Prelude 

      Five hundred years, and I have never felt the world so full of chaos. I can feel it in the air I breathe. I can feel it in the ways I see. Everything around wails at me, the world is nearing a cross of ways. Fear overwhelms me whenever I try to look. I dare not look at it! 

      A thousand human worlds will burn, trillions of scars, oh how foul the air will be. Yet I cannot look! Fear overwhelms me. 

      Immortals shall fall, angels will die, and demons shall ascend.  

      Gods will become mortals, and mortals will transcend, all at this, in one single cross. 

      Mortals will weep, immortals shall despair, and gods will be torn to shreds. All in this maelstrom of the world. 

      But I cannot look yet! The cards are still in the air. Falling!  

      A trillion falls, all so very overwhelming, my eyes are blinded!  

      The world enters a rut of souls, who shall rise? Who will it be, that escapes the trap of a trillion souls, and will they take me with them? Oh, how I fear. 

                                                              First look at the clouds 

‘pipipipi  pipipipi pipipipi’ 

       He raised his hand sleepily to wave off the alarm. It was 7 am again. He had to wake up. Once more, just like yesterday and the day before, everyday starting with the same sound. The same movement of the hand. 

       He stayed lying a few more minutes, staring with empty eyes, at the digital screen on the sleeping helmet. The screen had a few options for him to pick. He could choose to watch the latest news, he could choose to go on the local market to go shopping, he could even choose to do a manual search for civic activities. Kira thought this was a joke. All these options, and yet, the only one he wanted to pick was not available.  

       He suddenly grabbed his helmet, yanked it off, and threw it on the bed a bit annoyed. 

       He had a full head of jet-black flowing hair, sharp eyebrows, tall nose bridge and dark purple eyes, glowing with a dull light. You could not tell if the glow emitted was purple or not, that faint it was. 

       He shook his head lightly from side to side, making his hair wave slightly. He did this as if to throw something on his mind aside, and slowly turned his gaze towards the window. 

      Twin sky towers took half the view away, dozens of bridges connecting them together. In between one could see even more buildings, a veritable forest of them, white dots buzzing around them, which if he closed his eyes and paid close attention to, he could feel slightly through the window. A low hum, a slight vibration, almost imperceptible. An omnipresent sensation. 

       Kira was tired of this view. As impressive as humanities achievements seemed to be, he Kira, was tired of them all. 

       A small sigh escaped his mouth, he lowered his gaze lost, then suddenly, he forced his eyes to brighten, he raised his hands and lightly slapped his cheeks. 

       ‘’Enough of this. I just woke up. I should take it one step at a time.’’ seemingly encouraged, his lips formed a calm smile and he slowly got out of bed, his hair forming a waterfall behind his back. He went to the wall opposite of the bed, and waved his hand in front of it. The wall split open to slowly reveal a dresser filled with clothing. The purple tainted neon light of the dresser, shifted to a clean white, once the dresser was fully opened. 

        “What should I wear today” Kira said with a smile. He picked up a black jacket and black pair of jeans and put them on. “Not enough” a small frown on his face. Turning his gaze back to the dresser, he grabbed a black belt, then he changed his mind and grabbed the white one instead. 

        “I should switch things up a bit today.” Satisfied with his choice, he grabbed a tall pair of black boots that had purple stripes on them, and then moved to the side of the dresser. He waved his hand again, and a mirror, slowly formed on the wall. Before the mirror finished appearing, he looked down, connected to the boot's controls, and switched the color of the stripes to white. When he looked up, what he saw looked interesting to say the least. 

        “It looks human I suppose. Oh yeah, I forgot” Kira grabbed the inside of his right sleeve, and a couple of clicking sounds were heard. A neon pattern then appeared on the black jacket; the fake leather lighting up with purple neon shapes.  

         ‘Tsk’ he fiddled with his jacket a bit more. “No, no purple today. And I'm getting tired of these patterns.” Thinking up to this point, he decided it was best to just search up a different pattern and add it to the jacket.  

          With that in mind, his eyes glazed over and he went online, and searched the latest news. He liked to be in touch with the news, he thought that was the least he could do, to stay connected with reality. His news feed was customized by him personally. It had 3 rows, each one covering a wider area.  

           The first one, was the sector he was in right now. Moving thumbnails, one after the other appeared, showing the local news. When he focused on them a concise summary of the news was presented. Most of the news were concerning the VMV. 

           His thought again drifted to that place, one which he could never interact with. Again, the loneliness had creeped in, somehow someway, an add, a simple thought, anything to remind him of how he was alone in this world overflowing with people.  

           Shaking his head, he moved on to the city-wide news feed. This is where the most important news from the city’s 20 sectors was gathered.   

           Quickly switching feeds again, he moved to the last one. The global news feed. Kira checked this one out every day. Big trends, geopolitics, global economic trends, important tech news, all of it was here. All of it was compiled by a specialized AI, and Kira always liked looking through it. Shifting trough, it a bit, he did not see anything that inspired him. It was the usual news, nothing that he could use as a pattern, no picture that encapsulated what the day was about. Annoyed, he exited the neural interface, and fiddled with his jacket again. He clicked until the neon pattern disappeared entirely. “Whatever, nothing is fine to, right?” tough looking again at the mirror, his black and white tall boots and white belt, made for a stark contrast to his jet-black hair and clothes. 

            Kira decided this was it, so he next went to the bathroom. The bathroom was the only other room of his small apartment. This is all he could afford with his corporate pay, and if he were honest with himself Kira did not need anything else. He was not much of a materialist.  

            The bathroom had retractable door which duly opened when it sensed him, showing him the small space inside. He went to the mirror and pressed his hand on the side of it. The matte surface turned reflective showing his figure. 

            Turning the water on, he splashed his face. Next, he picked up his brush and prepared his hair for the day. The brush passed through his messy hair, and what it let behind was a smooth silky look. He had paid a lot for it, but it was worth every single credit. This was yet another expense, given to him by his parents.  

           “It's getting pretty long again, maybe I should have it cut.” Finishing, he tied his back hair into a high ponytail, using a white bracelet and the front one he let drop, covering his face from the sides. The hair cascaded all the way down to his chest.  

            Finishing his routine, he slowly turned his gaze towards his reflection. 

            Looking at himself in the mirror, a sense of unease slowly crept inside him, it was happening again. With a wave of a hand, he closed the door to the bathroom, and with a single thought he closed the light in the bathroom. The room was covered by darkness. Only one thing remained in the mirror. 

            ‘I'm not running this time; I want to see where this feeling is coming from’ 

            The low glow of his purple eyes. Every morning he would do this. And every morning they seemed like they glowed brighter and brighter. Sometimes Kira felt that if he looked deep enough, he might see the root of all his problems.  

            The more he looked in them, the more the unease took root inside him. After just a couple of seconds his hands started shivering and with swift a move of his hand, he opened the door again. 

            ‘huf huf huf’ ‘Open the lights, what is wrong with me, calm down!’ finally after thinking it, he issued the command to open the lights again. The lights flickering as they opened. 

            Looking up at the flickering lights, his brows creased, and he thought ‘Maybe I should have them changed. Damnit! Yet another thing I need to pay for.’ As he leaned with his hands on the sink, he hastily breathed in, his hair drawn by gravity covering his face.  

            Lately it had been different. This was his morning routine, ever since he could remember, looking into his eyes in total darkness. And every time, he could sense his feelings clearly, which calmed him down. Lately however, something else took hold inside him. It was fear. 

             It was no longer loneliness, but fear also, and not from him, but from all around him. A fear he could not calm down, akin to a physical one, one who comes when in front of deep dark chasm. 

             He suddenly took a deep breath, which was moments later followed by a long sigh. “Today again, I failed to...Doesn't matter!” 

             Lifting his head high, he got out of the bathroom, went to the dresser, got a black backpack, with a 3 white stripe logo, filled it with his gym gear and put it on. 

           ‘I need a path to White Tigress Gym.’ After issuing this request to his neural gear, a white pulsing circle appeared on the neural display. After a couple of seconds, a map with a route appeared on the interface. It had the path, the time he had to wait for the airbus, and the availability of the gym.  

                      He went to the front door, opened it with a wave of his hand, and exited the apartment. The hallway his apartment was on was a simple one. Light brown grainy textured walls with some plants made for indoor lighting. The plants were placed at regular intervals, in pairs, one on each side of the hallway, and they climbed up the walls where they were placed, forming arches with one another. They were quite pleasing to Kira. The vines and wide leaves covering some of the monotonous color of the walls. 

            Quickly reaching the end of the hallway where the turbolift was, Kira noticed there were already 4 people there waiting for the lift. He frowned hoping the lift would not have to many people in it, but judging by the long trip to the balcony, this ride would stop many times. Mornings were always like this, especially since people were encouraged to wake up early and do something, besides lay in bed, or connect to the VMV.  

            After waiting for a couple of minutes, the small turbolift doors opened with an unmistakable sound, waking everyone from their neural interface.  

            Kira got on, and after a small trip where the lift stopped and picked up multiple people, it opened its doors wide allowing everyone to get out at once. Through the doors, wind blew lightly allowing the air inside to be refreshed. 

             Exiting the lift, Kira stepped outside. What greeted him were trees, with concrete walkways in-between, crowded by people. One of the many plazas of this building.  

             The left side of the plaza was open air with a glass railing, as to not obstruct the monotonous view of the city. The other thing to note was the low noise of the city, generated by millions of flying vehicles. The plaza was high giving one room to breathe, this place being one of the more in tune with nature spots that the mega building had.  

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             Kira checked his guide again, and went to the platform. As the plaza was indoors, the landing platforms were on the left side, where plenty of airbuses were already landed, loading people onto them.  

             A red line warned people not to cross it, as that was the landing strip of the plaza. Kira went to the platform and checked his time. As he waited, he went onto his interface to play some music. 

           As the song started playing, the noise from the surroundings was slowly tuned out, allowing him to hear only the sound of the song. As he stood there, he let the music flow through him, making him forget about everything. The surrounding crowd slowly disappeared from his perception, slowly making him feel what he always looked for, solitude. 

           A white cylindrical vehicle slowly landed in front of him, a flickering purple forcefield slowly deactivated itself as the doors opened. He quickly found a seat and sat down. The doors closed, the forcefield flickered back again and disappeared shortly after, the vehicle gently lifting, he could not hear the engine sound because of the tuned-out sound, but he could feel its vibrations.  

           As the airbus left the megabuilding, it gathered speed, slowly getting further and further away. If one were to look from far away, they would see the airbuses and maintenance vehicles of the corporations, on the backdrop that was the gray megabuilding. It looked like a swarm of white dots were leaving and coming to the grey hive that was Megabuilding 5. The megabuilding had plenty of plazas on this side of the building to make it look like a hive. 

           As the airbus left the shadow of the megabuilding, the sky line cleared itself up, revealing the whole of the city. From horizon to horizon, the sky was filled with megabuilding’s. As the airbus was low inside the forest, the sun did not shine much at this level, but sometimes, the sun managed to penetrate deep inside the forest of buildings, forming sunlight waterfalls. As the airbus passed through them, Kira could feel his body become warmer, calming, and soothing his emotions, only to have it abruptly end when entering the shadow of the city. After a while, the air bus joined one of the air paths for travel, and that is when it started accelerating even faster than before.  

           It blasted passed building after building, tough if you looked at the vehicles in front and behind, you could not tell. They all traveled at precisely the same speed. After about 10 minutes of flying, the airbus left the airpath and slowly decelerated, joining a lower one. This air path led straight to Kira’s destination. The Red Palace. 

         A red pyramid, with a cut down the middle of it, only until the halfway mark of it. This opening in the building was where the swarm of white colored vehicles, were buzzing about. The pyramid was huge. It had no other buildings in its vicinity, so once the airbus took you out of the mega block forest, and you laid your eyes on it, everything else stopped being of importance, demanding your full attention. 

         The Red Palace was one of the cities amenities palaces. If you wanted anything related to entertainment this is where you would come to.  

         As the airbus entered the cut made in it, for a split second, the only thing Kira could see, was the opening on the far side of the pyramid.  

        As his eyes adjusted, on both sides of the pyramid, myriad of sources of light. You could see the openings in its walls, littering both sides of the interior. Each opening had a distinct color, making for a spectacle of light. In the very center of it all, stood a curved skybridge uniting the split pyramid. This is where the grand plaza was located. The closer you got to the skybridge, the more expansive it seemed. The airbus landed on the right edge of it, a constant stream of white vehicles accompanying. 

        Kira quickly got off, and checked his guide. The turbolift he was supposed to get on was close. As he focused out of his neural interface, he was greeted by the skybridge covered in green plant of all sizes, a small jungle inside the palace. As the skybridge was caved in, if you stood on its extremities, you could see all its splendor from those two spots.  

        The walk to the turbolift took only a few minutes, but those few minutes were enough to allow you to see the marvel that was the Red Palace Skybridge. Plants from all over the sector, each one more alien then the next, carefully selected to coexist with each other on this skybridge. The management of the palace really went all out in trying to make the entrance to the palace special. Everyone had to pass through this zone to get somewhere inside the palace, so everyone was forced to walk amongst the flora of a thousand worlds. Hundreds of walkways, through this huge alien forest. Some wind was allowed to pass through the forcefield of the skybridge, gently rustling the canopy of the foreign trees. 

        Swiftly arriving at the lift, he got on and finally reached his destination. He went every day to the gym, mainly because he had nothing else better to do. But if he ever had someone to talk to, he would tell them it was for the reason of staying connected with his body.  

       As he was finishing his workout, and alarm went out on his interface. 

       ‘Sigh. I even forgot about my appointment...’ The said appointment was in a couple of hours, plenty of time for him to get bored out of his mind. As he exited the gym, he went back to the skybridge, ready to head home. 

       As he was traversing the paths of the skybridge, he suddenly thought to take break from his routine, and decided to head for one of the many glades the forest had to offer. He slowed his pace, and tried to calm himself down, from the routine he had subscribed to for the day. Slowly leaving the turbolift paths walking the gentle forest walkways, he began the think about himself again, something he would do from time to time. The meaningless job he had, the friend list which he always had empty, the wish list which he never started writing, all because he never thought it was worth it. What for he thought. Walking through the forest he began to realize that he had never had a good look at the plants around him, never once stopping by to just, look.  

      ‘How beautiful’ he thought. Plants of all colors and sizes, harmoniously weaving each other. Trees covered in climbing plants, with all sorts of flowers sprouting from them all along their length. As he looked at them, as he took all this in, his thoughts all began slowly disappearing, eventually leaving only the scenery behind.  

      Calmly approaching the opening in the forest, he could see sunlight shining through from somewhere above the open space. The artificial light fell at an angle, from who knows where, forming a waterfall of light passing through the trees. All the light fell on the center of glade, where a bench stood surrounded by knee tall, flowers and grass. A verdant green given by the warm sunlight was all the eyes could see. 

       As he took all this in, Kira just stopped walking. He eyes cleared up, and he just smiled. 

       “I've passed through here for 10 years straight, and never once have I just stopped to look.” said Kira in a faint voice. The glade was empty, he did not bother with hiding his thoughts.  

       He slowly approached the bench, sat down, took one deep breath, and leaned back on it closing his eyes as he did.  

       He stood still, allowing only the feeling of the wind blowing on his skin and the sounds of the grass being hit by it, to register in his mind.  

       Gently opening his eyes, he saw a clear sky and pure white clouds drifting slowly, being carried by the wind. The more he looked, the more he forgot.  

        “All the time I have spent in this world, and never once have I stopped to just look up at the clouds.” a small tremor to his voice. Suddenly he put on a wide smile ‘’ What have I been chasing all these years, everyday filled with the need for something I couldn't grasp, and in this one moment, it all disappeared’’ 

       “Hahahaha, hahahaha, HAHAHAHA!” the glade lit up with his joyous laughter, unfettered sounds filling up the whole space. “WHY! Why is it that I, Kira, am so joyous right now. WHY! Why is it that all my life, I chased after something that never was to be, only to miss such happiness, such contentment. WHAT A PITY! TRULLY WHAT A PITY! HAHAHAHAHA!” 

        Smiling, he swiftly gazed all around him at the plants surrounding him, the grass under his feet and sounds of the wind. With a tremor in his voice and incredulous gaze he said “HOW! How is it possible that I have missed such beauty. The way the grass bends to the wind, the sound the trees make when giving way to the wind to pass through them...” shifting his gaze upwards, speaking softly” the way the clouds go along the wind, not caring when they would be dispersed, when they would be put back together.” 

        Letting himself fall silent for a minute “...not caring if they are alone or together. How beautiful, how fitting. How at peace” 

       He put his hand to his chest, closed his eyes and felt “This feeling of supreme contentment with world. What is it? NO! It does not matter. I am finally at peace.” He then turned to the bench, sat down, and closed his eyes once more, allowing himself to simply feel, just like the cloud felt when moved by the wind, just like the grass felt when bent by it, just like the tree felt when it allowed through it. 

      As he sat on the bench, immersed in the feeling that he never once felt in his life, Kira started glowing. A dull, purple glow, imperceptible to the eye. The air started glowing, and then the plants, until everything around glowed purple.  

      With no one to be witness, Kira glowed, a soft smile. 

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       In a dark room, a hologram of a planet stood in the center. All on the edges of the room stood desk near desk operated by quiet people, absorbed in their work.  

       The holographic globe in the center of the room, had various flashing dots on it, each one appearing for a while then disappearing quietly. In one of the desks at the edge, and alarm went off startling everyone in the room. After a momentary pause, everyone went back to work as if nothing happened. The operator of the desk in question, got up and went to a side room. At the door, the operator stopped and waited. After a while, the door slid into one side, allowing the operator in. 

       As she got in, she spread her legs shoulders apart and placing her fist on her chest she saluted. A man in all black attire stood at a desk, overlooking some holographic list, engrossed in his work. 

      “What is it?” said the man curtly, without even looking up from the hologram. 

       “It’s the subject you have asked me to pay attention to sir. “said the operator. 

       At her words, the man froze, and after a few seconds of silence, he looked up and asked “Any disturbance?”  

       “No sir, no such thing, it is a peaceful event” said the officer without having noticed the slight tremble in her superior's voice. She continued “but the subject is showing clear signs of awakening. Perhaps with a couple of days of guidance he will....” 

        “There will be no need for it officer." said the man, swiftly cutting her off. “Delete any record of it happening. And not a word to anybody about this. Ever.” 

        “YES SIR! But commander, this will put you in danger, if this gets out...” at his officers warning, his expression softened, and he said.” Officer Firana, there are two things which we, military personnel, must do. One!” at this point the officer brief pause to make sure his subordinate was focused and continued. 

       “To follow orders. And two: to not ask questions, since those are for our superiors to ask.” at this point the officer's eyes went wide, and she couldn't help but blurt out. “What Battle General gave you...”       The man's eyes turned cold, shutting down any further questioning from his officer. “Get back to work and execute my orders. Also standby for further orders” at which point the officer saluted and exited the room. 

       After the officer left, his eyes glazed over as he connected to his interface. “Requesting permission to call Battle General Kirana. Priority level 1.” as he waited for the connection to be made, he thought about General Kirana’s reputation in the past few decades. The more he thought, the more he was averse to the call getting patched trough. 

        His thoughts were abruptly interrupted by confirmation. “Request accepted. Please stand by for bandwidth collection. Bandwidth collected, please wait for connection establishment.” These were the words that appeared on his neural interface.  

        As the call got established, the commander steeled himself and spoke calmly “Commander Gamand, Sir! I have news on the subject you have asked to track.” after saying all this he stopped speaking, finding anymore words to be unnecessary for her.  

        The silence that followed was unexpected for Gamand, he had expected a swift order, definitely not silence. After about a minute Gamand was in a dilemma. He did not know what happened. Had something gone wrong? Did the call not get connected? He checked his interface and as he thought, it said a call was currently in progress. Should he say something and confirm from the other party if the call was smooth. No! What if he angered the general with unnecessary words. Just as he was reaching his spirit limit, a calm, stoic female voice was heard. 

        “Any disturbance?” Gamand relieved, answered steadily. “No sir, the subject has had a peaceful event, but signs of an awakening are as clear as they can be.” 

        “Hmn. I understand.” Gamand thought he even heard a soft sigh, but not daring interpret her tone he remained quiet. 

        “Gamand, it's been a long time since you’ve served on my ship, and 25 years since I've given you this order, but I remember your deeds and contributions. You are a loyal soldier. I am going to ask you now to be loyal to me and not question any orders I have. Are you okay with that?”  

         At her words, Gamand was reminded of his time on the ship, and all he and his collogues went through, and all their precious commander had gone through for them. All the battles in which she fought alongside her crew and for their orders. At his remembrance of it all, he stood on his feet, saluted, and shouted “YOUR ORDERS GENERAL!” 

         “Mhm. Good. I want you to set your most loyal officer to extract the subject, and send him to one of these worlds, preferably one he likes. If needed, you choose one for him. Give him a life there, only the bare minimum. Do not go overboard with his setup. Remember commander, no one must know what he is, who he is, where he is. That includes the subject. He must also not be notified of any of this. Do this in secret, even for him. Do not inform him of anything. This should not be too hard for you, commander Gamand. Further reporting on the matter will have priority level 2.” 

          “Understood General.” The call ended swiftly. Gamand contacted officer Firana, and after a short wait she entered the room. After a brief ponder, he said “Prepare extraction of the subject. Do it in secrecy, have no one know of it, you may use any tools at our disposal. I will give you the protocol in a short while. Go prepare. Also, Firana, as before, let no one know of the reason behind this.” 

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            As Kira slowly came back from the state he had been drawn to, a smile adorned his face. After so many years, he had found what he must do. “I have finally found what I must not do.” 

            ‘sigh’  

          Slowly, he lifted his face and looked around the small glade, at everything around him, at the beauty of the world. 

            “Someone made this place for humans to be in, but they only had one bench set up.” smiling knowingly. “What a pity “gently shaking his head. “How beautiful the clouds are, and not many bother to look up.” 

          On his interface, an alarm flashed, giving him the news that he had missed his appointment with his counselor. Smiling, he thought that life was so free now, that he did not know what to do with it. 

          He suddenly had a thought. “I'm hungry! I'll go eat now.” With a face full of smiles he headed home to eat. ‘I'll probably sleep afterwards if I feel like it, and after I wake up? HAHAHA. There I go again. Thinking.’  

          As he left the forest opening, he did not bother to look back. A glade which in its entire existence, had been visited by merely one person. A beauty for which humans, no longer have eyes for.