Sikhail GodFiend’s vision was dominated by walls of glass. He looked around, noticing a lab behind the glass. He hid, only to see a team of scientists watching over and working with a group of soldiers. He soon discovered that the mirror was one-way, that he was the observer.
An experiment was being conducted, and the soldiers had different reactions. Some were calm and collected. Others were agitated. They did their best to stay calm against involuntary violent responses. There was also a group of soldiers restrained in the corner. They were fierce and irrational. Soldiers stood on each side, ready to react in case of emergencies.
He felt safer knowing that they couldn’t see him. He stood up and examined the room he was in. As the minutes passed, he realized there were no doors, handles, entry terminals, or any sign of an entrance. It felt like a locked room mystery. However, if he got in somehow, he could also get out. It would just require a bit of creativity and time.
To ease his boredom, he kept some of his attention on the scientists in case they mentioned anything about this secret room. Instead, he heard them discuss how the soldiers felt, their lives outside the military, their families, friends, and reasons for enlisting.
This small talk made him realize that the soldiers walked into this voluntarily instead of being forced using coercion. However, the sensitive nature meant it was most likely controversial. He eventually picked up some context on the relevancy of the experiment.
“I don’t know yet why your muscles don’t stay enlarged, but that’s what we’re trying to figure out. We can deal a fatal blow anytime if we want to harm you. Remember, we’re doing this to understand and correct the problems,” a female scientist explained.
The berserk soldier only lashed out crazily, not caring for anything.
“His sanity is slowly eroding. If we don’t find the cause, the same thing might happen to the rest. I DID encourage them to wait, not act impulsively,” another scientist said helplessly.
“It’s too late for that now. You’re aware of how desperate things are. Why else would these emergency rooms be set up,” the female scientist replied calmly.
Unbeknownst to anyone, something was happening to the restrained soldiers. Something seemed to be crawling underneath their skin.
A powerful light ray emerged from the soldier’s mouth as other rays came out of the eyes, nose, ears, pores, and anywhere else there was a hole. They combined, increasing the overall brightness in the room to levels that would blind a human. It seemed transparent at the same time, sort of like it was in a different plane. At the same time, the berserk soldier began to relax. Color returned to their face as they showed signs of regression.
The ray of light scanned the room, looking left and right. It circled the room, pulling rays of light from the other berserk soldiers. It grew bigger, becoming brighter and more luminescent. It didn’t seem interested in the room’s artificial light sources.
Its attention was suddenly shifted to a particular direction. It traveled until it bumped into the wall-sized mirror. The target of attraction seemed to be beyond the glass. It kept bumping into the glass, trying different things. It adjusted the color of its light, brightened and dimmed, even going through a length extension. None of it accomplished anything.
It became so agitated that a squeal could be heard. The mirror shook under the weight of this force. The ray of light became light particles as they flew through the glass.
——|——|—|—|——|——
Sikhail GodFiend was looking for a gimmick that was tied to the entrance to the room. His gaze would wash over the accumulating light particles, oblivious to their existence. They inched forward, shimmering with excitement.
It would cause bizarre but positive reactions where it went. For example, energy capacitors instantly maxed out, electronic glitches were reset, and gigantic electronic files would immediately download or transfer.
The strange behavior made him vigilant and put him on high alert. If someone strong entered, he’d be noticed in a heartbeat. With all of the equipment just lying around, he would’ve noticed long before anything happened unless they chose to rush at him without a care.
Suddenly, a brilliant light was right in front of him. He felt like all his thoughts had been exposed, but he couldn’t find the source. The ray of light jumped into his pores, blood, bone, marrow, and DNA, breaking down into light particles. The pure light blinded him temporarily. At the atomic level, these particles approached a double helix strand that seemed to flicker with a spark of light. The helix mutated upon contact with the particles, producing three magnificent light rays.
Within the eternal void of the first light was an endless universe. The endless chaos formed a hidden world within the second light. The infinite cosmos in the final light nurtured a civilization of mysterious inhabitants. It all vanished when the mutation was complete, as did everything that came with them.
His body rebuilt itself around a new foundation as exhaustion overwhelmed him. He collapsed as the pure light in his vision turned into rays of light from his eyes. They would recede, becoming some type of dream state.
Two voices, one ancient and the other charming alternated in his mind, but he couldn’t hear them.
[***After so long, we have finally found salvation. This young one is of the legendary GodFiend strand, the mythical Ethereal tier. He can reach absolution, maybe beyond.
This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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This universe holds such a deep history, each stronghold unfathomable. The roots we’ve planted, the effort we’ve invested cracking that thing. Sharing the golden key with flesh and blood kin is not bad.
|———|
With these custom crafts, he will outshine the stars and moon, flip the void inside out, forge the chaos, and redefine the cosmos. With strength, why any need for fear?
|———|
One day, perhaps… home is where all things begin. Gifts like these, truly nothing much***]
As the voice faded, a dream realm appeared inside his mind.
Fantastic images bombarded him as the dream slowly solidified. Dozens of mechanical suits were engaged in combat. His eyes widened as he saw shotguns firing successively without reloading, pistols penetrating layers of woven steel effortlessly, and bullets that only made sense in a magic show. Dots of light swam through a sea of rusted metal as a sense of awe rocked his heart.
He was pulled back to reality as multiple shots landed near him. They trailed away from him, but panic still overwhelmed him. He ran towards the tallest building he could see, even as the world warped around him, shifting between reality and fantasy. Had he taken a psychedelic substance?
Only when he was behind cover, out of danger, did he collapse as the world returned to normality. Adrenaline became fear. Only after taking deep breaths did the thoughts from before disappear. Questions about what was happening started appearing in his head.
He had collapsed from exhaustion, only to wake up in a shape-shifting world. Was he actually dreaming? If he was really in a dream, then this dream was too real. Could he die in it? He didn’t want to find out.
Another explosion rocked his surroundings as a handgun slid across the ground, landing nearby. A mechanic suit collapsed just in front of it. Two hands slowly pulled the helmet off, revealing a kid. Their gazes met, and the kid used the last of his strength to hand over the gun. He smiled as his body was devoured by a ray of light.
The ray of light pierced Sikhail’s eyes, invading the depths of his soul where there was only absolute darkness, illuminating it. One became two, becoming four, eight, thousands. As the light continued to increase, they dove one mile down into his soul, ten, a hundred, a thousand. They came upon a stairwell only after diving what seemed like millions of miles.
The light probed it. It shook, seemingly excited. Then, like a human walking, it traversed the steps. Countless sparks of light appeared along the way. Pure and colorless. An illusory moon was ultimately revealed, the way a painter paints on a canvas. The light screamed before diving in.
After a while, a statue appeared. It was a humanoid figure in a full-body cloak. Suddenly, the outer layer began to crack all over, shattering. A ghostly phantom emerged, seemingly made out of the eternal void. Neither man, woman, child, beast, or alien. It laughed in an odd and weird tone. Its voice crackled like thunder. The only distinguishable features were the glowing red eyes and domineering smile.
Strapped to its back were a plethora of golden guns. No distinguishable characteristics, but the form factors resembled shotguns, machine guns, revolvers, and artillery.
It pointed at something, beckoning him to come over and enter a door that had appeared within it. Where the door led, no one knew. Unexpectedly, Sikhail had appeared in this strange place at some unknown point, taking steps into the unknown. He was aware of the changes in his surroundings. His muscles were twitching, trying to resist the call, but simultaneously, this was his body, so there was no reason not to trust himself.
The phantom was overcome with joy after Sikhail disappeared into the endless abyss, laughing uncontrollably as it fell onto the ground. When it calmed down, it looked at the other two statues that had long since appeared. It walked over and sat cross-legged before them while the light surged into the moon.
——|——|—|—|——|——
After Sikhail GodFiend closed his eyes, his body began to glow as a ghostly phantom materialized behind him, seemingly made out of the eternal void. It wore a full-body cloak bathed in a sharp candy-red aura. The whole set-up had some charm to it. Floating around it were golden guns that were barely recognizable. No distinguishable characteristics, but familiar form factors.
Shotguns, machine guns, revolvers, and many other heavy-caliber guns.
The glow turned into a bright light as a second phantom materialized, standing beside the first. It was reminiscent of the endless chaos, wearing a full-body cloak bathed in a mist-green aura. The golden guns it carried resembled every possible rifle archetype.
The bright light turned into a magnificent sun as a third phantom materialized and stood between the two. It represented the infinite cosmos and wore a full-body cloak bathed in a stone-blue aura. The golden guns it wielded resembled pistols, submachine guns, assault rifles, and many other archetypes with different flavors.
As the full might of the sun became one with him, the phantoms slowly faded. The intense twitching in his muscles began to calm down. When he opened his eyes, he couldn’t see them but could feel their presence. They had his back; they would fully support him.
The memory of how he got here naturally became clearer. What was originally a haze became crystal clear. He thought about how it could’ve been someone else. Fate, or a lucky chance? Regardless, it was his opportunity now, and he would make the best of it.
‘The feeling deep within my heart, my soul, my guts. The red phantom reminded me of strength, fortitude, determination, and perseverance. Those are the defining traits of a Warrior. The green phantom reminded him of precision, lethality, taking advantage of the surroundings, and spotting opportunities. Is that not a Rogue? The blue phantom. Mysterious. Profound. Unfathomable. What else but a Magician?’
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Those veterans. I walked in their shoes. Saw what they saw. Felt what they felt. Understood what they understood. Trained how they trained. Made the mistakes they did and learned from them. Experienced countless life-and-death situations. Hundreds and thousands of veterans over many generations.
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The more I experience it, the more I understand it, and the more it becomes my own. Experience comes with time, but knowledge remains forever.
|———|
This dream is the perfect place to begin,’ Sikhail recollected everything he knew.
He retraced his steps, finding a good vantage point as he observed the situation. Closing an eye, he took out the handgun and acted like a sniper going through the motion. A phantom in a cloak smiled, lifting a finger. He swiveled the rifle, searching for a target. He located an isolated soldier and began to concentrate. As his focus intensified, the face inside the helmet lit up like a bulb.
The phantom factored in the location, weather conditions, and possible resistance into a series of calculations. Modifications appropriate for the intention appeared as the rifle changed its parameters to allow the components to fit.
Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as he touched the trigger with his fingers. A quick tap as the phantom slashed out with a finger. The helmet was gone. So was the head. It was a clean cut, almost like the soldier was beheaded. The body slumped down. There was no sound during the entire process. Not even from the pin sliding back.