1502 (OuterSpace)

"What happened?!" A scream tears through space.

Two goddesses are floating just outside of Earth's atmosphere.

Sani starts pounding her fist weakly against an invisible barrier surrounding the small planet.

Her eyes light up for a second, but they promptly return to normal after nearly fainting.

Aristi quickly wraps a supportive arm around her Mother.

One second they had been with Hototo and Montear, and the next they were sucked out by an opposing force.

"Mother..." Aristi murmurs quietly.

Sani turns to look at her daughter but notices that her gaze is locked on something in front of them.

When she turns to look for the object that has her attention, she feels a cold dread settle into her core.

Far in the distance, lights of varying colors are floating ominously. They easily number in the hundreds.

"No, not now." Sani sobs in despair and anger.

"We need to go, Mother," Aristi says heavily.

"I'm not leaving them. No, not my son. Please.." Sani whispers to her daughter.

Aristi feels the tears roll down her cheeks. She can't help but think of her beautiful baby brother. The innocent little soul that she swore she would protect.

The lights suddenly start growing larger.

“We can’t save them.” She cries with a broken voice. “You just gave birth, and I used all of my energy to help Montear survive. If we fight, we won’t win.”

“Then I’ll die with them!” Sani screams at her daughter.

“Mom...” Aristi sobs.

Just then, a blinding light appears in front of them.

Sani floats in front of her daughter protectively.

“Jabez?” Aristi asks with disbelief over her Mother’s shoulder.

“Hello, big sister,” Jabez says with a grim face as his light gradually dims to less blinding levels. “Mother.” He nods to Sani.

“I’m sorry I’m late. I received word from our scouts.” He turns to regard the lights that have stopped moving since he arrived. “They said that the Trinity had crossed the divide in mass. I followed the energy signatures here. The scouts are notifying my siblings for reinforcements… the others should arrive within a day.”

He stares at the distant lights warily.

“We should leave.” He glances back at the pair of goddesses. “Your energy seems weak Mother, I assume it has something to do with birthing my newest sibling…although, I don’t understand why yours is weak sister.”

He notices the look of sorrow on their faces.

“What happened?”

It’s then he notices that neither of them is carrying a baby.

“What happened?”

Sani lowers her head and shakes it slowly.

“Mother, where is it?”

“On Earth...” She looks at Jabez with despair. “We were forced out. It must have been them…. I swear if they hurt him.”

“Easy Mother,” Jabez says soothingly. “Nothing’s going to happen to my baby brother.”

He turns to look at the lights dotting above Earth. Each one is a member of Trinity. Though they are individually weaker than he, together they are a dangerous threat with their pooled energy.

He exhales slowly and flexes his covered muscles. He stands at a great height, with gold plated armor and a head resembling that of an orc. He gives the opposing forces a smirk.

“Let’s begin shall we?”

He flies toward the opposing forces with a roar.

Elsewhere in unknown time and space….

In an empty void stands an entity beyond most mortal’s comprehension, and it’s staring at an infant frozen in a silent wail. The baby has a look of intense agony.

The being seems to finally make a decision and points an outstretched tentacle towards the child.

Suddenly, the infant is released from its catatonic state, and an ear-shattering wail bursts forth from its tiny mouth.

The entity moves forward until it’s mere inches from its face.

“Endure…Montear. Endure until the pain is nothing but a thought, for this is a necessity to our survival.”

It wraps its tentacle around Montear’s head, and suddenly his cries rise in volume.

The baby starts shaking uncontrollably, and its skin seems to shed as it grows in size.

After mere minutes, a tall muscular man stands where the infant was crying. His hair is long, his skin is tan, and his eyes are incredibly dark. A serious expression surveys the space around him.

“Mmmmf” Says the man as if he has a hot potato in his mouth.

“Ah, yes. You will need to learn a language.”

The man hears the voice and jolts back in surprise.

The entity shimmers for a moment, and asks, “How about now? Better?”

The man nods after feeling a sharp jolt in his head. “Yes… Who are you? Where am I?”

“You can call me the Origin. As for where you are, you are standing in your own mind.”

The man dons a curious expression. “My mind?”

“Yes. Out there...” The Origin points to nowhere in particular. “You are still a baby, floating within my grasp. Hidden from all who may harm you, Montear.”

“Montear?” The man asks with almost childlike innocence, “Am I Montear?”

“Yes.” The Origin changes shape until it’s an exact copy of Montear, except for the fact it’s just a black mass. “You are Montear. The son of Sani, the first consciousness of this universe, and Hototo Howahkan, Soul Weaver of the Ilum.”

Montear gives the copy a stare before finally nodding his head.

“Ok.” He looks at himself as if bored with the conversation. “Why do you look different?”

He points at his own arm and then gestures to the shadowy arm of the Origin.

“Because we are different.” It replies. “I am reality itself. Though, the actual explanation would be much longer, and far too difficult to understand with your current intellect.”

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

The Origin is fixed with a blank stare before Montear finally speaks up.

“And what am I?”

The Origin seems frozen for a long time before it finally answers.

“That’s almost as complicated…if not…more so, to explain.”

It walks forward before finally standing a breath away from Montear.

“We will need time for you to understand. Luckily, we have plenty.”

It rasps out in a monotone voice before stabbing a tentacle into Montear’s head and chest.

A scream rings out into the endless void.

Current Day (East End)

Montear wakes from his sleep with a jolt.

“Monty your awake!” Shouts a young voice.

He sighs and rubs his eyes in a haze.

“Yeah, I’m up buddy.” He sits up and stretches in an overt fashion.

When he turns to get up, he sees a young Asian boy standing at his bedside with an excited face. He has dark hair with a dirt-smeared face. Unfortunately, his clothes aren’t in much better condition.

“I can’t wait! I can finally get my own Holo-pup!” He jumps up and down quickly.

Montear can’t help but smile. “Alright Isaac, let me just get changed and we’ll head out.”

Isaac nods happily and runs over to his own bed. The other kids in the room watch the boy run with unveiled envy.

He can’t help but sigh at the sight. The jealously running throughout the orphanage is palpable, and can easily rear its ugly head at any moment.

He pulls out a pair of worn jeans, and a black t-shirt.

Today is December 25th otherwise known as Christmas, or as the orphanage calls it, the Birthday Collective. There is absolutely no chance of all the orphans getting a present for both Christmas and their birthdays, not that they even know the real birthday of most of these children, seeing as how most of them had been abandoned on its steps. So, the orphanage's solution was to declare Christmas as everyone’s birthday. That way they only have to celebrate once with a bit of cake and a ration of meat.

Though this year has been especially tough, so they won’t even be getting that.

To make it up to Isaac and to celebrate his 8th birthday, Montear decided to save up to purchase a new Holo-pup drive from the Eden Outer City Mercy Station. Isaac had been building his own holo-projectors for the last year, ever since he saw one of those rich Eden kids with one on an old propaganda leaflet.

“I guess it helps to be a boy genius.” Montear thinks to himself. “All I have to do is buy the software to speed things up.”

“All right, let’s go, Isaac.” He calls out to his friend. He has been watching over Isaac since he arrived here 4 years ago. It’d be safe to consider him more of a brother than anything.

As they walk out, they're fixed with ugly stares from the other children. Even a few of the older ones give him a vicious stare. Not that they would likely do anything nowadays. He made it clear that Isaac was under his protection years ago, and ever since Isaac started making his inventions (some quite lethal), they didn’t bother him when Montear wasn’t around either.

Right when they are about to step out of the worn, yellow door of the orphanage, a large pudgy hand clamps down on Montear’s shoulder. He’s spun around with a hard yank and is stuck staring into the beady eyes of the head nun, Sister Gretchen. She fixes him with a hard glare and glances at Isaac.

“And just where do you think you’re taking that brat?” She asks with a whiny voice.

The head nun is speaking down to him with a surety only one in power and control could have. She is solely responsible for most of the scars that decorate the skin of the orphans under her care.

The other nuns weren’t too bad, they just required you to listen to them. Sister Gretchen however, took great joy in inflicting punishment on her “wards.” Out of all the children, Montear has the most scars. It would be harder to find a spot on his skin that’s scar-free than to find the latter.

Montear sighs to himself, and straightens his back, towering over the short, round woman.

Although he does look sickly thin, he still has a large frame. Enough, to make the sadistic nun shrink back.

“I’m taking him with me,” Montear says with a hard edge to his voice. His face scrunches up in a mask of anger.

Today is the Birthday Collective, and that means that not only has Isaac turned 10, but Montear has also turned 18. As of today, he is too old to stay in the orphanage. He would have to leave, and Isaac begged to follow. Although Isaac is able to take care of himself fairly well, he knew that his disappearance would devastate the boy, so he agreed to let him come, but warned him of how much harder it would be now. No guaranteed housing or food, and much more violence. Still, he readily agreed.

“Look at you.” Sister Gretchen sneers at him after recollecting herself. “You’ve grown some balls now that you're leaving, but you’re not taking him. Don’t worry though, I’ll make sure to take good care of him for you.”

She quickly reaches forward and grabs Isaac’s arm, giving it a hard yank. She hauls him over to her and is about to drag him into her sleeping quarters before she gives a sharp yelp.

She suddenly lets go of Isaac, and he scrambles over to hide behind Montear.

While holding her side, she makes a mad dash to hurt Isaac, but Montear steps in front of her, forcing her to stop in her tracks.

“I suggest you step back and resume your daily activities. Otherwise, you might not like what effects your actions have.” His voice has lost its emotion. The words coming from him feel empty. Gone is the anger that he displayed, and instead, there remains a blank slate on his face.

Somehow, the nun feels more on edge. The hollow look in his eyes gives her a bad feeling, and so she steps back.

Her hand grips tighter around the wound on her side. A small bit of blood drips over her fingers.

“A wise decision Sister Gretchen. One that might have kept you alive another day. Farewell.”

He unceremoniously turns, and nudges Isaac out of the door, before following him.

Once they fall into step and walk out on the dirty sidewalk, Isaac finally turns to observe Montear. His face has returned to normal, and he no longer presents that emotionless face.

Montear looks at him and gives a light chuckle.

“Sorry, guess I scared you.”

Isaac shakes his head.

“No, I know you wouldn’t do anything to me Monty. It’s just interesting. Do you feel any different when that happens? Does your vision go red like a tomato? ” His small voice says curiously.

That makes Montear start laughing out loud. “You really are something buddy. No, it's more like I'm looking out from the middle of a long dark tunnel. It feels like...It doesn't matter. I would never hurt you, and that's all that's important.”

Isaac smiles and nods happily. “So where are we going after we finish up at the Mercy Station?”

“We should find ourselves a spot at the scrapyard that we can set up for ourselves before tonight.”

Although there were a few buildings left standing in each Outer City scattered around the walls of Eden, few were available to reside in. Unless of course, you were a member of the gangs who claimed ownership of them, and joining one wasn’t on Montear’s plans for Isaac.

“Ok, then I can test out my holo-projectors!” Isaac says happily.

Soon enough, they reach the Mercy Station. It’s an opening on the side of the walls of Eden. Just a small enclosed window with an enormous hatch to retrieve anything you might have purchased. It’s a highly stressful area to be in. There is always the chance of being robbed for whatever you just purchased. Neither the clerk on the inside of the glass nor the guns hoisted on the massive wall would bother helping. The only real downside for stealing is that you would be permanently banned from purchasing anything from the Mercy Station.

The fact that most of the stuff here was horribly overpriced would encourage most people to do so, but then again it’s the only possible way of getting good medicine, food, entertainment, etc. If you were to fall ill, you might regret your decision. This is why the smart thieves steal away from the wall, and the smart buyers would purchase things they could use or consume at the wall, right after purchasing. The holo-pup drive they were purchasing was neither, so they would have to be extremely careful.

They soon find themselves in line for the Mercy Station. There are only 2 people in front of them so, they don't have to wait long.

Once they reach the front, the clerk working the station asks, “What do you need?” In a bored fashion.

His face, hair, and clothes are impeccable. He would easily be the most attractive person in East End, their Outer City if he ever decided to stay there.

The surprising thing, according to the ones who have entered Eden to work, is that he’s only average within the great city of Eden. It is truly amazing what food and healthcare can do for a person. Then again, from what they hear, there is quite a bit of body enhancement going on within the city. Apparently, it’s become fairly common.

“We need a driver for a holo-pup,” Montear says.

The clerk raises an eyebrow. “You know you need holo-projectors for it right?”

Montear nods his head at the clerk.

It’s not surprising the clerk made that comment. After all, no one is really going to spend their work credits for an expensive holo-projector when survival is the goal.

The clerk shrugs at the two. “Ok, let me pull it up.”

An image suddenly displays on the glass.

There are a name and hologram next to each. Pups of all colors, breeds, and sizes are on the screen.

“Oh, Monty look at that one!” Isaac points at the bottom of the screen.

After the provided pup breeds are all the adult versions of those dogs, and then at the very end are recommendations based on the search word provided. The one Isaac is pointing at is an all-white wolf with blue eyes.

“It looks great.” He responds. “How much for the white wolf?”

The clerk clicks on something, and responds, “200 credits.”

Montear sucks a breath between his teeth. “Why is it 50 more credits than the pups?”

The clerk yawns. “Because those are the prices. Do you want it or not?”

200 credits are a month’s worth of work if you were lucky enough to get that much consistent work.

Montear had been saving up for a while, but every bit he had to spend felt like a blow to the stomach. They had to survive after all.

Isaac gives Montear a tight smile. “It’s ok Monty. We came for a pup, it’s unfair for me to pick something else."

“We’ll take it,” Montear says as he plugs his credit stick into the slot on the wall.

He promised Isaac he would get him a great gift, and he was sure Isaac was nervous for the future. If he could ease some of those fears with a great gift, then so be it.

“But Monty- “

“It’s ok buddy.” Montear rubs Isaac’s head. “Happy birthday.”

“Ok.” The clerk says. “You can pick it up at 8 a.m. tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow?!” Montear exclaims. “Why is that?”

“Because I said so.” The clerk says nonchalantly.

Montear is about to yell again but feels Isaac pull on his arm.

When he looks back at him, he sees Isaac point up.

The large guns on the wall have turned to aim at Montear.

“Be sure to be here at 8 a.m. sharp.” The clerk smiles.

Montear glares at him, but can’t do anything other than coming back tomorrow.

When they start walking to the scrapyard, Isaac asks, “What do you think that was about?”

“I don’t know,” Montear responds. “But I have a bad feeling about it.”