“Nice.”
Biggs put his arms up, on the verge of mental collapse, gesturing to the bizarre room we found ourselves in.
“This is just fucking nice..”
Said tall room looked like the worlds most plain and boring airport lounge, a circular grey space with armless seats moulded into the walls and floor, surrounding a central grey cylinder that floated ominously. Grey was the keyword here, although we were blessed with the luxury of soft strips of light that pulsed and flowed around the smooth edges of the seats, edges, ultimately travelling to the central cylinder, seemingly designed to intentionally draw your attention to it like a pathfinding beacon.
There was no exit or door visible and there was no indication as to how we had even entered.
“What the bloody hell is this? Godu you didn’t mention any twilight zone bullshit. No fucking doors?” Catara stayed on guard. I shook my head and kept my eyes also freakin’ peeled, not daring to utter a word. We were definitely inside the cube as I was exiled from the outside world..Which was somewhat a relief since the outside world had colossals in it, yet, it utterly terrified me, as it brought back traumas that I had vowed to not put myself through again.
Trapped again after all that fucking talk about never coming back...Seren? I don’t like this one bit. Please tell me you know what’s going on?
Sorry handsome…Kinda looks like a waiting room? I’ve only got a hundred theories..Prison cube? A zoo? A safe zone turned into sadist-torture citadel? Ha, we know that last one was somewhat true..I just super hope this isn’t some kind of Preterghast observational station to learn more about Majik or us..Hopefully this isn’t some kind of trap where we just get left here to die of starvation..OOH! Or maybe it’s like a sadistic gameshow where we have to saw someones limbs off or pull a key out of their a-
OKAY! YES! Thanks for the encouragement..Yeah that’s certainly some theories..But I don’t think so. Seats aren’t normally a priority from a ‘eliminating all threats’ perspective..I think you’re right on the waiting room-
*Bong*
Everyone collectively shat their pants at the harmless announcement tone, as the cylinder shifted shape into a hexagonal pillar with a darker shade of grey squares appearing on each surface.
Screens!..
Fuck….Screens..
Words materialised on each side.
Welcome Adventurers!
Please step forward and select a screen for mandatory dungeon orientation.
Once you are ready, place your hand in the circle to begin.
Everyone glanced at each other.
“Nope. Piss off.” Dave shook his head, flipped off the walls, ceiling and hexagon pillar, then flopped down onto a seat, giving off the aura of someone who was ready to shit in their hands and clap, if only to spite reality. “I’m not playing this shit! I accepted the SCP motherfuckers and the much appreciated super powers..I accepted those bloody raid parties we did AND the stupid game terminologies. Heck! Even the furry fucking dragongirls and boys popping up back home, with their bloody horns and tails that I’m ashamed to say I’m quite into! But, dungeons? Is this seriously the point we’re at?! What’s next?? Fucking people in robes handing out quests to go fetch 5 pissing logs of wood?? We just nearly DIED! We were a mere second away from getting smooshed by a Godzilla and now we’re gona’ do what? Solve riddles, fight skeletons and probably battle a fucking Lich boss whilst chugging potions and shooting spells out of our arses?! OhHhHhh i’M a pRieSt, lEt mE hEaL yOuR wOuNdS wHiLsT yOu TaNk the BIG DOMOGE!!-”
Dave’s breakdown shouldn't have been funny, but in the same immature vein when a poor substitute teacher looses their shit at a class, this too was one of those “I shouldn’t be laughing but I can’t help it” moments. I burst out laughing, interrupting him.
“Shit sorry! I’m sorry man..It’s just refreshing to hear someone else speak out what I’m thinking..‘I’m a priest’ HA-Sorry! I can’t-” There were tears in my eyes as I doubled over unable to contain myself, putting my hand up apologectically to Dave. “Sorry mate! It’s-Oh shit that’s too funny!”
“Right. Well once the teenage boys are finished, come over and do as the message says. There’s no exit I can see, so unless you have any better ideas other than having a little miss bitch mental breakdown, we have little other choice.” Catara huffed and placed her hand on the screen.
#Siya# Hmm. I’m not sure I get it either Godu. This is quite a grave situation in a place that holds deep emotional trauma for us. There’s a real chance you might not see Marri and little hatchling ever again if we can’t escape here. Why are you laughing?
..Oh great, now I feel like an asshole..
She moved over to a screen whilst giving me a puzzled frown. I sobered up and cleared my throat, moving over to one of the screens feeling a little bit shameful.
#Godu# Sorry Siya, you’re right. It’s just the uhh, stress of everything and um..Sorry.
Angel made no comment whilst Biggs just shrugged and moved to a screen of his own and placed his hand.
I nervously glanced at the others, but nothing malicious was happening so i sighed and joined in. “This should be interesting..” I muttered as I placed my hand, the surface felt cool, smooth, silk-like, and there was a slight pull on my skin as a light strobed rapidly underneath and then a message appeared asking me to remove my hand.
“Hey Siya, by the way, can you can read this?” I looked over at her and she tilted her head at my question.
#Team#
Siya: I see the words yes, but there’s also a voice. I assume you cannot hear? It sounds like a girl. Pleasant. Calm. Dead.
“Huh, spooky..No, I can’t.” I looked back at the screen and nearly squealed as I saw a circle with a line drawn through it.
It was my favourite shape.
What. Seren! You seeing this?
That is..your class symbol. It’s like a neurological QR code that uses Majik to create a kind of kernel layer that’s wired into your brain. It gives you the basic rationale and the boosts you need in order to integrate EXP ‘safely’ at the start. Truthfully, you could do it naturally, but there was a huge risk of human minds spiraling out of control and turning into monsters..Which, is what happened to some people regardless..So it is possible it matters not. A very saddening topic when I think of it..
The guilt plagues me..
We truly only wanted to protect humanity…
Oh I see. Well, you protected me and my family so I’m very grateful for what you did, thank you. The alternative would have been to do nothing and watch quietly as we were cruelly wiped out of existence so don’t beat yourself up. You should be proud of yourself. I am proud of you.
That..means….a great deal to me, Godu. You’re truly kind and far more forgiving than I shamefully antipated. I’m glad we seem to always cross paths…
You…Gosh..I….I’m..
A warm and fuzzy feeling bloomed inside my head as I grinned to myself.
Blushing? Lost for words? That’s a first!
Haha! Hey! Ooo you cheeky-Oh look, somethings happening.
Text appeared.
Greetings [Stry.kyr], you have successfully registered.
Entry has been approved.
…
Group size [6].
Entrees include a non human combatant..
…
Entry has been approved.
Entrees registered: [Nycht.jagyr], [Stry.kyr], [Striga], [Devyl], [Soldyr], [Myndyr]
…
Please note the following carefully.
Perma death enabled. NO respawns allowed!
If you take longer than 24 hours, your party will be transported to the entrance gateway where you can re-enter and try again.
Unregistered combatants will be evicted; doesn’t apply to summons or pets.
Neres is an aeon class slut.
There will be 6 stages to complete.
Succeed and be rewarded!
Wha…
I did a double take, re-reading everything just to make sure.
“No respawns? Who the bloody hell is Neres…And what’s an ‘aeon’ class?..This is an absolute pisstake..” Dave muttered under his breath.
Indeed. Seren? I don’t recall we evn got around to talking about you being an ‘aeon class’ either did we? Who else would know?
Hmm, we did not and I’m not sure...I’m Slightly unnerved and a bit offended at the level of detail here..especially at that comment given the name..Ahem, but pettiness aside, a daemon class is mostly just a status symbol. I’m an aeon class because I’m a sub process from Mother, and then the next down is Myr class, daemons like Xno who are more like very smart pets compared to me or my siblings, but they’re cute in their own way.
Oh, okay...And actually, about your sib-
Sorry sweety, another time. I don’t think it’s a good idea to talk about it yet. But one day.
Oh right, um okay...Can I ask if Neres one of them?
Huh? Oh! HA! Noooo, ha, do you not see-
The words disappeared and were replaced with a countdown.
Uh-oh.
10 seconds?
“Uhh guys?! What takes 10 seconds?” Dave piped up, justifiable alarmed.
“Probably Biggs, right Catara?” Angels first words stunned the room, even Catara leaned around the pillar with a massive puzzled grin on her face as the countdown silently slipped past 5 seconds.
Angel shrugged at our silent gobsmacked stares.“What? Thought I’d at least crack one joke before-”
Everything went white.
Then black.
Then my body jolted as I landed in a puddle and the first thing I noticed was that the air smelt damp and mossy as I took a few gasps of breath, looking around.
“Woah shit, that was..jarring.” I was alone in a large cave that had glowing rocks illuminating the space. “Hm. Where did everyone else-”
“Bloody heck!” Biggs warped into existence and immediately got down on one knee with his weapon out and pointed it at me.
“Yo.” I raised my hand as he lowered his weapon.
“Oh, sorry Godu-SHIT!” He swiveled round as a screaming banshee winked into existence.
It was Dave.
“FUCKING JUMPSCARE BULLSHIT! GRR!” He patted himself down and he conjured up some floating doritos that swirled around him before twirling almost in a condescending way and drifting off as they had nothing to do; he spotted us and waved. “Oh there you are.”
“Yo.” I gave him a wave; Biggs cleared his throat and put his weapon down. Angel, Catara and Siya promptly arrived afterwards in a similar fashion, but without the screaming, so we collected ourselves and got straight to work, searching for a way out or forward.
The cave was large but still felt claustrophobic; I couldn’t feel a single Slipfold or send a single communication out to anyone apart from the current team. But it wasn’t long before we simply followed the existing flat path to a large gateway that had an open stone coffin sat in front of it.
“Bet you a token we’re about to fight something stupid like mummies..” Dave grumbled at Biggs.
“Ha, I’ll take you up on that. I bet you it’s undead. Green skin, yellow eyes, a huge bone sticking out of their as-”
“Boys! A little bit of professionalism please. Look.” Catara growled and pointed up to a sign on the large gate doors. There were unknown letters carved on the surface, painted shiny blood red, but the words shifted as we approached into legible words.
When ye borne, ye of little strength.
So to start ye life, ye make ye choice.
“Oh bloody give me strength..Riddles! We’re actually doing riddles now!..” Dave started muttering to himself, earning a glare from Catara.
More words appeared underneath.
Strength without numbers: Sacrifice a member of the party to rest in the coffin.
If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Courage of the newlyborn: Push through the life waters using all your strength, become as vulnerable as newborn.
Make ye choice.
We all glanced at each other.
“Uhh, right, well, maybe if I lie in the coffin..the doors will open and I can slipfold out?” I suggested.
“Nice intention. Bad idea. Sorry Godu, but the key word there is ‘sacrifice’. Pretty sure it means death.” She blew out a big sigh. “No I think we’re supposed beig forced to choose the baby option. Whatever that means...”
There were no disagreements, but I had a sinking feeling about what was coming.
We all walked past the ominous stone coffin, reached the door and pushed it open with a fair amount of effort. On the other side was a translucent wall, like a thin waterfall silently falling from a slit in the roof and neatly falling into a slit in the floor. It was impossible to accurately see what was on the other side, but it seemed like just a simple corridor leading to another large gateway.
“Guess thems’ the life waters.” Biggs muttered in a weird accent.
“I’ll go first.” Catara went to step forward but Biggs hopped in front.
“Bad idea Maam. Not trying to get in your good books but I recommend letting me or someone else go first. We don’t know what that liquid will do. Could be a trap.”
“Ha. You’d be so lucky..” Catara paused and considered him for a moment.
“..But noted...I have a better idea, let’s lob something through it first.” She nodded at him.
We looked around but couldn’t find anything throwable. We couldn’t snap or chip any rock away from the walls and even the dirt seemed to be indestructible..So in the end we carried the stone coffin lid over and poked it through..
“Looks pretty harmless, although that’s not saying much considering the dirt is immortal..Although ha look, at least we’ve got an umbrella now right?” Biggs cheerfully and casually held the heavy looking lid as it parted the water and created a sheltered path. Freakishly, the liquid only parted horizontally and didn’t splash or move in any other direction, as if it was sandwiched between invisible planes of air.
“Perfect. Godu can you go through first please but be ready to teleport back. Nice and slow yeah?” Catara asked and I nodded my acceptance to be the first guinea pig.
I took a step forward and then paused.
“Actually I’ve got a better idea.” I said with a grin and slipfolded over to the other side and waited for a few moments before declaring it was safe. “Yeah I think it’s all good over here. There’s just another set of gates. Does anyone want a lift or..”
#Team#
Siya: I’ll go next, and I shall accept your offer of elevation.
Siya looked through the gap at me with an adorable smile. She knows what I meant but she’s intentionally making fun of me! Daww they grow up so fast..
I folded back and beckoned her over, slipfolding us both safely across.
“I’m good with good old fashioned walking, I’ll cross the bloody ‘waters of life’ next.” Dave grumbled and moved forward, cautiously ducking and making sure not to touch the streams of liquid that eerily flowed down either side-
“AGHH!!” He screamed out in pain as he crossed over the line, streams of light piercing through him, forcing him to collapse and fall down flat on his face.
“SHIT!” I rushed forward and grabbed his arms and pulled him through, he was whimpering and groaning but otherwise seemingly not injured.
“Dave? What’s going on? You good? Injured?” Catara called through.
“Aghh bollocks…Yeah I’m okay..Damn it!..This is bad..” He recovered quickly and sat up looking at his hands. “Oh this is horrible..I’ve been restricted or something..all my attributes are reduced by 99%!! Oh man I feel so fucking weak!”
Oh heck.
“Shit!...That’s what the stupid message meant then. I’m guessing if we put someone in the coffin, this wall would have been disabled. Godu, Siya, are you both okay?” Catara called out to us.
We were.
“Right. Godu, please take us one at a time. Seems we accidentally found a cheat thanks to your warpy tricks…Hmm, Angel. Is your casper shit viable here?”
She shook her head.
Angel: Negative. It’s all made of something I can’t phase through.
“Alright, just wanted to check. Let’s go.”
Siya held the coffin lid whilst I got everyone through and then we carefully put the lid down.
“This is..what you went through, right Godu? Your briefing mentioned the..control domain laws? Or something, right?” Dave was walking like a newborn deer.
I nodded with grimace. “Yeah, it will take a few minutes to get used to…The pieces of shit that ran this place would restrict people and then make them fight absurd odds..” I shuddered at the dark memories. “Siya managed to damage some kind of power source and it took the whole effect offline..Maybe someone else has managed to get it back online and is controlling it..”
The prospect was deeply concerning.
“Man this is..horrible. It’s like I’ve had all my tendons severed.” He struggled with the abrupt change and I could sympathize heavily with his suffering.
Yeah I remember how it felt. At least I had Tommy and-...
Shit memories. Forget them.
We went up to the gate and found another message waiting for us.
We live cursed lives.
We die cursed deaths.
Sorry for your loss.
Or should I say, sorry for your test?
Primal test: Proceed.
“How uplifting.” Catara muttered as she motioned for us all to help her push the gates open-
“WHOA-”
“UFF-”
-but the gates were as light as a feather on super greased hinges, making us stumble out into a strangely familiar looking space as they flew open and slammed hard into the walls.
“Alright, that was fucking strange..Uhoh. Godu, uhh, is this?..” Briggs trailed off as we looked around a large open space surrounded by a tall wall, with pillars dotted around the middle.
The arena.
Thankfully, it wasn’t the arena, as I immediately noticed differences such as there were no seats and the ceiling, floors and walls were all lined with embedded soft lights that gave enough light to see-
A familiar klaxon blared out, triggering a familiar roaring noise to bellow out from the opposite side..
“No fucking way…” I looked over at Siya who was thoughtfully frowning at the direction of the roaring and then looked at everyone else as heavy footsteps thumped out and an old friend stomped into view.
Label: Ranolith (Elite)
MAGN: 60.309
HP: 6000/6000
Notes: It’s a big modern dinosaur, but, good news! It does have a weak spot! The bad news is..There are six of them.
The 6-eyed T-rex with long arms locked onto us and roared out a challenge.
#Siya# That is the large reptile you talked about? I was expecting something more..intimidating.
#Godu# WHAT?! Try being level 1 and having to fight it! It’s a bloody dinosaur Siya!
My ego felt bruised so I looked to the others for comfort-
“Holy shit.” Angel whispered and immediately got down onto one knee and took aim.
“Please keep me safe. A platform would be great right now Biggs Sir.” Dave scuttled closer to Biggs who snorted and subtly whistled at Angel who didn’t look but stood up and backpeddled to him.
That’s the appropriate response. I can’t believe those absolute cunts were going to pull this “handicapped versus apex” shit again-
Another roar bellowed out from our right, as Ranolith number 2 was revealed to the arena.
Wha-
Two more roars announced more would be coming from our left and from behind; Dave yelped and urged Biggs to hurry up.
“Well twist my tits. There’s four of them.” Catara barked out a laugh.
Unbelievable! We were supposed to fight 4 of these whilst penalised!!?
Me Catara and Siya crouched down, as Biggs Angel and Dave shot up into the sky on his platform that strangely still materialised without taking a chunk of the floor to do so.
Good fucking thing we are not penalised then-
Abrutly, all the walls folded down like origami, revealing an absolute herd of Ranolith.
“Hooo-bloody-shit!” My exclamation dribbled out of my mouth as the shock and stupor from the situation blew my mind; I couldn’t wrap my head around the logistics required, nor the purpose behind it all.
There was a strange moment where the Ranoliths themselves, looked at each in an almost surprised “Yo what are you doing here? ” look, but the moment was short lived, as the first took the initiative and charged, thudding towards us. I deployed my shields and lept forwards in response, and the fight was-
ALERT! CAUTION! Control Domain rules activated.
The following restrictions are in place.
Attributes reduced by 99%
All abilities max range is enforced to 10 meters.
Current Status:
###?#?#?#??##
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
A searing pain flared in my skull causing me to stumble and eat shit.
AGH!! NOT THIS! PLEASE!
My body covulsed as the strength drained out from it, and I heard cries of panic and pain as the others met the same fate; Biggs, Angel and Dave shouted as they fell back down to earth and crashed into the dirt; the Ranolith loomed ever closer in a snarling, stampeding, violent horizon. Catara managed to regain some strength and grabbed Biggs and a screaming Dave, who’d broken a leg, pulling them closer as Siya cried out a heartbreaking sound as she tried to reach out to me, she was like a newborn calf trying to stand up for the first time; Angel was laying still, not moving, possibly either dead or knocked out from the fall.
We were being shat on at a cosmic scale and I was absolutely sick and tired of it.
No.
Never.
FUCKING.
AGAIN!!!
Standing up and staring down a Ranolith rearing up its head for an attack, I grit my teeth and refused.
[Jailbreaker] Activated. Control Domain Negated.
Restrictions have been denied.
SEREN!
My shields exploded out into her kite shields, slicing into the Ranoliths face and cutting right through the skull and into its brain. Serens construct followed suit and she cried out an eldritch synth sound as she twisted her kite shields and ripped its head apart.
Never again indeed my love! Nothing will shackle us, EVER, AGAIN!
She charged into the next one which bit down on her torso and lifted her up, which was a mistake on its part as her ribbon tails erupted from its eyes and whipped around its head, threading like a sewing needle.
DAMN FUCKING RIGHT! I’ll protect the others! Keep it up Seren!
She launched herself spiraling through the air like an arrow, piercing cleanly through two Ranoliths at once as I slipfolded back to a confused looking Siya and picked her up, slipfolding her to the others before hurriedly doing the same for Angel but being forced to also slipfold the face off another Ranolith as it beared down on her. My blood was on fire and electrified with adrenaline at the ease with which it killed the giant creature empowered my mentality and drugged my confidence up to psychotic levels. I had never really understood the old worlds obsession with overcoming limits or power, or things of such nature, but now I understood how good it felt to be stronger and superior against something so big and intimidating. How it felt to dominate and shutdown something with such strength.
It was absolutely glorious and intoxicating.
Fuck kiting and running! Let’s see how you massive cunts deal with me now!!
Taking deep breaths to prepare myself, I stood over my team and ballooned out my slipfold a far as I could and then sprayed anchors everywhere, taking them all was going to be a strain but it had to be done.
“HOLD ON AND DON’T MOVE!”
And then I committed dinosaur genocide.
The first dozen lost their faces immediately but their momentum continued, forcing me to slice up their corpses to avoid the mass crushing my team. Then, I yanked us all to an empty corner, which confused the heck out of all of them to the point that they stared to blindly attack each other whilst Seren rampaged through them like a kid in a ball pit. But they weren’t completely stupid and very quickly they noticed us and charged again. I deployed my null claws and ran to greet them, surge charging into the nearest ones jaw, stunning it, and then following up with a clawed swipe into its neck that tore into the extremely tough, thick leathery skin. The attack cut deep but didn’t kill it, so I surge jumped up, dodging another Ranolith that smashed into the stunned one, knocking it over, before I then elbow dropped down onto its face, finishing it off by thrusting my claws into its brains. Seren ran over, ruby tackling another like a cannon ball, but I heard the others cry out for help so I was forced to return and slipfold them to a safer spot.
The pattern was set, as I fought against tooth, nail and claw with fist, Majik, and Daemon construct, fearlessly clashing against the giant dinosaurs and methodically slipfolding my teammates to safety. After an exhausting dozen or so minutes, Seren neatly ripped the jaw off the last of the roaring beasts, its lifeless corpse booming as it fell to the ground, singaling it was over. The arena was utterly littered with Ranolith corpses, so much so that Seren had to tip toe carefully as I sat propped up against Siya, gasping and panting after having to dig into my HP resources to do the final few slipfolds..
Urgh, my head..
I had hot, steaming blood coming out of my nose and ears. I wiped some and rubbed it between my fingers, staring absentmindedly at how it wasn’t pure red anymore, but an oil paint mixture of pearlscent, with azure black-and-blue tones and shimmering flecks swimming up and down.
That’s..pretty, but fucking creepy-
Gosh that was exhausting! I’m going to take a nap darling sweety..Wake me up if you need help! Mwah!
Thanks Seren-Hey a nap!!?...Jealous.
Hmmmmm? You’re welcome to join me anytime!
Smiling, I stood up and turned around as she lept up and burst into a cloud of Majik and slammed into my back. Catara helped me stand up and I gave answers as we made our way around the arena, inspecting our surroundings. Sadly the walls had folded back iup before we had a chance to try and look where the Ranoliths had been waiting, but there was a gate on the other side that clearly was our path forward..The others had kindly given me a grace period of a few moments to catch my breath before bombarding me with questions, but now that our exit was identified, they started to flow in. They confirmed they were all crippled by the Control Domain, and I debriefed them as to why I was immune, including what I’d had to do in order to get such an ability.
“You fucking what?! You decapitated yourself?” Biggs sounded impressed.
“Yup.”
“Brutal.” Angel whispered to herself but I heard her and snorted.
“That’s nothing compared to the state poor Siya was in..So I’m glad I did what I did.”
Siya practically growled with disapproval.
#Team#
Siya: And I’m still not impressed. You were very careless Godu. Dangerous move..You should have just tried to escape instead of that..
Smiling, I gave her a gentle nudge with my arm.
“Ahh I wouldn’t have survived for very long without you on the outside. Besides, I couldn’t leave my mothgirl hero behind.
She looked down shyly, shaking her head and subtly tried to trip me up with her cloak wing, but I dodged it with a smirk.
We pushed the giant gate doors and went through a plain corridor that led us to another set of large doors with another cryptic message.
You are your biggest enemy.
You are your biggest friend.
When faced against yourself in the mirror, who will met their end.
Paradoxicide: Please kill yourselves.
“The fuck…” The muttered curse was pretty unanimous in the team, and randomly, for a moment, I fondly lost myself in the mundane thought of how we shouldn’t swear so much, rather more we should come up with some fun curse words or phrases that would be better suited, lighthearted and fitting to the dire situations we regularly found ourselves in the current state of the world.
Something like ‘I’d rather sniff a husks ballsackk’..Ha, ‘husksacks’....A topic to discuss over drinks with Steve and Tanner one evening for sure-
“Technically you’re the expert here Godu, and you’ve not been crippled so, ladies first.” Biggs gestured for me to go first with a sweet smile.
“Tsch yeah thanks mate.” I gave him an unenthusiastic thumbs up and pushed the gates open and walked into a fairly spacious room.
It was a box room, with boring grey surfaces and soft lights travelling around, illuminating the unremarkable plainness. There was no furniture or anything else apart from a black line that was drawn in the middle of the room that went up the walls and over the ceiling, and finally on the other side was our exit-
“OH SHIT! PEOPLE!”
“OH SHIT! PEOPLE!”
Daves shout echoed as he pointed at a group of people that had come out of the other side.
Someone had pointed back and said the exact same thing.
Angel and Biggs pointed their guns.
They pointed theirs back.
Catara waved for them to stand down.
They had someone do the exact same thing.
I waved.
And disturbingly, the people waved back at the exact same time.
“Well fuck a husk..”
Because they were the exact same people as us.