It was hard to imagine Nerd could actually make a mistake like this, frankly it was so stupid it was quicker to assume she’d made it despite having nothing to do with the waiting rooms. The man continued to scream and cry, still unable to form a coherent sentence. Speaking directly into his mind seemed only to further agitate his fear. It had been a whole minute since this should’ve been fixed though, so she opened up a line to Nerd again.
“He’s not getting any less terrified, how far away is the hotfix?”
“You aren’t going to like what I have to say.”
“Say it anyway.”
“I applied the necessary hotfix 8 seconds after you asked.”
“Why is he still screaming then?”
“Likely his trauma levels exceed the suppression field’s output.”
“Can’t you amp the field?”
“Doing so risks damaging his brain.”
“I’ll take the heat for any issues, just get him docile and I’ll take care of the rest.”
“Understood.”
A few moments later the screaming started to lose its volume, eventually petering out and giving way to silence. He still hadn’t said anything yet. Isabelle decided this one would probably need a more delicate hand, speaking the word ‘transpose’ aloud and immediately finding herself beside a tattered old man. His clothes were more dirt than fabric, his teeth missing and stained, a melancholic aura surrounding him as he simply sat fused to the ground. He was an immovable statue, now a fixture of the endlessly white room. She circled around into his field of vision and approached him.
“I hope you don’t mind if I sit down,” she asked, waiting for a beat before smoothing her white dress beneath her and plopping herself down. “I’m sorry things ended up this way.” She began before abandoning what she was going to say. It was a long moment before she began again. “I’m Isabelle, it says here your name is Robert, so I’ll call you Bob if that’s alright.” For another beat she waited for a reply she knew wouldn't come, then continued.
“I’m the current Administrator for this place and I’ve been tasked with introducing everyone to the basics and helping them start their Ascent as fast as possible. Pretty thankless job honestly, nobody really cares about me since they’re all too preoccupied thinking about all the ways in which their freedom has been taken away. Which I totally get, but I’m stuck in here too yknow and you don’t hear me complaining. Well I just did but you get my point. Everyone has a reason they push the button, even if they don’t realise it themselves. That’s what I’ve been told anyway, seems like corporate propaganda honestly.” Realising she’d been rambling Isabelle cleared her throat.
“Sorry about that, I’ve been having a lot of trouble with tangents since I got here, what I’m trying to say is that with my help I think you can start a new life – a better life. I know I’m assuming a lot but you can’t have been very happy where you were. I’m going to look inside your mind now to see if I can help you, okay?” After another empty moment, she began.
Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
I am alone and I always will be. I’m broken. I deserve to rot. I’m a coward who can’t even die properly. I loved my wife. I loved my son. I loved them all so why am I alone. Wasn’t that love supposed to be enough? It’s so unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair unfair.
Having spotted the spiral she began again. “I agree, it is truly and deeply unfair.”
At that word finally the man stirred, seemingly haven broken free from his stupor. He blinked a few times before asking. “Where am I?”
“You’re currently inside the 54th Earthbound Tower: Designation Australia. I’m sure we’ll come up with a suitable nickname soon enough.”
“What are you?”
“I’m [REDACTED], you’re not able to hear that but rest assured I did answer the question, my assistant is quite the stickler for rules unfortunately. The other thing I am is in charge of this place.”
“I-I can think clearly here.”
“I should think so, we’ve got a suppression field dulling your negative emotions running at above the recommended level, it should help with the depression induced psychosis I’m assuming you were feeling. I’ll order some medicine as well if you like.”
“I...don’t know about that."
“If you don’t know then trust me.” She sent a telepathic message over to Nerd, holding out her hand as a second later two small pills appeared there, stretching out her other hand a cup of water appeared as well. “Please, I promise they’ll help.”
The man gingerly took the proffered items, toying with the pills in his hands for a little bit before deciding to take them, greedily gulping down the accompanying water and realising that every time he broke away from the small cup that it would refill. “You Jesus or something?”
“Not even a little bit. I’m far too cruel to even be compared to him.”
“You’re helping me aren’t you?”
“Not out of the goodness of my heart, you’ve got a job to do and I need to make sure you can do it. Honestly we’ve got way less Ascendants than projected so we’ve got to run a much tighter ship to keep our numbers up. No child left behind and all that. Wait no that’s bad, uh, well you get what I mean.”
“You’re giving me a job?”
“No employment history or place of residence required if you can believe it.”
“Only places hiring like that are looking to take advantage of people like me.”
“I’m afraid this place is no different. The path ahead of you is a dangerous one, but you’ve already chosen to go down it. I’m just here to give you the best shot at surviving.”
“Cruel indeed.”
“I’ll give you the full rundown in a second, but I’m going to give you the beta version of your skill first. It’s called ‘Evermore’. With it you’ll be able to protect your party members, are you okay with that?”
“How did you-”
“I know everything Bob, I’m so sorry.”
For a long and heavy moment he regarded her, with sad eyes full of every emotion imaginable. “What could you possible know about it.”
“Only what happened. I don’t pretend to know how you feel.”
“Then why ‘Evermore’?”
“It seemed fitting to me, there’s no other reason. I can change the name if you like.”
“I don’t even know what this skill shit is, why bother changing the name.”
“I guess I’ll start the explanation then, I can give you a pamphlet to read, or if you’re feeling a bit too overwhelmed by all this I can read it out to you. Afterwards I can answer any questions you have.”
“I’ll have to ask you to read it out to me.”
“As you wish,” and Isabelle began to read aloud.