When Midas entered the back room of Old Owl’s Repository, sometime that evening, he found himself stepping into a strange scene.
Aether sat inside his pod with a helpless, aggrieved expression on his face. His mouth constantly moved as he seemed to be muttering something while waving his hands around.
This was still within the constraints of normalcy.
What was strange was that Vix and his captain, Fox, were kneeling around Aether’s pod and praying to him.
“Whoa, what’s going in here, man?” asked Midas in his signature laid-back, curious-as-a-cat tone.
His voice seemed to strike at Aether like lightning as the latter immediately jerked in reaction, pointed at the new entrant, and exclaimed, “Hey look! Literally anything else! Please get up!”
Fox and Vix also reacted to Midas’ entrance. Raising their backs, they turned to face their teammate in unison and spoke, “Ah, Midas. You’ve come at a good time. Come now. Pay obeisance to God.”
“Okay!” exclaimed Midas in reply and excitedly approached the party.
“NO! Not okay! It is not okay! Why would you say that it’s okay!?” yelled Aether, his throat parched from screaming earlier.
“Why not? It seems fun, man,” replied Midas, also kneeling next to Aether’s pod. He then joined Fox and Vix in praying to Aether.
“May God bless us in this upcoming competition. May God carry us on his back and bring us to victory. May God forever bless us with improved skills so that we may lord over the other competitors.” Such were the prayers of the trio.
“Guys, stop it. Please! I am not your God!” cried Aether. There were times when even he felt ashamed. This was one such time.
“Only a true God would deny his divinity,” muttered Vix after taking a deep breath. His eyes shining with fanatical light, he said, “That would mean…”
“HE IS OUR GOD!!” Yelled the trio.
“What!? What sort of claim is this!? What am I supposed to say now!?!” Aether began regretting his decision to join this team.
After what felt like hours of convincing, the trio finally stopped bullying Aether. However, the fanatical light within their eyes did not reduce in the slightest.
Walking over to the table, Aether grabbed a chair and slumped over the table. While their victories seemed flawless and fantastic, Aether, being a newbie to the game, had spent an enormous amount of mental energy during their session. Not only in the matches themselves, but also in the process of familiarising himself with the game and its mechanics. Their later worship of him did not help in his recovery either.
Seeing their ace, their God, tiredly slumped over the table, Vix, Fox, and Midas finally felt a little guilty. Of course, it was only a little.
Faking a cough to rid some of her guilt, Fox asked the bony youth, “What took you so long? If you had come a little earlier, you could have witnessed our greatness!”
“I had to ink a few naggy customers. They were sooo annoying, man!” replied Midas, exasperated. He then continued, “I also went to register our team like you had asked, captain.”
Midas retrieved the button-like device from his pocket and shared its screen with the others. A large screen filled the air and the words [Team Registered Successfully] were displayed.
“Midas! You did great!” Fox exploded with excitement and hugged Midas. Her hug was so powerful that Midas felt himself gasping for air in just a few seconds. “Le…t me… go… ma…n!”
“Alright, now. Break it up, Fox.” Vix stepped in and broke the bear-like hug. He then retrieved the device from Midas’ hands, while the latter gasped for air, and scanned through the confirmation document.
His eyes read through the clauses and conditions with great familiarity. When he almost reached the end of the document, his eyes suddenly stilled. A tense atmosphere hung around him.
“Midas,” called Vix, his tone tense. Even Aether, who had been resting over at the table, could not help but perk up under his voice.
“Yea, Vix?” asked Midas, innocently.
“What. The. Hell. Is. This?” Vix pronounced succinctly, clearly pronouncing each word. His index finger pointed at a certain section of the holographic screen, displayed on which was…
[Team Name: Fox and Friends.]
“Team Name: Fox and Friends. What’s wrong with it, Vix?” blinked Midas. He then pointed his finger at Fox and continued, “I followed the captain’s word and registered the name according to her orders.”
Akin to a phantom, Vix turned his head with incredible speed. His eyes locked onto Fox, who was slowly backing away with nervousness.
Seeing Vix’s eyes locking onto her, Fox stopped her escape and replied, “Hehehe. Hehehehe.” She wasn’t able to say anything but laugh dumbly.
“Fuu~” Exhaling deeply, Vix pressed on his temple and menacingly muttered, “Fox, didn’t I tell you…”
“TO NOT NAME OUR TEAM THAT!” He exploded.
The pink-haired girl immediately bolted and hid behind Aether’s resting self. “I’m sorry! God, save me!” Vix did not let up and chased after her.
“I’m not your God,” replied Aether instantaneously.
“Aether, save me!!” cried Fox once again, as she and Vix circled around the table in a chase.
Aether watched the chase in quiet amusement for a few minutes. He felt that karma did exist and enjoyed it being served to the girl who had begun this cycle of teasing him.
Eventually, under Fox’s innumerable cries for help, he finally moved. “Alright now, stop running around the two of you.” Aether extended his arms and caught Vix and Fox by their shoulders. Inserting himself in between them, he continued, “Fox and Friends. It’s not a bad name. It’s quite cute.”
“See! Even our God thinks so!” Fox mocked Vix with her eyes.
Hearing her, Aether quietly moved aside.
“Wait! I’m sorry! I won’t call you God again! Save me, Aether!” Fox cried once more, hiding behind her saviour.
“I think so too, man! It’s kinda cute,” urged Midas.
Under their persuasion, Vix finally folded. He shot a resentful gaze at Fox and quietly mouthed to her, ‘I’ll deal with you later.’
Fox, of course, pulled her eye at him, mocking him once again. Another cat-and-mouse chase followed. Eventually, order returned from chaos, and the party sat down at the table.
Midas was filled in with the details he had missed today which resulted in him also joining the ‘Aether Fan Club.’ Time ticked by, and nighttime approached.
“Oh, I’ll only be able to join your guys in the afternoon tomorrow. Is that alright?” asked Aether, remembering that he had his new job in the morning.
“Yep! No problems at all. See you, ace!” said Fox, following which Vix and Midas also said similar goodbyes. Aether then left the shop and headed home.
After sending off Aether, the trip returned to the table and resumed their discussion.
“Oh yeah, why didn’t Cypher come by today?” asked Vix.
“Oh! He informed me that he was a little busy with his job today and couldn’t make it. He promised to join us tomorrow,” answered Fox, remembering the message sent to her by their mysterious fifth teammate.
“I see. Since Aether’s skill is beyond our wildest estimates, we can begin our team practices and strategy discussions,” declared Vix. He was the team’s strategist and was in charge of all the planning. While tapping away at the holographic keyboard in front of him, he off-handedly asked, “Right, when is our first match?”
This time, it was Midas who answered.
“Oh, yeah! Man, it totally slipped me to inform you guys. Our first game is in three days.”
Fox and Vix froze. Turning around to face Midas with looks of shock and horror, the duo screamed in unison.
“WHAT!?”
---
Residence. Whitenoise Avenue.
20:37:28
The siblings sat around the floor table in the living room and quietly ate their bland dinners from the cold, metal boxes. Done with their dinner, they cleaned up and returned to their duties.
Mei occupied the table and sincerely revised her course material in preparation for the upcoming Promotion Exam. Aether, in a rare instance, kept to himself and avoided troubling Mei. Instead, his eyes were focused on the holographic screen in front of him which displayed details about the game’s maps and characters. He was also studying.
After an hour or so of silence, Aether suddenly spoke up. “I’ll be leaving early tomorrow for my new job. It will also be late by the time I get back at night, so don’t bother waiting for me. I’ll just crash downstairs if I return too late.”
“Got it. I’ll wait for you,” Mei indifferently replied, her eyes not leaving the screen in front of her.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Amused, Aether said, “Didn’t I ask you to specifically not wait up for me?”
“Yes,” she curtly replied. “And I’ve chosen to ignore you.”
“Tch,” Aether clicked his tongue. “What a rebellious kid.” His smile, however, never left his face. The two siblings returned to their studies.
After another hour or so, they got up and headed to bed. The lights were cut and darkness engulfed the siblings’ apartment.
---
Next day. On a transport heading towards the wall.
06:10:14
[The transport has left District 4’s city bounds. Please pay attention to your safety. I repeat, the transport…] An emotionless robotic voice repeated.
Aether, who was dozing off inside his oversized hazmat suit, was pushed awake by the passenger next to him, “Oi! Wake up, kid. The briefing is starting.”
“Uh? Oh, thanks,” Aether woke up and thanked the kind-hearted passenger. He then placed his full attention on the person standing at the very front of this fully enclosed freight transporter.
“Rise and shine, boys and girls!” A grave voice drummed. “Rise. And. Shine.”
“I hope ya’ll know what you’ve signed up for, by being here today and if you don't… well, too late. There’s no turning back now. I hope you’ve made your peace with whatever God you believe in.” The man’s voice grimly echoed within the metal transporter. “Cause where we are going…”
“...there are no Gods.”
Aether felt an air of heaviness and depression settle within the transport causing his brows to imperceptibly furrow.
After letting the grim silence hang for a few more moments, the man continued, “Roll call! No. 11!”
“Here!”
“No. 23!”
“H-Here!”
“No. 45!”
“Here, chief!”
“No. 5…” Numbers continued to be called out and answers were continuously received. While most of the people who answered sounded calm and unbothered, a select few gave away the nervousness and fear within their hearts during their answers. Eventually, Aether’s number was called out.
“No. 128!”
“Here!” replied Aether. He seemed to be one of the final few people whose numbers were called up.
“All present and all accounted for. Forty-four innocent lambs walk into the Devil’s garden,” he gravely finished. Then, the man’s cold, cloudy eyes made rounds around the transport and scanned the so-called ‘innocent lambs’.
When the man’s eyes flitted over Aether, the latter felt a discomforting feeling reminiscent of machine oil slathering against his skin. The man’s eyes stayed over Aether for less than a second before moving away, causing the odd, sticky feeling to disappear. Aether frowned heavily at the strange occurrence but did not pay it much mind.
“Instructions,” the man suddenly yelled, “Everyone will work in groups of two. You are partnered with the person sitting next to you. Pay attention to each other’s hazmat suits.”
He then waved his hands to summon a holographic screen detailing a map. “The place you are cleaning today is marked ‘Quadrant 9’ on your maps. Do not wander. Do not stray. And do not leave the bounds.” He paused an eerie pause and continued, “Unless, of course, you want to get blown into pieces.”
“Clean-up will last for 4 hours. A horn will sound to signify the end. When you hear the horn, stop your work and return IMMEDIATELY! Do not tarry and DO NOT take anything! Your petty greed will cost you your life.”
“Separate the organic, mechanical, and electronic waste properly. ‘Load Carriers’ will follow you and will contain all the cleaning materials that you will require. If you exceed the daily cleaning quota, you will be aptly rewarded.”
“Keep an eye on your pressure and pollution filtration gauges. Routinely check for cuts or tears in your suits. You will not be rewarded for adding more work.”
“Stay away from the columns of gases and do not approach the moat. Get too close and you will either be shot or blown up.”
Taking a deep breath in pause, he asked, “Any questions?” Silence answered him.
“We will arrive in ten minutes. Get ready.”
---
“Check for comms. Can you hear me, Luther?” asked Aether, tapping at the console on his wrist.
[Comms are fine. I can hear you perfectly, Aether.]
“That’s a relief,” Aether answered his partner. Staring at the HUD within his helmet, he continued, “Pressure and decontamination systems are working at normal capacity. How about you?”
[Same, same. Both are operating at normal capacity] replied the man standing before him. His head then turned away to look at the distance. [Say… is it just me, or does the wall look taller up close?]
“Only by standing at the foot of the mountain can one realise its scale,” Aether replied with a good-natured quip. Having done his checks, Aether turned around and saw the sight that caused his middle-aged partner, Luther, to be filled with awe.
A wall which reached into the heavens and separated the worlds.
A silvery-grey monstrosity that shielded God’s paradise from the mortal’s hell.
[It’s simply…] Luther seemed to have become speechless at the mighty construct’s majesty. His tongue desperately searched for words before finally speaking. [...huge!]
“Pfft!” Aether could not hold back his laughter. “Huge? That’s the best you could come up with? Huge!?”
[Oh, f*ck off! You get what I’m saying.]
“Yeah, yeah, no… it really is huge. Just like you said,” snarked Aether. The two engaged in some more light-hearted banter before receiving instructions to set off.
[No. 128 and No. 44 will move to Grid 11. Please proceed.] An automated voice lifelessly instructed.
“There’s our cue. Make sure that you keep up, old man,” said Aether. The two then followed the course charted on their HUD’s map and began walking. Following them were two levitating carriers.
If Aether had to describe his surroundings right at this instant, it would be; barren and lifeless. The earth underneath his feet was pitch-black and cracked with not a drop of moisture wetting it. A heavy haze settled in the air surrounding him and gave the world a grey, lifeless tint. Endless stretches of land –except on his front– outfitted with craters and toxic gases stretched as far as his eyes could see and had the same appearance as the earth beneath his feet. Pitch-black and lifeless.
[Say,] Aether suddenly heard his partner speak. [Have you ever wondered how life is? Inside Eden, I mean.]
“What’s with the sudden heavy topic?” Aether asked jokingly, trying to lighten the tension in his partner’s voice.
[Answer me seriously. Do you believe in what those rumours and cultists say? That it is a land filled with life with clear blue skies and vast green meadows? That fresh water and edible meat aren’t merely the stuff of legends, and is instead something available to every citizen? That all your wishes will be fulfilled and your dreams are proven? Do you believe in that?]
Faced with this loaded question, Aether was quiet. His head hung in quiet thinking, his helmet blocking his facial expression from being seen by Luther. After over a minute of silence, Aether raised his head and replied with a sigh, “Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?”
The two adults paused their walk and stared penetratingly at the silvery-grey wall. One pair of eyes was filled with longing and envy while the other pair of eyes swirled with complicated emotions.
[Please resume your walking. Stopping before reaching your assigned destination might be perceived as an act of hostility] reminded a voice inside their helmet.
Daring not to waste any more time, the pair of adults immediately made a move. Their steps quickened and soon, they arrived at Grid 13.
The sight that they saw upon their arrival caused the ever-present smile on Aether’s face to disappear, and Luther’s face to be unnaturally pale. Their bodies stiffened and stilled while the air around them turned heavy and bloody. A few seconds passed in stillness.
Unable to hold back any longer, Luther turned his head around and hurled inside his helmet. His balance fell as his weakened knees plummeted to the ground. Vomit continued to fill his helmet as Luther’s mind continuously replayed “the scene that he had just seen within his mind.
[G-God! T-those sick bastards!!] Luther cried in fear and disgust.
Aether, on the other hand, stared at the scene before him with a rigid and solemn expression. He knew what to expect when he accepted this job from Gocks. However, what he did not expect was the intensity of the scene.
Crimson-coloured blood pooled over the pitch-black earth while countless pieces of body parts lay scattered throughout the field. Torn flesh and incomplete limbs, some of which revealed pieces of their incomplete bones, littered the field and decorated the hell before his eyes.
“Land mines…” whispered Aether, a rock weighing upon his heart at the sight of the slaughter.
---
Old Owl’s Repository.
11:01:23
“Sup, Aether! You are once again early today!” greeted Fox, cheerfully.
“So! Remember how we got our team registered yesterday?” The pink-haired, fox mask-wearing girl spoke with exaggerated excitement, “Well, the craziest thing happened!”
“Midas, over here…” she glared at the guilty-looking bony youth, who was hiding in a corner of the back room, “conveniently forgot to mention to us that the first round of the tournament is starting in 3 days. THREE DAYS!!”
“What more do you want, man? I said that I was sorry!” cried out Midas, feeling wronged. He still couldn’t understand why the others were vilifying him for the tournament starting in three days. It wasn’t like he set the schedule!
“Stop glaring at him,” intervened Vix, who was pinching his glabella in tiredness. Lifting his head to glare at Fox, he continued, “You aren’t off the hook either!”
Unexpectedly, Fox did not rebut his admonishment but obediently took it. She hung her head and whispered in a quiet voice, “...well, it’s not like I stopped you from registering earlier.”
“What was that?” Vix raised his voice in resentment. Only he understood how much tension and anxiety he bore during these last few weeks when they lacked the fifth member and could not register. The looking competition date did not help his cause either.
Hearing his resentment-filled voice caused Fox to perk up like a rabbit and leap towards Aether, “I said, isn’t it great that we waited as long as we did! We couldn’t have found ‘God’ Aether if we had registered sooner!”
Patting the older man’s shoulder, she looked at him and asked, “Isn’t that right, Aether?”
“Mhmm,” Aether mumbled and nodded his head. His downcast eyes and absent-minded expression made him seem out of it.
Only now did Fox realise how strange Aether’s face looked. With worry and panic filling her eyes, she asked, “Are you feeling alright, Aether? Your face is looking awfully pale!” She then pulled his arms and led him towards the corner table, “Sit down quickly!”
“What’s wrong?” Hearing the vivacious girl’s worried speech, Vix and Midas also approached the corner table. Seeing Aether’s wane expression, the two boys felt worried.
“Are you okay?”
“Whoa, man! You look like someone in your family just died!” Midas’ words immediately earned him a piercing glare from Fox and Vix.
“I’m alright,” Aether raised his hands and waved off their concern. “I was just a little absentminded.”
“Are you sure? It’s alright for you to go home, you know? We can totally practice tomorrow! Your health is much more important!” Fox spoke her thoughts.
“She’s right, Aether,” Vix echoed her seriousness. “While we only have three days to familiarise ourselves with each other, skipping one day of practice shouldn’t hurt us too much.”
“Yeah, man! I saw the recordings of your matches yesterday. You were totally awesome!! Get some rest if you’re feeling down.”
“Guys, really. I’m perfectly fine,” Aether gently replied, feeling genuinely touched at his teammates’ show of concern. “I simply had a hectic morning at work. Otherwise, I’m unaffected.”
To show that he was alright, Aether got up from his seat and cracked his knuckles. Showing a smile in his eyes, he asked, “Shall we play a few matches? I had a few ideas last night which I want to try out today.”
The three teenagers looked at each other.
“I really am fine. How about this? We shall play one match first. If you guys think I’m not doing okay, I will stop and go home for a rest. How does that sound?”
“A reasonable suggestion,” Vix nodded his head. Extending his finger, he repeated, “One match.”
“One match,” Aether echoed. “And I’d like to try Virtual. No one amongst our team members is proficient in playing Virtual, are they?”
“Nope!” Fox shook her head. “We are only proficient in Gunner, Cursemaster, PeaceKeeper, and Modder. It was only after you came along that we had a teammate that could play Brawler.”
“Perfect. I’ll play a few matches with Virtual to get a hang of the character before trying the other types.”
“One match! We need to evaluate you!”
“Haha, alright, alright. One match,” laughing at Fox’s cute outburst, Aether entered the pod after it was readied. Midas and Fox also got into their pods while Vix watched.
The match started soon…
“HOLY SH*T! MY DUDE, YOU ARE GIFTED!!”
Midas’ cries rang out.