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[We are about to enter through the Radiant Gate. Mr. Winters, Ms. Summers, please refrain from moving too much while we pass through the gate.]
“Isn’t this… quite exciting?”
Even with Victoria’s calm voice coming through the speakers, Julian could feel Ellie’s stammered breaths and the trembling grip of her fingers on his arm. She clung to him tightly, forcing herself to sound like she was having fun.
Ellie always tried to project strength, even in her darkest moments. He remembered how, after being beaten nearly to death by loan sharks, she never once showed her fear to him—not in words or actions.
But Julian knew. He always knew.
Now, in moments like this, she allowed tiny cracks to show, small glimpses of her vulnerability. Even then, she tried to mask her fear in playful tones.
Julian could acknowledge this and comfort her outright, but he remembered his therapist’s advice from his childhood: sometimes, the best way to help someone who hides their pain is to simply be there.
So that’s what he did. He said nothing, offering his silent presence and wrapping an arm around her waist, holding her close to remind her he was there.
This comfort wasn’t only for her—Julian felt uneasy as well.
He didn’t know what it was; whether it was the heavy vibrations that he was feeling everywhere, or if it was the weird humming that was whispering from the Radiant Gate. And even though he couldn’t see it at all, he knew that it was colossal just for the fact that he could hear the hums also coming from everywhere.
He was just feeling… confused.
“It almost feels like we’re about to dive deep into the ocean,” Ellie whispered, her voice quieter now as she pressed closer to him. “It feels… suffocating somehow.”
“Hm,” Julian replied, his fingers brushing against her arm to reassure her.
And as the vibrations grew stronger, Victoria’s voice once again resounded from the speakers. [We are entering the Radiant Gate in 3… 2…]
Julian instinctively held his breath, his body tensing as the vibrations intensified, clinging to his skin like a second layer. But then, almost as quickly as they came, they were gone.
The vibrations vanished. The humming silenced.
And so did Ellie’s warmth.
“Ellie?” Julian’s voice was sharp, breaking through the silence as he realized her presence was gone. His hand reached out, searching for her, but he found nothing.
But as he sat up straight, he also realized another thing—he wasn’t sitting at all, nor was he standing.
He was just floating, floating in the nothingness of darkness.
“What… what are they doing to him, Jayce!? What are they doing to our baby boy!?”
“Charlotte, please… they’re only checking on him, okay?”
And all of a sudden, Julian once again found himself wrapped around the familiar voices of his parents. And now that he was calming down, he finally felt the familiar feeling of this place of nothingness—it was the very same void he had experienced back on Artemia, when he was pulled down into Erin’s grave.
Memories.
Memories from when he was a little boy, a toddler. Memories that he shouldn’t even remember.
“He was fine! Our Julian was fine! Why… why is he…I told you, Jayce. I told you a hundred times that I didn’t like this place at all! We… we should have stayed at—”
“We would already be dead if we stayed! They would have murdered him! Charlotte, just please… I know… I know it’s hard, but please… we’re supposed to be a team.”
“Then support me!”
“I am! What do you think I’m doing…? Did you think I wanted our child to be… to be different?”
From how they were fighting and shouting at each other—was this the moment they found out that there was something wrong with him?
It was probably hard for them, Julian thought. To have a defective child.
“This… this is my fault… I knew… I knew that you and I, Jayce… that we weren’t supposed to be. I… I should have been content with just the two of us... I shouldn’t have… I shouldn’t have brought him into this world.”
“Don’t say that… we both wanted this.”
“There’s nothing wrong with him, Jayce. He’s perfect…”
“I know.”
The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“We… we don’t belong here, Jayce… We don’t belong here.”
“Julian, what’s wrong?”
And as Ellie’s voice suddenly cut through the darkness, Julian once again found himself wrapped in her warmth and her weight. The vibrations, returning and once again harassing his senses.
“You just kinda spaced out on me while we were talking,” she whispered, poking his cheek in her usual playful manner.
“We… were talking?” Julian’s voice held a tinge of confusion as he tilted his head, trying to recalibrate himself to his surroundings. “What were we talking about?”
“What? Seriously? We were talking about—you know what, it doesn’t matter. We’re here.”
“Here?” Julian repeated, tilting his head again. This time, he focused on the vibrations outside, and sure enough, it was different from what he remembered before he blacked out.
“I thought we were going to pass three Radiant Gates?” he asked, bewildered by how quickly they seemed to have arrived.
“We… have.” Ellie’s words stretched as Julian could feel her leaning closer to him, “Wait, don’t tell me you fell asleep? You were literally just talking a while ago.”
“I… was talking?” Julian was now even more confused. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have any time to ask what exactly went on as the car doors opened for them.
And almost immediately, a familiar scent overwhelmed his senses—a scent so vivid, so raw, it felt out of place. It was almost devoid of the metallic tang of technology and instead carried the earthy aroma of untouched nature. It was the scent of adventure… of Artemia.
“Wow…” Ellie stepped out of the car while holding Julian’s hand, “...Look at this place. I’ve never seen so many plants in my life, Julian. I’ve seen holographs of Mars, and even that doesn’t compare to… this.”
“I don’t think copying Mars was their intention,” Julian replied quietly, inhaling deeply. The scent wrapped around him like a memory. “I can smell Artemia in this place, Ellie.”
“Artemia…” Ellie whispered, her voice carrying a sense of wonder. “...That’s the country in the Otherworld, right?”
And before Julian could answer, Victoria once again made herself known,
"It is what they call their planet, Ms. Summers.” Victoria said as she once again gestured to the two to follow her, “And Mr. Winters would be right—Humanity Engineering has spent a decade configuring the plant life on Ceres-9 to be as close to what Artemia has natively. It has been a difficult journey, of course. Now, please… I do believe they are already waiting for us.”
[These Humanity Engineering have quite the fetish, huh. They made their android so life-like… isn’t that illegal.]
“MEGAN? Shhh…” Ellie hissed, instinctively covering her watch as MEGAN’s avatar appeared on its small screen. She shot a quick, apologetic smile at Victoria when the android glanced back, masking her surprise. “...Maybe it’s not the best time or place to be talking about them like that. And… wait… Victoria’s an android? I… didn’t even notice. I thought she was just stern.”
[The two of you don’t have to worry, I’m overclocking myself so that when I detect anything suspicious, I’ll immediately contact the space force.] MEGAN whispered, [I’ll be quiet for now. Over and out.]
“She’s… been really happy lately, huh?” Ellie softly chuckled before wrapping her arms around Julian’s again, “But this place—Artemia’s really like this?”
“Yes.” Julian tapped his cane on the ground, his senses literally extending through the vibrations around him as he inhaled deeply. “Minus all the tech I’m hearing.”
“Tech…?” Ellie glanced back, but their car was already gone, “What tech?”
“There are multiple cameras around us, Ellie.”
“There… are?” Ellie stiffened slightly, standing a little straighter and adjusting her dress as the words sank in. “It… just feels like we’re in a large garden. And that flower’s glowing! Was… that what you meant earlier?”
“Hm.” Julian hummed, he couldn’t really confirm since he wasn’t sure himself. The scent might be similar, but there was also something different about it.
There were other people there too, all wearing lab coats. Ellie tried greeting one of them, but it was almost as if they didn’t even see her at all as they just rushed to whatever it was they were doing.
“Everyone… seems so busy.”
Victoria continued to lead them across the sprawling facility, her heels clicking against the ground in rhythmic precision. Soon, their path took them through a panoramic tunnel, where the glass walls offered a sweeping view of the vast jungle outside.
“Huh…” Ellie brushed her hand across the glass, wondering why they suddenly put up a barrier. But as she saw some of the tall and large leaves moving from afar, she quickly retracted her hand and just continued following Victoria.
As for Julian, his breath was slightly taking a pause as he could hear several creatures from outside the tunnel. Before he could actually make them out, however, they reached a large biodome.
The biodome was devoid of trees, instead hosting an expansive garden bursting with color. Orchids and plants Ellie had never even imagined lined the pathways and walls. She turned her head in awe, unable to comprehend the sheer variety of flora.
But then again, with thousands and thousands of habitable planets discovered, it would be rarer to actually know all the plant life reflecting in her eyes.
There were rows of colorful flowers throughout the biodome, some even crawling across the walls of the dome itself, the color was almost too much for Ellie as she just instinctively focused at the center of the dome, where she could see several people already there and looking at them.
“Mr. Winters, Ms. Summers. Please, go ahead,” Victoria said, halting just shy of stepping onto the metallic platform that stood in stark contrast to the natural surroundings. “The others are already waiting for you.”
“O…kay?” Ellie also bowed her head when Victoria did.
“Thank you, Victoria,” Julian said.
“I am only doing my job, Mr. Winters.”
“But still, thank you.” Julian insisted before he and Ellie made their way to the center of the dome, where the people all let out different reactions as they approached. Julian could hear most of them letting out sighs of relief, while the others… did not seem quite welcoming.
“Julian Winters, we have been waiting for you.” A man with a loud, and robust voice almost like the sound of a drum was the first to greet Julian. The man stretched out his hand to him, and Ellie had to nudge Julian before he shook the man’s hand.
“Oh… right. I apologize.” The man cleared his throat, “My name’s Michael, I am… well, I don’t really have a set position in the company. You can just say I am one of Humanity Engineering’s… data analysts.”
“Hello.” Julian hummed, “My name’s Julian, and this is Ellie.”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Ellie.”
“Oh… no, please…” Ellie raised both palms, smiling awkwardly as Michael greeted her. “...Just pretend I’m not here.”
“Right,” Michael nodded and clapped his hands as he stepped back. “Since we’re all here, I suppose it’s fitting that everyone introduces themselves.”
“Do we really have to?”
“But we already know each other.”
“There is nothing wrong with introducing ourselves again.”
“You really think the blind guy’s going to make any difference?”
And as the other people gathered there started talking, Ellie could not help but slightly gasp as she did not like the tone some of them were using at all. She was about to say something, but Julian pulled her closer as soon as he felt her starting to get agitated.
And as the chatter continued, Julian raised his hand, instantly silencing the room.
“May I ask why you invited me here?” His tone was casual, almost disinterested. “I still don’t know why I’m here.”
“Oh, right. Right…” Michael cleared his throat, “...Well, Mr. Winters—we have gathered the 5 of you here, not counting the lovely Ms. Ellie, of course, to explore a dungeon you should actually be still quite familiar with—the beginner dungeon near Ethaca, or rather… the hidden quest that you and your party discovered.”
“Hm.” Julian tilted his head.
Right. It had been Humanity Engineering who bought the information about the Hidden Quest.
And if the others here were also personally invited…
“Then I suppose everyone else here has a Unique Class?”
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