Tokyo Metropolis, truly beautiful. I could see her, far into the distance she shined with a radiance that reflected off the lake I sat by, the light of the city washed my sight as I rested in front of it.

The night’s cold breeze felt cooled my summer sweat, keeping my body cool. I wake from my rest, I received a call, it was my oldest brother’s number, it was a rare call, each time my body would stiffen, not wanting to respond, maybe I was sick? maybe my battery was dead? or maybe-

I answered it.

“Daichi Yang, This will be brief, you’ve been nothing but a failure to the family- beep beep be…”, the call was cut short, only the continuous beeping from the phone could be heard.

‘What the hell?’, I thought to myself wondering what-

But before I could process anything further. An inner shock of heaviness and dread pressed down on my chest, and in a moment of clarity I could only think of the worst.

I looked towards the city, and to my dismay, a giant ball of flames engulfed it.

It was unlike anything I’ve had seen before, unlike anything I could ever imagine. Nothing like the movies, shows or books, nothing like they said it would be.

Just then, like a tsunami wave, the wave of air hit me, everywhere all at once throwing me backwards on the floor. Screams followed, it was from the dammed and they simply rang all around me, maybe they were coming from my head? Maybe the screams were coming from within? crawling around and crying out to me.

I raised my head once more to see the city, my eyes glued to the engulfing shroom of fire, the pain in my chest only deepened as buildings crumbled one by one, and the screams intensified one by one.

The fire was getting closer, and my skin melted for what seemed like eternity. Maybe I deserved it, after all, I was the failure.

***

I opened my eyes slowly. I did not spring up violently from my bed, I was not drenched in sweat, I was not panting or shaking, even before I realized it had been a dream – a vivid, terrifying dream that felt all too real. The first thing I felt, my wet eyes, hot and burning.

I glanced at my clock, its glow the only light in the dark room. 2 a.m. I had only managed three hours of sleep. With a deep breath, I shake off the remnants of the dream, the feeling of dread still clung to me and my ears still ringed with the screams. If I tried to sleep, it would just happen again and I did not want to be alone.

I stood up from my bed and began to dress myself. I grabbed my wallet and phone that rested next to my old outdated clock, and grabbed my jacket as I walked towards the door.

It was raining outside – a soft, steady drizzle that blurred the neon lights of Tokyo. I hate the feeling of humidity, but even rain was preferable to the loneliness of my apartment.

If you discover this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

I closed the door behind me and passed by my bike. it looked quite outdated other words to describe it would be ‘vintage’, but it was one of my few relics. I passed by it and walked down the wet corridor and its puddles.

My apartment was hidden from view of the main streets, in between the alleyways. Walking out of the narrow corridors led straight into the city’s main streets.

Unlike the few people similar to my age, I was fond of walking around and seeing people go on about their day, it was night but Tokyo Metropolis was alive the most at night.The shining lights from ads reflected on the windows of each building and car, people walking left or right on each sidewalk, most with umbrellas.

I didn’t put on my visor, or better said, I never put it on, instead, I simply enjoy looking at the people with their eyes covered with theirs. They talked out loud on their calls and touching random things on the air and making hand movements, it was always amusing to watch them. My slightly above average stature allowed me to see my surroundings without much problem while I made my way down the heart of the city towards where I would usually go.

In front of me was a small restaurant, I entered. It was a atomic era western-themed dinner that looked like the old movies from southern USA, I walked up to the nice lady.

“Coffee Black-X2 and a nutrition bar, brand Escaltor L2 if possible”, I placed my order for the cashier.

“Please scan or swipe your card or NBJ card on the register, and please show your service ID to the camera for any Military Service discount”, the nice cashier said with a sweet wrinkled smile.

I sat by the window that displayed the scenery of a deep mysterious foggy forest, with a single press of a button, it changed and was now a one-way see-through window showing the city and the people walking by.

The raindrops visibly made it difficult to make out the streets. An old man walked by without a visor, he held an outdated phone up to his ear and began to talk to someone. A group of youngsters walked by, drinks held in each of their hands babling, not caring for their surroundings. Food delivery machines passed by the sidewalks on their way to deliver food for the people up the skyscrapers. A man looked into an ad, his eyes glued to the woman it showed and its provocative contents, he pressed on the ad only to realize it wasn’t in his visor but a real-world ad, in embarrassment, he walked away swiftly, but no one even cared.

Men in suits with visors walked the streets, their-my train of thought was cut off by the adorable machine to my left, it had a pixelated smile with a silly expression and cowboy hat, it carried a tray with my food which I quickly grabbed.

I didn’t know why, why did I prefer my time just watching people? Why did I have those dreams? Why did such colorful views look so colorless? Why do I keep getting those dreams? Why was a man in the distance staring at me?

The food here was tasteless, but the reason why I liked this spot the most was because of- my train of thought was once again interrupted by a vibration on my right thigh.

I had received a call, and my blood seemed to get a little denser, when I reached down to grab it, my hand became heavier, a set of random digits. I answered-

“Hey there, lonely soul! *star emoji* are you tired of swipping left,right, and still going to bed with just your pillow-”

I quickly hung up, they somehow got ahold of my encrypted phone number, I guess I had to change it soon again regardless, I can always count on the spam AIs to find someone to sell to.

I put down my phone and tried to focus again.

‘ah right, who was that staring at me earlier?’

My phone began to vibrate again, and when I saw the caller, my heartbeat skyrocketed. It was my eldest brother, I quickly answered and a few second went by before I heard his voice.

“-Listen to me Daichi. Get out of the city and come to Kanazawa- immediately”, my brother’s call was cut off. A bad feeling crept up on me.

I speed-walked out the restaurant’s front door, and pressed one of the 4 buttons sticking out of my neck ‘s right side and stood in front of the road, next to an intersection.

I began to tap the floor with my feet, the nervousness was getting to me and that is when I saw a big puddle, reflecting on the city’s light. My gut wrenched inwards, needles pinned around my shoulders up my neck, and a cold sweat fell down my spine. I could see it, a blazing sun on the puddle, engulfing it all-

Soon enough, I heard it, the sound of my engine going off wakes me from my daydream. My bike sped down the road, no driver needed. It quickly stopped right in front of me, I quickly got on the already roaring engine and drove down the roads at full speed.

“Johann, set the quickest route home.”

“That will be 4 hours 54 minutes through the fastest legal route”

“Give me the fastest route”, I commanded my personal artificial assistant as I equipped my goggles and helmet as fast as I could.

“The route has been uploaded to your bike’s map. The estimated time of arrival is 3 hours and 31 minutes without other variables. Please be ware of the raining weather”, in my bike’s visor appeared the directions home, which I followed to get out of the city.

Before I knew it, I was passing by a lake house. There was something about this place that tugged at my heartstrings. Through my bike’s side mirror I saw the shining city and next to the lake was a chair, I could barely make out a figure sitting on it. I don’t know why, but this scenery reminded me of something—a sense of déjà vu that I couldn’t quite shake. It felt like it came from a dream, one I could not remember right now. Instead, I kept driving down the road, faster now than before, I had to get home.

“Estimated time until arrival, 3 hours.”