Chapter 1. Genesis

Somewhere deep inside us lives a monster, pure evil jumping at every opportunity to be released. Greed, pride, envy, jealousy, hatred, revenge, whatever it may be it takes over all rational thought at the slightest taste. The be all end all of this corruption where it all stems...power. In a chaotic world full of uncertainty lay dormant a new threat to civilization. Something that would make everyday problems seem like godsends. Something truly evil that brings out the evil inside, the unnatural era in humanity that still plagues the world to this day. I still remember the day it happened, a day I will never forget.

I was just wrapping up a job, most of the leads being exhausted. I had the perp pretty much figured out and was starting the plan to take them down. This job was very important as I was already on thin ice with the bureau because of numerous failures in the past. This time would be different I would make sure of that.

I got back to one of the hideouts, a few personnel at location.

"Sir, how is the situation?" Jordan asked

"I have the perp within my grasp, just need a good plan of action," I replied.

Through my detective work, I was able to identify the suspect, presumed missing, age 35, Caucasian male...Clark Everstein. Up until a year ago, he had a pretty stable life but his mother was suddenly struck with an unknown illness and his father got into an accident not long after. Tragedy after tragedy...I can only guess that he had gone mad with grief and sadness and is now stealing top-of-the-line technology to try and cure his mother's illness. Beyond this guess, I have a pile of evidence placing him in the area and near other sites that had reported items stolen. Even after talking to experts we have no idea what he is trying to build but before he went off the grid a few months ago he was a true genius in his field. It is unknown what he truly did but his results were nothing to scoff at. He had many ingenious ideas that, with time, could have easily changed the world.

After months of investigation, it all came down to this, Clark would be in a remote abandoned warehouse where his mother was thought to reside. I had been tailing him the last week attempting to confirm my suspicions and today was the day, whatever he was planning was surely close to fruition. He would spend most of his time at the warehouse, and although I couldn't directly see the device I saw him meeting with individuals where he would threaten them to hand over their tech. He had done this a few times but was now held up at the warehouse. He seemed to have everything he needed for, presumedly, curing his mother. There could be more to it but that was the best idea for what he had been planning, nonetheless, we had recorded evidence of some of his thefts and I was certain we had our guy.

It was late at night, 10:23 P.M. to be exact and I was posted up nearby, scope on the perp. The plan was to spy on him and then get in close when he seemed distracted or off guard. One problem would be his security system but we had a way to deactivate it. Finally, after an hour of waiting it was time, he had just set down some tools and headed towards a fridge. I hurriedly approached the building shooting off the lock at the front with a silencer and barging my way in. I quickly made my way towards Clark who was digging through his fridge unaware of my presence focused and with a futuristic pair of headphones on.

He noticed me and froze, removing the headphones and putting his hands up.

"Please man, don't shoot, please!" Clark screamed pleading for his life, shaking heavily.

"Come with me and nothing has to happen," I responded calmly.

Looking closer I could tell he was exhausted and malnourished, he had clear bags under his eyes and looked in bad shape. I knew he wasn't doing too well but seeing him so close really confirmed it.

"N-no please I need to continue my work, I'm almost done please you have to let me continue. Money...do you want money?...anything I'll give you anything, please.."

He sounded defeated but I could tell there was a hint of something more deep

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"What is so important you'd give me anything? You could just be buying time to get help or try to get away." I said, reaffirming my grip on my pistol and cocking the gun.

"L-listen man, I'm working on some real state-of-the-art, leading-edge technology that could really change everything. You have to believe me, please, please.." Clark started crying and got onto his knees.

I started, still pointing my gun at Clark. "If it's truly as you say, Clark, why have you been stealing the parts and not working with the government or some other third party? You have the spending power to make it happen, don't you? It all just seems too suspect, we can go into more detail once you are back at the bureau. So come with me or I will be-"

Suddenly he got up with alarming speed and sprinted toward the huge device I had completely overlooked until now. Startled by his sudden movement, I froze up momentarily. A second later I reclaimed my composure and aimed at him. He had gotten a good amount of leeway between us, and I had to be careful to not mortally wound him. I fired off two shots in quick succession, one whizzing wide to his right and the other barely missing his left arm. it was a lot more difficult than it seemed to shoot someone with a handgun, Especially with a moving target traveling away from you. My shots went wide breaking some windows on the far side of the warehouse. In the middle of the run-down warehouse was an impressive machine, It looked like some sort of supercomputer. It glowed a mysterious red, humming with a soft beat. Just beyond it lay a grim scene; Clark's mother lay looking more dead than alive, like some sort of shriveled-up raisin of a person, barely clinging to life. There were a myriad of tubes and wires connected to the poor lady. They were slithering across the ground in sporadic display connecting to the machine. A heart monitor beeping lethargically beside her.

The whole situation made me falter for an instant, but I regained my composure, once again lining my sights on the suspect. I fired a few more shots, one finding its mark, embedding itself in Clarks' left shoulder. Surprisingly, this hardly had any effect on him. Clark reached the machine and frantically pressed some buttons.

I advanced on him and yelled out. "Let's be smart about this, get down right now or I will shoot."

I had no idea what he had done but soon after the machine started making whining noises like it was charging up. I squeezed off the last few rounds of my magazine, not knowing what was going to happen next. A few feet away from Clark the bullets smash against what appears to be thin-air, clattering to the ground like a handful of loose change.

I cursed under my breath, throwing a fresh magazine into my gun. I fired off a few more rounds into the barrier to no avail, until I noticed Clark staring. Tracing his gaze, I noticed an apparent wound in the machine. The whining became sporadic and substantially louder, and the machine began to lurch.

Not taking any chances, I dashed to the entrance of the warehouse. I looked back toward the machine, Clark feverishly attempting to mend the situation, but the damage was done. "What have you done!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. The machine hit its climax, booming and making a bone-shattering noise; but the explosion was contained within its own barrier. It was a gruesome sight to behold, Clark's body was eviscerated before my eyes. The very next moment it rapidly condensed to a single point, leaving behind a ball of red energy. I reeled at the sight, horrified of the

Contrary to how quickly the explosion happened the next few moments felt like time had slowed, the ball of red energy began to condense more and more, sparks of energy arched out and around it until it shot up in a brilliant display of power. The subsequent destruction of the barrier from the sheer force blew me back. I landed a distance away outside, dazed (Depth/elaborate.) I got to my feet and looked up into the sky horrified. The beam of energy didn't seem to be losing momentum as it continued to grow in width and height the further it got from. From where the explosion or implosion originated the beam wasn't all that wide but as it shot up it grew out more and more.

It started dispersing as soon as it reached the upper atmosphere, but it wasn't over; a dense ripple of energy started enveloping my vicinity. The waves of vibrant red enveloped me. It was like some sort of heat wave but everything was bleached crimson. As I looked on in awe and terror I fell to the ground holding my head, an unimaginable pain dominating my every thought. My skull felt like it was going to pop from the intense pressure, like a blood-filled water balloon. I didn't know how I was still conscious, but with all my will and might I attempted to reach for my gun to end this torturous nightmare. However, my gun wasn't in my hand anymore. Searching my body and the vicinity, I failed to find it and the pain became too overwhelming to think. I lay in the fetal position on the ground writhing in agony screaming until my voice gave out.

It was many hours until the pain subsided, the sun rays reaching my eyes as I noticed I could feel something other than the torturous pressure. I rubbed my head groaning when suddenly I was sucked into my mind rushing by old and forgotten memories. it felt as if I was an incorporeal entity being ushered toward a destination, only getting glimpses of the space around me. The experience was less about visuals and more just feelings and emotions as I seemingly passed by events in my life. This continued for a few moments longer until I stumbled upon a severed and broken memory in the recesses of my mind. As I approached the memory a distinct space formed around it as a house and background materialized but dulled and seemingly decayed. As I got closer to this scene the door to the house opened and I floated inside I entered the memory.