Icarus patiently waited as his platform ascended through the floor of the domed chamber. Two days had been plenty of time for him to come to terms with his inevitable demise.
Soon enough, his platform settled in the middle of the room. He wondered if there would be anyone to witness his final moments.
From what he was told by the Sentinels, people were sucked into rifts when their bodies' incompatibility with Sever energy reached a critical point. They would then be sucked into a rift, leaking a great deal of Sever energy in a small radius.
If any of the Notched were nearby they would meet a gruesome end. Regular humans would be primed with Sever Energy and either become Notched or be sucked into a rift and continue the chain of Sever Energy exposure.
As he peered out into the circular room, he saw no one. As he suspected, it would indeed be a lonely death. This was the reason the people of the slums were mostly powerless. The mere chance of dying through Sever incompatibility was enough to turn most away.
"RIFTING OCCURING IN TWO MINUTES"
The chime of the robotic voice only served as a grim reminder of what was going to happen to him. Tears began to well in his eyes.
'I-I don't want to die like this! I.... didn't even get to say goodbye! I can only hope that everyone makes it into the city... '
Icarus sniffled as he tried to stop the never ending stream of tears erupting from his eyes. Through the blurriness he saw a change in the room. A rectangle of light appeared in the wall as a figure walked inside of the domed structure. He tried to get a better look.
The figure stopped at the edge of the red line.
Icarus finally wiped away his tears. He wanted to get a good look at the person who would be there in his last moments.
A woman stood far in front of him. Her green hair fell softly upon her shoulders. Her eyes, while still as bright as ever, had deep bags beneath them.
"RIFTING OCCURING IN ONE MINUTE"
Icarus placed both hands on the barrier as he called out to his elder sister. He was now glowing a faint green.
"THALIAAAA! I'M.... SORRY!"
He struggled to keep a strong face. He didn't want to show her any more weakness. If Ace had to pass on without tears, then he would do the same.
She ran past the red line and to the barrier, crossing the distance in only a few moments. He could see the tears gathering in her eyes. All traces of composure were gone from her face as she struggled to speak to him.
"Icarus! I-I'm sorry. I-I h-had to do it. W-We weren't going to last if we staye-"
He raised a radiant hand, stopping her. His smile peeked through the light.
"I know sis... You don't have to be sorry... Do me a favor and tell everyone else that I loved them!"
The voice chimed once more.
"RIFTING IMMINENT"
Icarus looked at his incredibly bright body. He was beginning to lose sight of his own form.
"That's your queue, you can't die here, everyone else needs you!"
Thalia stared at him solemnly for a few seconds, watching him grow brighter. She then jumped backwards a few times, easily covering the distance to the red boundary. She planted her feet planted firmly at the edge of line.
Icarus could no longer see anything but green. Closing his eyes, he braced himself.
Thirty seconds passed.
A minute passed.
Two minutes passed.
He tenderly opened his eyes, expecting to see green. Instead, he was once again greeted with the vision of the domed room. All that remained of the green radiance were thin wisps of green light. They flowed into him from the air itself. He looked behind him; the man-eating rift was no where to be seen.
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'Huh?'
[Alert! Icarus, your ******* has rejected banishment and embraced salvation.]
Icarus nearly jumped out of his skin. He had completely forgotten about his floating companion's existence during his confinement.
'You said what? You cut out there for a second!'
[You are becoming one of the Notched.]
'But I thought..... what about my bracelet?'
His eyes immediately scanned his wrist. The stone band glowed a bright blue.
[Your ******* has performed a feat of unapparelled difficulty. Prepare for salvation.]
'What is he saying? That one word keeps get- ARGHH'
A searing pain caught him completely off guard. His body was almost finished absorbing the thin wisps of light. Each one that entered his body only magnified the intensity of the heat he was bearing.
Icarus fell to his knees as his legs gave out beneath him. Foul curses escaped his lips while he was assailed by waves of mysterious energy.
"ARGGHHHHHH"
Thalia observed the spectacle from the red line. Her tears were long gone, replaced instead by a wide smile. Thoughts of relief flooded her mind.
'He's becoming Notched?! This is unprecedented!'
She planted her feet, prepared for what was going to happen next.
As Icarus writhed on the ground, the pedestal began to shake violently. It continued to do so until it could no longer withstand the energy and cracked violently. Immediately after, there was a deafening shockwave as the invisible barrier popped. Icarus was left lying on the cracked stone.
He slowly crawled back to his knees as he began looking over his own body.
"I-I'm alive?"
Overflowing with joy, Icarus jumped into the air.
"I'M ALIVE!!"
He looked down, surprised to see that he was over a dozen feet off the ground.
Unprepared for the fall, Icarus crashed into the floor.
'My body feels.... strange. That will definitely take some getting used to!'
A familiar chime rang in his ears.
[User Icarus. You have become Notched! Our calibration shall continue.]
Icarus looked up from his spot on the floor only to see a hand extending towards him. It belonged to Thalia. He gladly accepted her help, rising to his feet.
Soon after, the doors opened again and a man entered the room.
It was the same Sentinel from the first time Icarus was brought to the facility. His wide smile from the that day was long gone, replaced by a face of stone cold impassivity. The man rose his hand and pointed at Icarus.
"Thalia, surrender the boy. He must be analyzed. The Truth Bands are never wrong."
Thalia stepped in front of Icarus, shielding him.
"Well it looks like today they were. If you want him, you're going to have to go through me. And if you somehow win, good luck explaining who it was that you killed."
Icarus watched silently as the Sentinel and his sister stared each other down. The man was the first to relent.
"Fine. This isn't over though. We will have our answers."
Thalia then grabbed Icarus by the hand and walked past the man. Without looking back she responded.
"Maybe, but not today."
With those words, Thalia led Icarus from the domed room and into the lobby. A high pitched voice called out to him.
"Huh?! Guys look its Icarus!"
"That's not funny Ze-... GUYS LOOK!"
His siblings voices merged together as they charged at him with tears in their eyes.
"ICARUS!"
Tackled into the ground with lightning speed, Icarus was giving no time to defend himself from their overjoyed onslaught. He joined them in their tears as he embraced them back.
"I love you guys!"
Thalia looked on approvingly.
*** Hours Later ***
Icarus jumped onto his bed, dead tired.
The trip home had been full of vivid conversation. His little brothers and sisters spoke of how they were in a similar facility to the domed structure except that they were placed in spherical steel orbs for the duration of their transformation. He wondered why that was the case.
Thalia also let him know that there were now hundreds, if not thousands of Notched now living outside of the wall. Some traveled into the main city, but many stayed outside. The memory of being left outside to be torn apart by Sever Beasts was still fresh on the minds of those from the slums. Even if being outside the walls meant death, many people's hatred of the city prevented them from thinking rationally.
It was a great deal of information for Icarus to digest, leaving him burnt out.
He hugged his handmade mattress gratefully. He had grown to miss it after spending a couple days sleeping on the stone cold floor.
'I never thought I'd get to sleep in this thing again! This is pure bliss! I just feel like I'm forgetting something... Oh! Warden!'
[Icarus. You called?]
'Yea, you said calibration would continue.'
[Calibration has been completed and two new functions have been unlocked. Personal assessment and the Atomic Auction-House. Simply think the words 'stats' to view your personal assessment.]
'Oh that's right! Thalia explained this earlier! So uh... stats?'
A green and translucent screen appeared in front of Icarus.
He looked down.
---
[Personal Assessment]
Name: Icarus (Rus)
Age: 15
Height: 70 Inches
Weight: 140 Pounds
Notch Grade: Bruiser (1)
Sever Capacity: 100/100
Merits: N/A
Chisels: N/A
Titles and Privileges: N/A
---
'Wow, this is uhhh... this is a lot. Just tell me the things that are immediately applicable.'
His companion whirred.
[In summary, your basic physical capabilities have been enhanced. You can use Sever Energy for body recovery, or for additional physical enhancement. Do note that body recovery is incredibly draining on your capacity. To learn its other uses, you must ascend to the next grade.]
'Alright. So how will I fare against a grade 1 Sever Beast? What about other Notched? I might have to deal with a couple Notched thugs in the coming weeks.'
[As you are a novice in Sever Energy usage, you will most likely be easily dispatched by a Sever Beast. Against an enemy Notched however, you should fare better. Humans do not possess the same deadly natural tools as the beasts on your planet.]
Icarus yawned heavily. He was tired after hearing about the state of the slums from Thalia. The long explanations from his companion were only helping to put him to sleep.
He had a final thought before he drifted off into unconsciousness.
'All I know is that I'll finally be able to land a hit on Thalia! Oh man, can't wait for the next training match.'