In an empty space, the sensation of falling further and further down swept over my body. Holding my hands out in front of me as I fell, I saw nothing. I was formless.

Not having a body should’ve been alarming, but my mind struggled to formulate thoughts, any semblance of logic was nonexistent here. Feeling slow and hazy, everything was incoherent, as if I were only falling in a dream.

Slowly, I stopped descending. I floated there, my view adjusting to the expansive white void around me. My view was omnidirectional, and below me, I saw a pool of black water begin materializing. It was dark, like a portal to nothingness, spreading out and filling my lower view. I inspected the water, feeling a wave of something familiar.

Numbness.

I was never sure whether something was wrong with me or if it was just everyone else that was weird. Honestly I didn’t actually care. But when people seemed to frequent activities and do things I didn’t understand the appeal of, I realized my absence of interest made me a target.

I realized every person had darkness in their heart, a darkness that reared its ugly head in my direction mercilessly.

I realized no one could be trusted.

Only, there was one exception to this rule. The single person who suffered the side effects my behavior brought upon us. Emotions began bubbling inside of me.

Small colorful inklings of an angry, murky red began to ripple across the center of the black water, and I felt my senses unconsciously hone in on the change.

Light casted onto a distant memory from childhood as I found myself standing in an old school playground. The sounds of mocking laughter filled my ears as I watched another child push a girl identical to me off a rusty swing, bloodying her knees on concrete from the fall. All I saw was red, and the next thing I knew, I was being reprimanded in the principals office for nearly breaking that child’s arm.

Although I disliked facing the consequences of my actions, I felt more at ease about it after seeing how happy she was after I defended her. Her happiness trumped all. Even after the tragedy bound to take place a few months from that moment.

As the memory played out, murky reds, light yellows and dark blues rippled over the black surface.

Each new ripple that disturbed the water casted forth memories. The times I’ve felt strong emotions, the times spent feeling something other than numb. It was overwhelming.

A pink drop rippled. A green drop, then a white drop, another blue drop— a whole myriad of colors began rippling across the pool like rain.

I tried closing my eyes to no avail, having no eyelids to close as I relived each and every memory. The pool began growing closer in verticality to my position, submerging me into the black ocean, drowning me in a disorienting display that assaulted all senses. Something a human mind wasn’t designed to comprehend. Everything hurt.

My soul fell into an indescribable pain, into complete agony.

It was unending, every neuron of my being was lit up like bright neon lights of the inner districts, an overwhelm of emotions and memories being experienced all at once. My mind began splitting and shattering as droplets reduplicated into more and more colors and emotions, cascading across the black water like an oil spill of rainbow, making me want to bash my head in to induce unconsciousness to escape the pain. I could feel myself melting as a faint sound reverberated in my ears.

As it grew louder, I recognized it as the sound of my own voice.

Screaming. I was screaming.

*Ding*

I swallowed hard, struggling to breathe. Transparent screens of text hovered in front of my stinging eyes as I panted against the exit door I just slammed shut, weary again.

I felt like i’d just forgotten something important, but while trying to recall it, a gut feeling told me I didn’t want to remember.

This book was originally published on Royal Road. Check it out there for the real experience.

My out of focus eyes searched for a distraction instead, concentrating on the glowing screens.

[SYNCHRONIZATION SUCCESSFUL]

[LIBRARY UNLOCKED]

[CORE FORMATION….100%]

[CORE FORMATION SUCCESSFUL]

[TUTORIAL UNLOCKED]

[STIGMA RECEIVED— CHECK GUARDIAN STATUS SCREEN FOR MORE DETAILS]

[2 PENDING NOTIFICATIONS]

Synchronization… core formation…? Guardian status screen?

Despite the throbbing headache, the word stood out to my muddled mind. Guardian.

Humanity’s hope, valiant protectors of the world. Protectors created through a contract with Xentinols. Granting chosen humans access to abilities and magic, they gave us a fighting chance against the biggest threat to all existence.

Records of first generation Guardians still alive were rare, most perishing during the first onslaught of Vlorn which gave the current second generation a better foundation— an advantage built off the efforts and suffering of those I considered destined for a tragic end.

And to my confusion, from what I parsed based on the sudden glowing screens of text, I was one of those destined. One of the chosen tasked to protect humanity even if it costed their limbs, their entire bodies. Their lives.

The idea made me shift uncomfortably. I slumped down against the door, my cold hand pressing instinctively to my side, not yet realizing how bad of a state my body was in. It felt wet, slippery.

I pressed harder, but couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t stop bleeding.

Looking down in disbelief at the fresh gushing wound on my side, the world around me tilted as the extensive damage I received seemed to finally register in my brain. The pungent smell of blood flooded my nose as my chest heaved another shallow inhale, flashes of pain coursing me as if spiked metal was pressed against my lungs.

Was I going to die?

Slicing through my disarrayed thoughts, a voice interrupted.

[It’s important you stay conscious, and when prompted, say accept. Time is of the essence Mallory, unnecessary hesitation will lead to a quick death. Proper introductions will come later, I promise to explain everything then. Just nod for me if you understand.]

The disembodied woman’s voice came from inside my mind, yet sounded distant, like I was underwater.

Closing my eyes, my head fell back weakly. A part of me was desperate to believe this was all just a vivid coma induced nightmare, that the Irruption was somehow over and I was actually just recovering somewhere in a hospital room.

But this was reality. I had been contracted for some ungodly reason, was on deaths doorstep, and like the voice said, any hesitation spelled the end for me.

The concept naturally drained my mental strength, a sense of foreboding hanging in the air.

Warily, I nodded, unsure of the voice’s true intentions. For all I knew, the coveted contract most of society would kill for was simply a trojans horse, that I really just doomed myself.

I bit my cheek. I couldn’t let myself hesitate further, there were bigger problems to worry about right now.

[Would you like to unlock the Healing Catalogue for 100 points?]

“…accept.”

[Tier 1 Healing Catalogue unlocked!]

[-100 points]

[Balance: 20 points]

[Would you like to purchase the Life Support IO Line Kit for 10 points?]

I managed to rasp out another one worded response, ignoring the floating textboxes that popped up. Next to me, visible under the scarlet lighting of the museums emergency lights, a black pentagram made of thin intricate symbols that hurt to look at began oozing its way into existence over the tiled floor, stopping once it reached the size of a small manhole. With a faint rainbow glow, a glossy onyx briefcase fully ascended from the circle before the pentagram dispersed into nothing.

Recognizing the incident from videos and tv shows of Guardians summoning things out of nowhere, I stared at the lone case with heavy doubt.

Why was someone like me even chosen in the first place? Another hard concept that eluded my understanding.

A mixture of suspicion and uncertainty swirled through my gut, but my entire body was growing colder by the second. Too cold.

[I urge you to open it.]

With unsteady hands, the glossy clasps of the case were unlatched. Inside the case in an indented spot between the soft gray lining was a hand sized gun shaped device, the end tipped with an 18g needle. An extension tube connected the gun to a plastic bag of glowing red liquid.

Black began creeping at the edges of my vision and breathing was starting to get difficult, so I hurriedly grabbed the gun.

[Face the needle 90° onto your injured leg, right on the shin bone, then press the trigger. It’ll automatically extend the tip into the right depth, administering a healing solution to both the surrounding tissue and into your bloodstream. Don’t panic at the length of the needle. Please stay calm, everything is going to be okay—]

I ignored her empty consolations, facing the gun accordingly and pulling the trigger. A warm sensation overlapped the pain my injured region of leg felt, the red liquid traveling down the tube like a magnet attracted to steel.

[…Hold it there until the bag is fully administered.]

Not having the energy to ask any questions yet, I let the rest flow into my body.

[Excellent job Mallory, you’re doing swell! Typically contract ceremonies don’t take place during active Irruptions, so the process of learning the reps might be a bit, well… chaotic. But now that you’re stabilized, I believe it’s time you decide on a name for me.]

I sighed with what little brainpower remained in me.

“How about… uh, Voyce?”