X1.1 - THE DEFAULT

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X1.1.1 - Reset

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One fateful evening, the kind that whispers of destiny while no one notices, a boy named Roa found himself standing on a cliff. The last rays of sunlight painted the sky a masterpiece worthy of such a moment. There, staring off the edge, he realized something profound, something that finally shattered the frail illusion that was his normal life. He realized that the Earth—was flat.

The problem with his epiphany was that, although the endless void below was indeed there, Earth was not at all the place he was standing on, nor had there ever been anything 'normal' about his life, for that matter. Deciding to leave his comfort zone would have had its consequences, after all, but this was probably not what he was expecting. At that moment, he remained unaware of the wise, unseen will of the Universe, his choice—the final link in a series of forces long in motion, come together at last, poised to set off a chain reaction like none seen before.

The old woman's eyes narrowed as she watched his bewildered reaction, hidden from behind; her mind waiting anxiously for her moment, as a smile widened on her wrinkled face.

"Great Mother of Humanity," he said, as he stuck his head over the edge with trembling caution. "I should have stayed in bed today,” he glanced down, staring at the pink clouds floating like cotton candy in the golden heavens below.

Roa looked over at his girlfriend. Eralay had a blank look in her eyes as she stood next to him. She nodded when asked whether she too saw the strange sight.

"Were we roofied at the diner? I'm starting to hallucinate," he continued, as he rubbed his eyes, getting no response from his partner.

"You're not hallucinating—Sunflower," the old lady said, causing them to turn with a surprised jolt as she stepped out of the woods. "You're not on Earth. This isn’t your life. You're most certainly not an accountant, considering that you hate math, and I am sure this has become apparent—things are not exactly as they seemed," she explained as her feet stepped in the field of pansies.

She was a short, wide woman in her seventies, with blonde hair and an apron. She had previously served them chocolate banana pancakes at the diner, just a few hours prior. Roa stared at her with a confused look.

"Why are you here, did we forget to tip or something? And how do you know my nickname?"

The woman sighed, then nodded.

"Looks like they scrambled you really good this time. Let's start from the top. My name is Nirvana. Gunhand Nirvana. You've been living a lie. Your identity, your beliefs, your values and memories—they're not your own. I am here to break you out."

"Break me out? Of what?"

"Where do you think people are broken out of?"

He shrugged.

"Prison! I'm breaking you out of prison, idiot," she said.

"I'm not in prison though. I'm free. I'm literally outside."

She looked at him, annoyed, pointing her hand towards the void below.

"You think that you are Free?" she blurted back, scoffing.

"Did you take your meds, lady? I am free. Unless the whole world is a prison, and everyone around me is a prisoner too," he responded in a mocking tone, shaking his head as he ridiculed the thought.

"No, Roa, just you. This is your prison. The rest—they're all part of your prison, basically."

"You've lost your damn marbles, lady. Also, I never told you my name at the diner, how did you—" He tapped his index finger on his mouth, lost in thought as he interrupted himself. "Wait a minute, I do hate math, now that I think about it," he added.

"See? We're making some small, albeit very tiny progress here. I need you to focus now because, since I am breaking you out, well—the guards are going to come soon," she said twirling her hand to keep things moving forward. "You see, you are very important, flower boy. Not because you're talented in any considerable way, but because you know something that EVERYONE wants," she paused. "Or maybe—you knew. I'm not even sure at this point, considering the terrible state you're in."

He started laughing. "I get it. You put something in our coffees, and now you are going to rob us? Are your criminal buddies going to pop out of the woods next?"

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Nirvana groaned, losing her patience.

"Is the suspicious abyss next to you not enough proof that some major fuckery is afoot, genius? I swear—you do this every time."

"That's from the drugs you gave us."

She sighed again, rolling her eyes as she stuck out her arm.

"Then step off of it—go ahead. See if you really fall." She challenged him with a sharp rebuttal. "You're free to walk off the edge, since you're so convinced."

The boy stood silent, his smile fading away.

The elderly lady placed her hand on her forehead, taking an even deeper breath, looked at her watch, and responded with a serious tone.

"Alright, we got less than fifteen minutes before the Exit appears. I'm going to try to snap you out of your reset as much as possible before it comes, or you might not be able to see it. I'll do my best, but I'll be honest, it's squeezing a lot in a few minutes, so hopefully your mind doesn't collapse in the process. No promises!" she forced a smile, as a look of concern revealed itself.

He laughed at her again with a scornful tone, shaking his head. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out some lose change and handed it to the stranger; she glared back at him with a fiery look.

"You should do as she says. I think she might be telling the truth," said Eralay with a soft, almost resigned tone, placing her hand on his arm.

The worried look in her eyes met Roa's, causing his grin to disappear.

Nirvana smiled.

"Alright, let's stop beating around the bush. I'll show you a little trick, boy. Call it a Gift. You should recognize it, after all, the person who taught it to me, was you."

His eyes widened in shock, round and unblinking like an owl’s, and his mouth hung open in disbelief.

The woman morphed. Her once brittle skin smoothed out, her wrinkles fading, vibrant color returning to her cheeks. Her body seemed to shed the weight of years, revealing a younger woman where she once stood. She had vibrant, pink hair that seemed to glow against the dark, sleek armor she wore—a futuristic style, completely foreign to those parts. The sight made the young man stumble back in disbelief, his legs giving way as he fell to his knees with a grunt.

"My head is on fire. What the hell did you drug me with? Whatever you want from us, just take it. We don't have much anyway."

Nirvana strolled closer to him.

"It's normal. Like I said, we're pushing it a bit, given the time constraint. You still don't recognize me, do you?" she crossed her arms and looked away, annoyed. "Ya got lucky, you know. You always do. I picked up your breadcrumbs a few years back—real cryptic, congrats. It took us exactly forever to infiltrate this forsaken place. Some of us are still looking for you, but you're under a lot of eyes, boy,” she nodded.

"I have no idea what you are talking about! What do you want?"

"Everyone else thought of you as lost for good, GONE, irrecoverable, after so long had passed. I mean, 300 long ones have gone by—but I knew you'd turn up somewhere. You always do. I did not give up. I made sure the Exit stayed hidden until we could get you out. When we got your message last week, we knew it was time to act."

"I never sent any message. I don't even know you. You haven't answered my question. Why are you here?" he groaned, holding his head.

"Everyone's looking for you for the same reason. I don't know how you did it, but you did it somehow. You found the way to the Dreamer, to the Place Where All Things Meet. The Heart of Hearts—the very Core of Existence itself! Or so the rumor goes, at least. Whatever Jumpers call it these days, you got the directions to the place where dreams come true, where any wish—becomes reality."

He stared at her, a pained expression twisting his face, sweat trickling down his brow.

"You're insane. I don't know of any—dreamer or any kind of place like that, I'm nobody. Trust me, I'm just a—" he was going to say "accountant," but stopped when the idea began to feel ridiculous, even before the word came out.

She nodded with a grin, her eyes narrowing, as she felt the satisfaction of making some progress.

"Stay focused now. The endless labyrinth—the Palace. Do you remember it? That place with infinite rooms and doors that lead to countless worlds—worlds filled with strange civilizations, mythical creatures, great spirits, evil gods, and more things than any mind could ever fathom."

His hands shot up to his temples, fingers digging in as if to crush the pain away, his body trembling. His jaw clenched, and his breath came in sharp, shallow gasps. His troubled state did not slow Nirvana's words, however.

"The Dreamer is said to live in the Palace, at its very top,” her index finger shot up to the sky. “Surely you must remember something about all this!" she leaned down, smiled and eagerly nodded at him, as her head tilted to the side. "Any chance you remember the way?" Her eyes opened wide in anticipation, as one of them twitched.

He did not respond, letting out a long, loud grunt instead, his hands on the ground as he began to hyperventilate.

Nirvana scoffed before glancing at her watch. Her tone shifted, picking up speed, a sense of urgency creeping into her words.

“We are running out of time,” she muttered. "Listen to me, listen very well. There is a great war brewing, a most-sacred revolution that will change the fate of not only your life, but the very destiny of Existence; and you, mister nobody, are needed elsewhere, urgently, to join the Greatest Fight."

"What fight? I told you, NOTHING you say is making ANY sense to me."

She kneeled, her presence looming as her eyes narrowed into sharp slits. Her voice dropped to a near-whisper, heavy with passion, her words profound.

"The sacred struggle born of a most righteous cause, from a most urgent of needs, in a most pivotal of times—the fight to awaken ourselves, liberate Humanity, and save Nature from destruction. The final battle against a horrible evil, a sickness, a disease like no other. One that grows and spreads from place to place, sapping each of its life. We Jumpers call this darkness the Great Death—profane child of the Old Order."

She spat on the ground as she uttered those words. She opened her arms as she stood, raising her head up high to the sky.

"Default World. We are inside of it as we speak! Look around with open eyes, Sunflower. Behold the enemy—for you are its prisoner. Countless more are as well, though they do not see the invisible chains that bind them."

She then froze and looked around, interrupting her impassioned speech. A terrible feeling swept over her, sending a chill down her spine; a horrible, yet very familiar sensation, like that of an evil presence she once knew.

“What?” asked Roa.

“He’s here.”