It is a tale of the far future where... [!¿?!две тысячи триста шестьдесят девять?!¿!]
*Cough* A person coughs heavily, muttering to himself: "T-the White Death disease is extinct, yet my coughing hasn't stopped. Is this some new virus again...?"
The man, clad in an iconic white lab coat contrasted by black gloves, matches his attire with a black mask and boots. On his lab coat, a self-made name tag reads: "Kib? Tochi," concealing his true identity.
He is in an underground facility that once bustled with hopeful people, striving toward miracles. Now, it's empty and isolated, with just him, a scientist clinging to the hope that the structure remains firm amid the desolate wars.
He stands near a communication device, surrounded by intricate wireless equipment and a human figure replica that mimics human consciousness through mechanical body parts and a brain made from synthetic stem cells.
The room has only one exit, a heavy titanium door on the left. The ventilation hums sporadically as he shuts off the power supply to most of the secure rooms. Diligently, he works on the communication device, perhaps fixing something, setting frequencies, or performing a final check before operating his project.
As he works, a sense of foreboding hangs in the air, the silence around him almost tangible, broken only by the occasional sputter of the ventilation system. His thoughts race: "Is anyone else out there? Will this device finally connect us?" The weight of his isolation presses down on him, making each breath feel heavier, each sound more ominous.
The flickering lights cast eerie shadows, and the hum of machinery seems to whisper secrets from the dark corners of the room. Tochi's every movement is deliberate, driven by a mix of desperation and determination. The communication device before him is his last hope, a lifeline in a world gone silent and dark.
While working on his communication device, Tochi's mind was racing, perhaps a thought or rumination: "Hey, Tochi. It's not helping. We've tried every frequency, but it seems there is no hop--" his colleague, also in a white lab coat but with white gloves, began to say. However, he was interrupted by Tochi's hand sign as Tochi reacted in a very sentimental tone, "DON'T SAY THAT WORD...!"
Tochi himself had lost hope. It was just the two of them left; the others had abandoned them in the Tresorraum. They were unaware that it had become a maze of Cyberoid, but Tochi had known and warned them. When they asked, "How do you know...?"
He replied, "They told me." His colleagues questioned, "Who... you may say?"
Collaborating researchers asked, "Are you not too obsessed with your device?"
More voices added, "Yeah, calm down. That device didn't work. You can't communicate with your fate."
Others suggested, "Why don't we improve the “Atimānuṣa Serum” and focus on the “Hexeract Exosuits” instead of wasting our time before we vanish forever?"
Tochi's mind was burdened with many secrets he couldn't share. He now questioned the existence of life and his goal to meet God. "Is what I want... then why can't I find results..." he muttered angrily, throwing an object in front of him to the ground.
Unknowingly, he had thrown his family photo, shattering the glass into pieces and denting the metal frame.
In his anger and frustration, he looked at his communication device, wanting to break it down as it symbolized his life's wasted efforts. His head dropped in despair.
His colleague, seeing Tochi's behavior, said, "...I think you better take some time alone." Tochi could only glance at his last remaining colleague and friend as he left him.
In his anger and frustration, Tochi glares at his communication device, wanting to smash it to pieces. It symbolizes his life's splendor turned into a haunting obsession.
Suddenly, green and yellow lights on the device begin to buzz ominously, displaying an upside-down graph with wildly fluctuating numbers. An old computer connected to the device starts showing random, nonsensical messages, and a progress bar fills with equations that seem to match frequencies of their own accord.
Then, a whisper slithers into his ear:
"How many eyes does the Destroyer have?"
"Saturn is calling...!"
"Odin Æsirverse are invaded by Type-10."
"Answer me...! Or save yourself."
The whisper is so cold and heavy it feels like an icy hand gripping his soul. Tochi collapses to his knees, feeling a thumping sensation - not from fear or tension, but as if his heart is being clenched by an unseen force. He takes heavy, labored breaths, glancing down at his stomach and noticing an ominous outline near his chest.
He doesn't want to know what it is. He feels that if he moves, his heart might explode. He strains, trying to steady himself.
Closing his eyes, he suddenly finds himself elsewhere. In his mind's eye, he sees a door with a nameplate: "Katei," slightly ajar. He runs towards it but stops abruptly, nearly falling into a black puddle surrounding the door.
Desperately, he tries to jump over, but tendril-like hands reach up from the puddle, gripping his ankles and slowly enveloping him...
He falls to the ground, desperately grasping at anything nearby to save himself, but his efforts are futile. His fingers find a wooden object; he grips it tightly and manages to pull himself up just before he would have drowned.
*Ahaa...!* He gasps for air, his breath ragged with terror, and starts to cough violently. While coughing, he realizes he is clutching a wooden tail. As he looks further, he sees a wooden crocodile. Uneasily, he releases the tail, feeling a chill run down his spine.
"Where am I...? How is this possible?" Tochi is perplexed, unable to form coherent words. Just moments ago, he had seen a familiar door and felt an unusual compulsion to go through it. Now, he can't recall where he was or what he was supposed to do.
Turning his head back, he notices ripples in the black puddle. "My head..." he grips his forehead, "...Is I--" He tries to say more, but the words catch in his throat as if an invisible force is silencing him.
He then glances at the crocodile's wide jaws, initially thinking it's alive, but realizing it's just carved wood. Its tiny glass eyes seem to capture his every movement. Moving further, he sits down, noticing the ground is not solid but soft like grass, with a black, oppressive atmosphere above him.
In front of him, a path leads to the door marked "Katei." He feels a strange, almost sinister warmth emanating from it, accompanied by the distant sound of children running down a staircase and a feminine voice shouting at them. An invisible barrier, however, keeps him from reaching the door and uncovering the truth hidden behind it.
To the right of the door, he notices the crocodile table and a new object: a glass of water. "Was that glass of water there before?" he mutters, feeling an unnatural, almost desperate thirst just from looking at it.
As he stands up, his eyes catch an outline in the darkness to the left of the door, something lurking in the shadows. Moving cautiously, he sees shimmering eyes glaring at him from the gloom. Although he feels an eerie sense of safety, he remains vigilant and discovers a sculpture of a tall man in a tiger-skin leather tunic.
Suddenly, a loud noise reverberates around him. In his vision, an hourglass shatters, disorienting him for a moment. The air is filled with heavy, melodious drum-like sounds in cryptic rhythms, breaking his daze.
Tochi doesn't feel pain or discomfort, but the strangeness of the experience unsettles him. Strangely, he senses that this place is safer than anywhere else he's been.
Yet, the need to escape his surreal reality presses on him. He knows he must move forward, or he risks losing himself in the twisted fabric of time.
As he turns back, he feels someone calling his name. Fear and tension grip him, and he runs away, choosing to flee rather than confront the unknown truth.
Returning to where he had been sitting, Tochi finds a dreadful object: a guillotine, its tall upright frame casting an ominous shadow. The weighted and angled blade gleams menacingly. As he moves closer, the blade falls swiftly, startling him and causing him to stumble backward.
He gulps, feeling a tightness around his neck as if something invisible and sinister is binding it. He feels momentarily free but not relieved. Distressed, he notices words carved into the guillotine blade: "Hades Occidere Dike."
Before he can move, a voice whispers chillingly in his ear: "Yama oder Enma..." The voice is so near it feels like an icy hand clutching his lungs, making it hard to breathe. The whisper continues: "Answer me... What did his order...? or beheaded."
Puffing and struggling to get as much air as possible into his lungs, Tochi tries to form a word. The sensation of something sharp and alive near his right shoulder makes his heart race so fast that he becomes deaf to everything but the pounding in his chest, unable to think clearly. He can't recall anything related to the whisper.
He knows about the recent resurfacing of mythology but can't piece it together. He had only done some research on theological articles. Desperate, he says the first thing that comes to mind, "To revive Dike, and to kill Hades."
Hearing this, the whisper halts abruptly. For a moment, he feels completely deafened, then a faint, barely audible whisper echoes in his left ear: "If you know... why 6ou can't wait that time..." The words are so indistinct they're almost inaudible, leaving Tochi with only a vague impression of the message.
To be connected...