name: Joyce Ndiaye
Class: Charming Librarian
Strength: 7
Dexterity: 12
Intelligence: 18
Spirit: 18
Health: 10
Luck: 3
The other woman was closer to my age. She had long, straight black hair that was put into a ponytail, and I could make out a Hello Kitty character on the back of her white sweater. She was physically smaller than the other woman, but I couldn’t tell who was in worse shape.
Name: Amy Ph?m
Class: Bubble Reflector
Strength: 6
Dexterity: 14
Intelligence: 17
Spirit: 4
Health: 13
Luck: 5
“Oh shit. Can you guys see them?” I turned to the group. Each person shook their head no.
“Theres 3 people who need help in the building across who need help. I can see two who are breathing, but they’re lying down or sitting, I think. Could be injured or hit with a status condition or something like that. We should try to head over there after this.” Before I had even finished my sentence, Christian was shaking his head no.
“We’re already low on resources, and you want to give us even less of a chance? For people who might be alive by the time we get there? Do whatever you want then, but I’m heading back to the hospital after we’re done here.” He crossed his arms in front of him, already atop the next flight of stairs and waiting for us to follow.
Next to me, a grey cloud floated through my vision and I turned, seeing the small plumes of grey smoke leaving Zahra’s ankles. My pant legs warmed as quiet sparks lit under her feet.
“Well, I’m not leaving Levi. You know what they say, us cancer patients really like to stick together. Trauma bonding, or whatever. I’m sure you’ve seen it before.” She said, turning to Ritesh and Maria.
“Who do you think can protect the two of you better? Both of us, or one guy overcompensating for a flaccid rope?” She made direct eye contact with the aid as she said the last part, egging him on.
If looks could kill, I’m pretty sure Zahra would have been reduced to atoms with the way Christian leered at her. He turned away from us, continuing up the stairs, his heavy footsteps echoing slightly around us.
“Let's do it.” Maria said, Ritesh nodding along. Zahra smirked, giving Christian’s back the finger as he disappeared from view.
“Thanks everyone, I really appreciate it.” I could feel my chest getting slightly warmer, maybe from the good vibes or maybe from Zahra, it was hard to tell. Christian’s stomps grew quieter and quieter.
“We can’t just leave him yet, either. I’m pretty sure Dr. Hekla would be pretty upset with us if something happened to him. Let’s go.” I said, taking one last glance at the other survivors before we continued upwards.
The last couple of floors were uneventful, and we were able to make it all the way up to the 12th floor to look around. The smog had nearly cleared entirely from this high up, although it varied in some areas. I took a look around, beginning in the West with the mountains.
The rolling green hills of the Santa Monica Mountains was almost entirely obscured by two transformations: A ginormous, flower petal shaped vegetation which draped the mountains and the dense forest which now grew over them; and the massive clouds of smog billowing from this flower, thickening the sky with an impenetrable ashy darkness. If I had to make a bet, the smog and the Swamp King were probably in that area.
I jumped as a message flashed into view. I really wished I could make it less jaring. The blue text was exhasuting, knowing whenever it popped up the System was going to change, or something worse. Luckily, this message was more positive.
Art: Perfect! From this high up, I can see where the other symbiotes have landed! I’ll point it out on your map, it's near this system-made vegetation on the mountains.
Of course it is.
I opened my blue map, zooming out so that I could see the mountains and the area north west of the university. I saw the golden flashing light immediately, about a 30 minute walk from where we were, and about halfway to the beginning of whatever was happening in the mountains.
I first thought that the golden flashing was glitched, it was happening too irregularly or fast. Then I realized that there were multiple golden lights on this one spot, overlapped onto each other.
Levi: How many symbiote items are here? I can’t tell on the map.
Art: I think about a hundred, but I could be wrong. Something from Graxis is making it hard to sense my kin. It's far more fuzzy and imprecise than I’m used to.
Levi: A hundred? Holy shit Art!
Art: Holy shit indeed, Levi.
One hundred symbiotes? I smiled at the thought. We could use those on the people in the hospital, which would definitely help our chances of survival. The golden lights were situated in the middle of a park, which I didn’t like. This opportunity was a necessity, however. We needed those symbiotes if we planned on doing anything besides sitting on our asses in the safe zone.
Somehow I didn’t think Graxis would give us that chance.
I continued scanning the area, pausing at the scene I saw over downtown L.A.
It was straight out of a disaster movie, the kind where the Rock stars as the only person capable of doing anything, ever.
Unlike those movies, there was no action star planned to save the city from destruction. Or if they had planned one, it was more like Black Adam than Superman. That is to say, the city was absolutely, without a doubt, beyond repair, fucked.
I could see at least three massive fires, highrises which had caught alight like massive candlesticks. Dark lightning cracked over the sky, striking the city below. Beyond that, it was like a massive explosion had gone off about 2-3 miles from downtown, flattening and turning to rubble most of the neighborhoods in a large radius. The highways were entirely full of stalled cars with their doors open. I couldn’t make out any people as I was too far away, but it didn’t look good. The system integration had come for all of Los Angeles, and most likely the whole world.
I took another quick scan before I talked to the group. Yep, I was too far away for safe zones to pop up. If only Art could sense those as well, it would make everything a lot easier.
I filled everyone in on what I saw, trying to give every relevant detail I could.
“Well, I guess going to the city for safety isn’t an option.” Maria said, staring at her own blue map.
“Was it ever? I would say to escape into nature, but Graxis seems to like gardening.” Ritesh muttered, also lost in thought.
Zahra sighed, stretching both her arms above her head. “Great. Our evil scientist overlords have a green thumb. Can we go save some people now?” I laughed and the other two joined in, Christian the only one not giggling, his mouth agape like he was trying to butt in.
Before he could, all of our textboxes opened in front of us, a new message instantly appearing and catching us off guard.
From Tal’voc of the Graxis Institute
Humans,
We are constantly disappointed with your races’ inability to engage with the experiment properly. Instead of defeating creatures, earning or finding items, or taking on a shrine, most of the remaining 850 million of you have barely interacted with the System Integration at all.
This is not only a waste of our time, but a direct threat to our mission. You will not avoid death by running or hiding, but by taking up a weapon or skill and fighting. I am thankful I pushed for the Graxis S.A.I’s to be implemented in this experiment. I would have scrapped the planet entirely without them.
Now, we’re going to use the System to make the rest of your population more concerned with leveling up. I’ve imbued certain creatures with the skill “King of the Castle”. It allows my creations to know where an applicant is if they are hiding in a building or any other structure with a roof.
If you’re already actively traveling the new world of Phase 2, don’t worry. This change won’t affect you. It will affect anyone currently hiding in a building, above or below the first floor, however.
Safety zones are exempt from this rule, as not many have been established as of now. You should really get on that.
We have ways to make things even worse, remember. Don’t let the blood spilt go to waste.
God fucking damnit.
We barely had time to react when the far away guttural screams of something alien registered in our ears, causing every hair on my body to stand on end from fear. It was below us.
“Go!” Christian yelled.
“GO!”
I ran.
