“That feeling again..”
“... … …”
“Teach?” Marie’s legs strode slower while wrinkles scattered around her forehead.
“When you say ‘other people know about that world’...”
“Three to be exact,” she accelerated her pace.
“Alright, but I never expected more than one person to acknowledge the existence of that place.”
“That’s not the only thing,” Michael chimed in.
“Come again?”
“Those three entered that world and… they’re our friends, too.”
“...”
“It’s… not great, but knowing that they’re our friends, it’s more feasible for them to trust us,” Marie scoped both ways before crossing to Campus Drive.
“That might explain why the logs at Art-Sociology a few weeks ago had multiple traces.”
“This is the first time we’ve seen something like this. What did you remember?”
“I initially thought it was just one person...”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
September 29 - 5:14pm
Hmm! Hmm!
Mr. Richter received a notification on his phone while finishing up grading assignments. The ember app glowed cyber yellow. “Oh no… I need to hurry!” He scurried all of his notes and jammed them into his messenger bag. Taking off at the speed of sound, carrying the weight around him, he hurried to the Art-Sociology building before decelerating near the end. Entering the bottom floor, he tapped the ember app which emitted emerald flames.
Upon generating logs at the Artificial Gallery, Mr. Richter quickly found a restroom and hid in one of the stalls. No one else was present.
Artificial Gallery Report
* Host: Active
* Floors: 4
* Visitors: 3
* * Visitor 1 - Wields Jingum and Electro Vision
* * * Class: Beongae Ssaurabi
* *One who fights with lightning
* * Visitor 2 - Wields Jewel Tablet, Creation Pen, Svi Veret, and Exporting Glasses
* * * Class: Virtual Artist
* * Visitor 3 - Unknown
* * * Class: Unknown
* Activities
* * Floor 1 - No unique logs acquired
* * Floor 2 - Path to the third floor unlocked
* * Floor 3 - Visitor 2 awakens Soul Channel. Path to the fourth floor unlocked.
* * Floor 4 - Visitor 2 and Host become one and the Artificial Gallery remains intact. Host is still active
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
“Shit.” Marie cursed, clenching her phone with her right hand. “Michael, not only do they know about that world…”
“They have their Soul Channels awakened,” Michael’s conclusion left the voice chat speechless.
“What the hell happened to them?”
“Alright, guys,” Mr. Richter calmly spoke. “I’ll need to speak with them about their experiences to understand the truth.”
“Yessir! Michael and I will try to see if we can coordinate a meeting with them.”
“Hey, Marie, I’ll be at campus later for work.”
“Ah, right. If you can find anything on your end, let us know.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 8th - 12:12pm
Allyson and Julia met with Jansen early in the morning for a tailgate with Jackson and Fay. Marie arrived before the sun reached its peak. They all rendezvoused at the Riggs Alumni building. Behind it was the SECU stadium, home to the Maryland Terrapins football team. The group all took a photo together repping with Maryland gear.
Allyson’s grin shone on par with Fay’s.
“Let’s go Terps!” Julia shouted from the top of her lungs.
“Fuck Purdue! This is our house!” Marie wrapped her arms around the artist and roared until her face turned dark red.
Pocomoke Building
Detective Vargas walked to the third floor and entered a large room. There were three long rows with numerous desks structured next to each other. Each seat was occupied by a navy blue shirt employee gluing their eyes in front of the myriad screens.
“Hey, thanks for your help. Did you get the footage I requested?”
“All on this flash drive,” a middle-aged woman with brown hair handed the USB drive to the detective. “Don’cha think this is a weird murder?”
“Believe me, you’re not the only one thinking that,” he let out a deep breath while his eyes suddenly became dark. “No one has come forward with anything. The Big Three are on our asses and demand to resolve this case. The campus is unrested. I’m just running in circles.”
“That’s just part of the job. We weren’t able to find the cause of the blackout that shut down our surveillance cameras.”
“Hopefully, I can find some answers on this thing,” he flicked the flash drive once before walking out the door. “Thanks again for your help. Hopefully, things calm down at the game today.”
“Sure hope so.”
Detective Vargas returned to his office and plugged the USB device into his desktop. He clicked on the newly registered device and noticed many MP4 files. All were in chronological order dating back to the last hour before the blackout.
File name: 092923-2256
On the intersection of Baltimore Avenue and Knox Road, crowds of students were walking around the area. Two Student Police Aides were standing across from Nando’s right on Baltimore Avenue assisting drunk students in passing crosswalks.
Right outside the Cornerstone, Scott, Joe, and Cree stepped out.
No audio was heard.
Scott pulled something from his pocket. He placed it on the bed of his left ear.
8 minutes passed until a black vehicle with “Police Auxiliary” stickers on the sides arrived. Once the vehicle departed, Scott and Joe were the only ones standing.
Detective Vargas had rewind the tape again and paused when the vehicle was motionless. Upon zooming into the car windows, he latched his eyes closer to the screen, attempting to discern the driver.
“It’s a Ford Escape no doubt, but who’s the driver?”
No conclusion was determined.
“Hang on, maybe I can check the SPA logs,” he stood up before closing his eyes and biting his teeth, slightly twisting his neck sideways. “Damn it! They’re all at the game and Jansen’s off,” Officer 277 quickly pinned his vision onto the screen. “Where did that vehicle drop her off?”
He previewed additional footage, showing all areas in that intersection at different angles. Neither indicated the driver’s identity.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 8th - 1:44pm
Michael stepped out of the Edward St John building, pulling his back until it was perpendicular. He carried his legs around the building perimeters to wake them up. Once the blood flowed through his lower body, he returned to the facility and headed downstairs to his work room. Upon entering, two gentlemen were speaking to his boss. Walking past them and inches away from his desk until…
“Hey, you!”
Michael slowly moved his entire body facing the commanding voice.
“Isn’t it a little rude to scoot past us without saying ‘excuse me’?” Scott’s tone was masked in a playful serenity yet his stare controlled Michael’s next choice of words.
“I’m sorry for going past you like that. I’ll not do that again,” the young man’s body froze wanting to step in the opposite direction yet Scott’s demeanor drew him in.
“Since you’re here, you’ll have to work on an urgent matter.”
“What’s the matter that needs our attention?”
“We need you to see who’s been sending death threats to Cree and her family recently. Check all of the attempted sign-ins as her, see who’s been into campus buildings with her within a reasonable time, and find out who’s responsible for the blackouts.”
“That’s…” Michael’s mind began to ache, inches from him swirling his eyes over. “Not a feasible request that I can do.”
“Why… not?” Scott took two silent steps toward him. The bridge between his eyes started closing inward. “Surely, the department that knows all this technology can do something as simple as this? Especially you.”
Michael’s body nearly eclipsed its boiling point, shoulders hardened. Joe curled up an amusing smirk.
“Don’t you remember what happened to your friend?” He whispered into Michael’s ear. “You don’t want that to happen to you, wouldn’t you? Or rather to him?”
The technician felt sharp stings puncturing his entire body. All of the pressure was directed to his abdomen. Inside his mind, he was torn between shouting and filtering all his anxiety and rage. “I’ll… investigate and get back to you as soon as I can.”
“Thank you for all the work that you do,” Scott spoke loud enough so everyone in the room could hear. “We’ll expect great things from our DIT,” he and Joe left the premises.
“Hey, Michael, sorry about what happened,” his boss spoke. “You can take a little breather if you like.”
“It’s ok. I’ll head back to my desk,” Michael walked to his desk, slightly slouching his arms downward.
October 8th - 4:11pm
Allyson and friends grabbed some bubble tea and insomnia cookies. At the south entrance of campus, the group all separated. Julia returned home to resume her job search. Fay and Marie marched to the gym but decided to rest at their apartment first. Jansen shopped at Target with his housemates. Jackson drove to his apartment. Allyson decided to venture back to campus.
Passing through Chapel Lawn, cutting through McKeldin Mall, she climbed the incline leading to the Edward St John building. Right as she approached it, the entrance door to the east opened.
“Oh, hey, Allyson.”
“Yo, what’s up, Michael?” She stopped in her tracks and redirected her steps to him.
“I just finished my shift. How about you?” Michae’s face feigned a ghost smile.
“We watched our team lose because no 2-point conversion. We were all sadge,” she curled her lips down while her eyes remained wide.
“Oh, that’s unfortunate.”
“Yeah, it’s a real shame because it was a good game overall. Oh, want some insomnia cookies?”
“Aren’t they good? Looks like Marie got you hooked.”
“I’m gonna go broke with how pricey this shit is.”
“Mmm hmm hmm,” Michael chuckled, losing joy from his eyes.
“By the way,” Michael stared at her, quite interested in what she had to say. “Did something happen?”
“I’m not sure I understand,” his body spiked up heat instantly while keeping a straight face.
“You seem a bit shaken like, not a bad work day, but like you were told something unpleasant,” Allyson’s brows were knitted while pulling her hands close to her stomach.
Michael for a split second nearly popped his eyes out but restrained himself from revealing the curtains behind his face. “Yeah, something happened. Do you mind if we sit somewhere else?”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The event at work was recollected in a brief synopsis. The lady holding taro bubble tea and two full-sized cookies processed it all.
“Ugh, that creep is bothering you,” her face wrinkled with disgust. “That Scott guy is trying to blackmail you. Can’t let him step over you like that!”
“I wish I could, but I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“He wouldn’t want me to go through like he did.”
With bewildered furrows on her brows, Allyson queried, “Who’s he?”
“A friend of mine.”
“Wait, wait, wait,” she rested her items next to the warm stone stairs. “What happened to your friend?”
“It’s not really in my place to bring that up.”
Allyson rocked her head in defeat. “You know, Michael, this is gonna be weird as hell, but I feel like I’ve met you before on this campus.”
“You have? When?”
“I was sprinting to that building over there,” she pointed to the Administration building. “I got tired and you were giving me advice on running.”
“Oh,” Michael let out a confused tone while forming his eyes in a straight line. “I sometimes go there to get some fresh air.”
“And meeting you yesterday and here today, I get this feeling that you don’t have a lot of interests that I guess the group has.”
Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.
"... … …"
"... … …"
"It's fine that I do things with our friends, but the thing is…" he swallowed the cold air but kept it locked inside. "People don't want to do things that I'm interested in."
"What do you like?" Her eyes ignited a spark of interest.
"Ever play Warframe or Spellbreak?"
"Never heard of Warframe but Spellbreak sounds familiar. Isn't it similar to that Fortnite game?"
"You can say that. I also play card games like trading card sense."
"Oh like Yugioh and Vanguard."
"You know Vanguard?" Michael's eyes rejuvenated with the flames of life.
"I remember someone playing that back in high school but I never got the chance to play it."
"Well, if you like we can play a few rounds."
"I'll take up your offer. Thankfully, Spellbreak is on my PS4."
"Cool! You got Discord?"
"Huh, what dat?"
"It's an app to talk with your friends like gaming, anime, all sorts of stuff. Very casual."
"Ohhh, uh, yeah, I don't have that," Allyson robotically shifted her head left and then right.
"That's OK! What's your PS4 username?"
"Yeah, it's EiKin~~, with those like squiggly lines, 2 of them."
"Like this?" He showed his notes on his phone.
"Yep!"
"I'll send you an invite tonight and play some games soon."
"Looking forward to it!"
Before departing, Allyson offered insomnia cookies one more time to which Michael agreed to take one.
"Hey, Allyson?"
"Hmm?" She turned around with the white macadamia chip lodged in her mouth.
"Thanks for listening. I really appreciate it."
"Oh, no problem," she barely made coherent words with baked sweets hijacking her mouth. "See you around!"
As they went their ways, Allyson had a melancholic curtain fall on her lips while her moist eyes began losing peripheral vision.
"That feeling again… please stop coming back. No more… I don't want all this to hurt me again…"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 9th - 12:44pm
Julia applied for a server position at Kangnam BBQ, a powerful force stretching her entire physical body. In the kitchen, she preheated the oven to 375 degrees. While waiting, she opened up the Discord app and went to the server The United Nations Squad.
#general
Jewels: @everyone hey guys so what do you all think of Allyson? Is it ok if we add her to this chat?
Several people are typing…
Village Protector: She’s great! I’m ok with her joining this chat
Village Protector: it all depends on everyone else tho 🤔
Dos Pantalones: I fucks wit her
Dos Pantalones: she got our vibes all checked 🎶
Village Protector: that’s 1
Jewels: idk why but I’m counting myself as a yes
Village Protector: we got 2
dunes n danes: despite meeting her for the first time, it’s a yes for me 😊
Jewels: I hate you Jansen omg
dunes n danes: :pepesmug:
Village Protector: 3 votes down!
dunes n danes: are we doing majority or unanimous?
Village Protector: same as before unanimous
dunes n danes: 👍
5 minutes later…
Julia threw in a round frozen block of pizza and set the timer to 18 minutes. She checked the chat once more.
Warframer: I think she should be in this chat. She’s got a good character in her
Jewels: she’s something that’s for sure
Village Protector: 5 votes in favor of Allyson becoming UNS
Dos Pantalones: Fay’s at her match today
Dos Pantalones: does she need to vote?
dunes n danes: maybe but that’s not up to me
Village Protector: if it makes it easier, I did talk to her this morning if she was cool with Allyson joining
Village Protector: she was all in
Jewels: then it’s official?
Village Protector: on behalf of Fay, yes, the Board has spoken ⚖️
Village Protector: we can send an invite to her discord
Jewels: idk if she has one. I’ll ask her later
Ding!
Julia noticed a message above her chat. With a nervous twist in her eyebrows, she checked her Direct Messages. The profile icon matched Village Protector.
@Kaguya:
Kaguya: yo Julia, so don’t mention this to Jackson and Fay, but is it possible for you, Jansen, and Allyson to meet up at 3 today?
Jewels: uh ok sure
Jewels: can I ask why?
Kaguya: I can’t say rn
Kaguya: it’s kinda important that we talk in person
Jewels: NP
Jewels: are we meeting at the apartment again?
Kaguya: No
Kaguya: we’re meeting at esj
Kaguya: meet in the main lobby first
Jewels: alright I’ll let Jansen and Allyson know
Kaguya: 👍
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 9th - 3pm
At the main lobby, Allyson, Julia, and Jansen entered from Campus Drive. Once inside, they saw Marie and Michael standing near the cushioned seats.
There was another face that none of them recognized.
“Hey guys, thanks for showing up on short notice,” Marie angled her head left, directing the three to meet the new face. “This is Mr. Richter, my Bio professor.”
“Nice to meet you guys,” the teacher raised his left hand and displayed a welcoming smile. “I know this is a sudden request. First, let’s head into that room over there. I have it scheduled for us to discuss some things.”
“About what?” Allyson inquired.
“Follow me.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
The large classroom was quiet enough for a single quick breath to bounce its sound in all directions. At the core center, the three students sat closest to the board. Marie stood aside from there. Michael was at the lecturer’s desk near the blackboard. Mr. Richter stood meters away from the three. The projector screen coldly scrolled down until its entire blank sheet covered the blackboard.
“I understand you guys may have some concerns about why we brought you here,” the professor sidestepped left twice before directing his eyes at Michael. The white screen revealed the ember app icon. The color was pink. “You’ve seen this before, am I correct?”
“Do you mean the pink ember? Yeah, Julia and I saw that.”
“I’m also assuming that you three have seen that other world,” their ghostly faces confirmed his assumption. “Rest assured that you guys are not alone in learning about that strange world.”
“We know it, too,” Marie crossed her arms.
“You can’t be fucking serious…” Allyson quietly cursed in her mind.
“I understand that you guys have a lot of questions needing to be answered. Please let us explain all that you need to know.”
“Do you guys know what this app is? It can’t ever be uninstalled. Why?” Allyson fired off several queries.
“Based on our understanding, the app acts as a medium to the other side,” Michael was directed to slide the next image. It was a gray room filled with computers and servers. “This app contains data that generates the inner manifestations of the heart and soul of each individual. Think of it as all that you see in the world. Your eyes represent everything within you.”
Allyson remained silent, diverting her moist eyes to the exit door. Jansen remained still. Julia’s jaw crawled down and a spark of wires popped into her mind.
“As for why it can’t be uninstalled, we don’t exactly know. We suspect that it’s some sort of malware that is somehow installed on everyone’s phone.”
“Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”
“After running antivirus scans, it doesn’t return any malicious data,” the technician clarified. “We had to announce that the app is safe just to calm down the campus.”
“Does anyone else know about this world?” Julia asked.
“No one knows,” Marie answered before signaling her comrade to click the next slide. The ember was illuminated with various colors as if it looked like a rainbow. “They’ll only see the ember icon and nothing else. No message. Nothing.”
“That’s the weird thing because that’s what I had before I was taken to that world,” Julia opened the app on her phone and a message popped up. “How come I have it?”
“We believe that anyone who enters that world will be granted access for subsequent visits,” Mr. Richter chimed in with more confidence.
“Except me,” All turned to Allyson with flabbergasted reactions. “When I arrived here, I got the app and didn't realize it until I went home. When I first opened it, I got a message that I couldn't use it because I had to try again at a different place. When Julia went missing, I was able to go to that world.”
"How is she in the same predicament I was?"
"That's odd because you have to be in that world first," Marie bit part of the end strands of her hair.
"I'm not sure either."
"That other world is dangerous," The next slide presented a woman with Scarlet Red metallic gauntlets resembling workout gloves. "Marie and Michael were able to train and manifest weapons we call Soul Channel. The best way I can explain this is when a person taps inside their deepest hearts, a unique power awakens. It can be anything. For example, Marie’s heart resonates with strength so she has gauntlets."
The next slide pictured Michael with orange crystallized visors with a holographic keyboard, and a medium-sized blank screen shown above the keyboard. “Michael’s well adept in IT so naturally he controls a machine.”
"The only possible explanation that you three are still alive is that one of you guys had awakened a Soul Channel."
"Allyson and I are the only ones who have it."
The next slide contained a short video.
A digital, fictional version of Marie pixelated in the middle of a black flat plane. She raised her right hand, palm faced up, and stressed all tension in her fingers. A mysterious force swiftly resisted any opposition. Her right fist erratically rumbled.
After brutally fighting against herself, Marie broke the chains and successfully balled her hand into a fist. Scarlet Red steel pieces began gliding around before attaching to the fist.
"Normally, it takes a lot of willpower to manifest your Soul Channel. How were you two able to do this so easily? It takes weeks, hell, even months to accomplish this."
Both ladies explained how they obtained Soul Channel. Marie and Michael’s eyes curiously grew wider. Michael simply nodded whereas Marie tucked her left hand under her chin musing. Mr. Richter’s jaw left a stunning gap while his brows were tied inward.
“I was not expecting those methods as a way to awaken your Soul Channels,” the faculty took out his glasses and wiped the lenses with his shirt.
“There’s something I want to ask,” the spotlight shifted to Allyson. “Why are you telling us this now?”
“Alright, you are all aware of Cree Cuffey’s death and the disturbing images on your TV screens, right?” Allyson nodded in a steady rhythm. Julia quickly stuttered her head vertically. Jansen slowly waved his head up and down. “We suspect her death is related to the other world. This is the first time we’ve seen something to this degree. Because of how very few are aware of its existence, only we can investigate this.”
“Are you saying that none of you made any progress in that world?! What have you guys been doing?” Allyson’s confused eyes were coated with fumes.
“Hey,” her roommate gently tapped her friend with her elbow.
“It’s ok, she’s right,” the older man crossed his arms. “We’ve mostly been investigating one place and trained there for about 1 year. Not a lot of progress was made and admittedly we didn’t find any clues…until now. With more people at our disposal, we can safely learn the truth of that dangerous world. Will you guys join in our investigation?”
“I’ll help out,” Julia immediately answered.
“Sure thing,” Jansen conceded, chuckling while an enigmatic quirk on his lips emerged.
Everyone else turned to Allyson who stared at the floor while outside noises began muffling. Her body shriveled inward while her shoulders remained calmly low. The light clouds hovering over her mind began to blind her entire temple. Reluctantly transferring her stress through her squeezed fists, she made her decision.
“Ok, I’ll join, too.”
“Thank you all for assisting us in our investigation,” Mr. Richter warmly raised his lips.
“We are planning on heading to the other world this Tuesday around 3pm. Will that work for all you guys?” Marie queried.
All three agreed in unison.
“Great! I’ll coordinate and invite you guys to our group chat later today.”
“Alright, you guys are all free to go. Thanks again for taking your time.”
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
October 9th - 7:26pm
In Unit 606, Allyson and Julia shared a large pot of ramen noodles filled with onions, spam, eggs, and kimchi. The artist’s face glowed so bright from the hearty flavor that she planted her face on top of her bowl. Allyson could not help but giggle.
“This is the best ramen I've ever had in like never!” Julia grabbed a white cloth and wiped her mouth. “Where’d you learn to make this?”
“My parents,” she finished all the noodles in her bowl. “On a cold day or after drinking, this stuff hits.”
“This is now my new hangover food.”
“Ehehehe.”
“Oh, by the way, do you have Discord? We got a group chat together, not the one Mr. Richter and Marie were talking about. This one is my friend group and we all agreed to invite you in.”
“Oh, uh, cool,” her lips independently moved up without Allyson noticing. She pulled out her phone. “I made an account right after our meeting.”
“Nice! What’s your tag? I’ll search it up.”
“It’s this,” she revealed her tag by showing her roommate her phone. The tag displayed was StellerEi#3380. Her profile icon had a portrait of the Raiden Shogun.
“Sent the friend request,” Allyson saw the notification and accepted it. Then she received a message from Jewels and joined the United Nations Squad.
#general
Jewels: @everyone @StellerEi welcome to the United Nations! This is Allyson and she’s the lady who bears lightning! ⚡ Please welcome our newest member!
Village Protector: Hey, hey, hey! It’s me, Marie! 🤗
Dos Pantalones: Ey welcome to da squaaaaaad :avengersassemble:
sonny sideup :): Hi Allyson! It’s Fay! Welcome to the United Nations!
Warframer: Hey Allyson welcome!
Raiden Kim: Hi guys! Glad to be part of the group!
Several seconds later…
dunes n danes: i’m shocked to see you here
“Pff hahahaha!” Allyson’s chest cheerfully flared up. She slammed her left fist on the counter. “I think I know who that guy is.”
“I swear to God, Jansen, he just be acting like this in chat,” Julia’s annoyed grin glued to her phone.
Jewels: Jansen why you do this?
dunes n danes: idk what you mean
dunes n danes: I’m acknowledging her as our newest crew
Raiden Kim: I’ll spare you from being exiled to the dune
dunes n danes: haha bless your gentle heart
dunes n danes: Glory to the Shogun!
Village Protector: Glory to the Shogun!
Dos Pantalones: Glory to the Shogun!
Warframer: Glory to the Shogun!
sonny sideup :): Glory to the Shogun!
Jewels: no…
A few minutes after Allyson, Julia, and Jansen all received a notification on Discord that they were added to the Private Investigators group chat.
Kaguya: @Jewels @StellerEi @dunes welcome to our group! Anything regarding the other world or the investigation will primarily be mentioned here. This must be confidential between all of us.
Kaguya: Confirm by reacting to this message if you’ll be meeting with us on Tuesday 3pm at Van Munching (👍) (😀) (🤘)
Jewels: we’ll be there!
dunes: i’ll make it there
StellerEi: thanks Marie!
At midnight, while everyone was asleep, their phone screen lit up but no sound. The ember icon appeared.
Dark orange.