Value Dissonance (Original Fiction)

[Naqu2o]

I have done it.

I have finally managed to body-jack my younger self.

It is time to celebrate. However, when I thought about establishing connection with an otherworldly eldritch god to celebrate my newfound freedom, I decided to hold onto that thought for a bit.

It may sound confusing, however it all makes sense.

2 years ago, after I have learned very, very cool magic, and gained a new fancy immortal body, I was staying at my own home to celebrate. A house which I bought, mind you. When, all of a sudden, a "me" from further on in the timestream traveled back to the past and tried to jack my new fancy immortal body.

From that moment on, every one in a while, a variant of me would travel back from the future trying to jack my reality. Eventually, I decided to one up them, and travel back to further on in the past, before the world went through all that apocalyptic catastrophe nonsense and was time locked. I have to make underhanded deal with several unsavory deities for me to bypass the great time barrier, but eventually, I reach a moment before the time lock.

Then, learning from myself, I hijack my past self body and swap our mind so that my past self would take my place in the doomed timeline and deal with all the bullcrap I have to deal with everyday.

It might seem cruel, but borrowing from my self is not borrowing at all.

However, now I have to deal with an urgent issue.

Peace.

You see, in the future I came from, the Earth has been destroyed an endless amount of time. It is fucked. The survivors aren't actually survivor at all. They are all a timeline hallucination that believe doom hasn't come yet, the tormented dead.

Once upon a time, I participated in that game, and roleplay that everyone was still alive, but eventually I grew sick of it, and built a very sick immortal body to face the future, whatever come.

But the dicks from the future tried to hijack it for whatever reason.

All of that aside, I really don't know how to deal with the peace I found myself with.

Playing with other eldritch beings, I know, but I don't know how to deal with this peaceful that will never reach the "doomed" timeline.

Because the event of that time was "locked", this timeline I'm in will never reach it.

Yet, it is paradoxical, no, I'm not crazy.

However, I know very well that if I acted the way I usually act in this peaceful world, sooner or later, my family will send me to a madhouse. Thankfully I still remember something about my old life and how to act the part.

Like

"Yes mom. Don't worry mom."

Talking with your parents on the phone.

"No fuck you, you stuck up bitch. I'm breaking up with YOU."

Breaking up with your girlfriend to avoid another liability.

"No, I don't want to go to the game."

Or avoiding social situation with your "friends".

Basically, life is easy mode. However, this will soon end when I bought my new old house in the future and start living alone.

So what if in the future I bought that place after the apocalypse happens and there was almost no one alive. I would argue that it is more difficult to buy a house in that broken world. I would buy that house sooner or later anyway, I promised myself after all.

But there is another problem.

Currently a girl that looks 40% or so like me is staring back at me suspiciously. She is only 40% like me because she is ugly, should have eaten more growing up. Oh wait, that is my 16 years old sister.

I have zero attachment to her.

I sold my attachment to my family to the devil when they all died in a fire in the future.

But it is precisely because of that that she found out that something is wrong.

Like perhaps the person in front of her isn't her current brother.

Currently my parents are on vacation abroad. They will be back after 3 months. I just graduated from university. I should look after her I suppose.

Well, she can also "disappear" during this period if a clue is discovered. But that might bring more attention to me...

Nah, I'm just joking. I can't hurt my sister.

I might have lost a lot of "human value" in the process of surviving, but I'm still a human after all.

"Well aren't you hanging out with your friend today, why are you looking at me?" I ask her.

Evie looks at me for a while suspiciously, before giving up as if the thought is too impossible for her.

Well, how could she imagine her brother from further on in the timeline traveling back to the past and hijack her current brother body.

She took her bag without looking back.

"It is nothing."

I don't try to look at her.

Well, our relationship turns out to be like this after I return.

I sigh, it is regretful, but I really can't do it. I wish I am living in my own house now.

---

There is a suspicious looking person wearing sunglasses in front of our house.

He looks like a spook.

"Do you believe in magic?" He says with a smile.

In fact, he is a scammer.

In the old world, the first few signs of the apocalypse and reality being torn apart is magic returning.

However since the time lock was put up, it is impossible for this timeline to ever "reach" that possibility, making this a normal timeline, so it is impossible for something like magic to exist.

"You have 5 seconds before I call the police."

The man ran away quickly.

I have enough problem and a scammer is not one of them.

I stare at the stove in our house very carefully.

Are you sure that it is impossible to make contact?

---

"Strange." The man who ran away just now glanced back at the house he ran away from just then.

"From the vibration of magic, that man has a strong belief in the fantastical." He shakes his head.

It is impossible for the man to know that the person he met believes strongly in magic. However he just doesn't believe in him.

It is when he met them.

A group of girl that is just a little bit ugly.

"Hello, do you believe in magic?"

 

[Naqu2o]

For a certain reason, my danger sense has been flaring up nonstop for a while now. It makes no sense because in this world, there should be no threat to me personally. I try to ignore it for now, however, when the trouble rears its head, you need to cut the head off the snake and not hesitate.

Currently, I'm blackmailing somebody.

Yesterday, I had a dream, I don't like talking about it. However, it has come to my attention that I really should move out and live alone before something happen.

You cannot take someone out of the end of the world and expect them to integrate back to society normally, no matter how good at acting I am.

So the plan has changed slightly somewhat.

In the beginning, the only thing I care about was escaping from that terrible timeline. However, now that I have to face the reality of peace, I can't do it. So the plan now is to get a large amount of money quick and move out.

Isolation isn't really bad. In fact, my most proud magic trick involves isolation. Perhaps I will stay in my house and stare out of the window in a daze like I once did in the future.

My longest record is 2 years of not moving. However, due to my cool immortal body, it was impossible for that to kill me.

But I am not at that level now.

Anyway, money.

The quickest way is crime.

Currently I'm talking on a burner phone and is slightly distorting my voice.

"How did you get this number?" A slightly young voice on the other side responds to me.

"You don't need to know who I am professor Novak. However, I know what you did?"

"And what did I do?" The other voice was slightly cold. I need to respond to him before he cut the conversation short.

"It is a terrible thing for a visionary genius educator to be known as that person that sleeps with his student."

There was only silence on the other side.

How do I know this?

Well, the guy was my good friend of course. In the future, during a particularly hard time, that guy opened his heart to me, he confided to me his deepest darkest secret. It is something that he feels ashamed about his entire career.

Despite being a serious educator at heart, who takes pride in his teaching, Novak has a secret. There was a single instance where he gave in to temptation. And it haunted him all the way to the end of the world, he is obsessed with it, and would never told it to anyway.

If he didn't believe that the world will end the next day, he wouldn't have told me.

And I told him no one really cares about that in the face of the end of the world.

However, he told me that even in the face of the end of the world, you have to hold yourself to a moral standard, and if you didn't, everything is meaningless.

I don't really get it. But I am holding him to a high moral standard now ain't I? If it was anyone else, I wouldn't be sure. However because he is my friend, I know how he will react.

A voice speaks again.

"What is your price?"

"Well, what can a 2 times Nobel award winner give me?" I answer slowly.

The guy is filthy rich anyway, and I think future Novak will approve. He is all in on that self-hatred and all that.

Borrowing money from your friend isn't really borrowing at all.

---

Well damn, I am fucking rich.

---

 

[Naqu2o]

In fact, there are dozens of people that I have dirt on.

However, there is a none zero percent chance that I would either end up in jail or dead.

It is because most of them are either politicians or rich.

How do I have these kind of information? Let's just said I have an underhanded deal with a nigh-omniscient degeneracy entity. I didn't want to at first, however it corrupted my mind and caused me to go insane for a period of time.

The next time I open my eyes, I have convinced a close friend to sell his still then living daughter, and the entity paid me handsomely in horrid knowledge.

It has been watching humanity for longer than recorded history.

Just a few glimpse of that horrid knowledge, and a few recognizable face during that ordeal is enough for me and my family to disappear.

So, instead, I blackmail my good friend who isn't my good friend now because he is easily predictable. Which is kinda bad, but it just makes me laugh at Novak's flustered face. Well don't fuck with your student then my dude.

I took the unmarked bills and then laughed my way home.

Well, I should move out sometime after my parents return.

---

For some reasons, my danger sense is pricking the back of my neck. It is as if there is an execution axe pressed to the back of my neck, and in the distant I can hear a woman's giggle.

I solemnly swore that I would never lose to anyone except myself, because future me is a bag of unpredictable dicks that I have no answer to.

So I am not that worried, for now.

If this was the future, I would have names, faces, causes of danger and a plan of action drawn up. However because this is before magic is real, there is only a vague image. I can't use my super cool prescient spell now. Or maybe I could? I haven't tried. At least, I couldn't do it as easily without my immortal body.

All I know that I might die in the hands of a woman. Who that woman is is up to debate. Because my entire being is shoddy right now, vision is vague and I can't pull inexplicable knowledge out of my ass again.

So I still ignore it for now. It is useless to concern yourself over something you have no power over.

After getting the money, for the rest of the day, I have been watching the rerun of my favorite sitcom.

It is stupid but it makes me smile. It is the simple joke that reminds me of the simpler day.

Well, during those days when living is worse than hell, there was an irrational wish in my heart. I wish I was living in a sitcom. So it has a certain place in my heart.

After hiding the money and watching rerun the entire day, I finally got up and made dinner.

As the adult in the house, I suppose I should be responsible for the chore around the house I guess.

I glance at the clock.

It is 6 in the afternoon. A bit late. However, now that I have gotten up and made dinner, Evie should be at home when dinner is ready. It is more accurate to say that because Evie would be at home at that time that I got up just now and made dinner.

No, she didn't tell me what time she would be back, or that she would be running late.

I just know.

I can't explain it. Simplest way to say is that it is a kind of timeline sense. "These thing should happen at that time which leads to those things happening at a later time". If I were in better shape, it would be an automatic future, present and past sight. However, I ain't. So it is all a bit vague, but things closely related to me should still be accurate.

I suppose I should cut Evie some slack and cook her favorite meal.

Her brother is next to her, but he isn't actually there. It is a little bit like a man returning from active combat duty and his son found him to be a stranger.

In a few months, I will be moving away, so I guess I should try to fix our relationship for now.

It is her favorite dish as a child. But in the future, there won't be tuna or pasta or even any actual heat at all.

She is lucky that her brother is the one guy that can actually cook in the future without dying so I still retain some cooking skill.

For most of the people surviving in the doomed timeline, the kitchen is where they will gain their first post traumatic stress disorder. Ah, I still remember it like yesterday.

My mother, father, sister and the entire neighborhood were roasting in the fire. The smell of burning human fat is something no one wants to experience a second time.

Anyway, cooking.

I'm done.

I glance at the door.

I can't see through wall, but Evie is outside. She slowly takes out her key and opens the door. When the door handle is turned, I chose that moment to tell her.

"Eve, dinner is ready."

However, there is something different today.

She didn't even glance up at me, moving sluggishly. Her eyes are blank, unfocused with little light of wisdom.

Well that is strange.

Was my sister doing drugs around this time? I don't remember.

Ignoring the strangeness, I told her

"Go wash up before eating."

However, she was still lerthagic.

My nose twitches.

In the air there was a faint smell of lilac

 

[Naqu2o]

It's a bit concerning because I often use lilac while hosting orgies to the point where I instinctively react to it, but in Evie case it's probably fine. I mean it is highly improbable that she got into contact with a high society secret conspiracy where people gut someone at the end for sport.

...I may not have liked my time back then, but it is not like I have any choice in the matter.

...Aaaanyway, orgy. It is unlikely for Evie to be involved in an orgy. So a drug party instead.

But it seems like she notices my gaze and she shifts slightly.

With a light and disarming smile, I look at her and says gently.

"Just so you know, 'lil sis', if you got into any problem, don't hesitate to ask for help. After all that is what family is for."

'I have a special set of skill that can make your problem disappears' is left unsaid. I may also have been watching too much television lately. When I have free time, any time at all, my eyes are either on the television or the phone, as wandering mind begets unknown demons. I don't want to think too much before something happens.

Yeah, even while I was blackmailing the "professor" as we called him, I was watching rerun of Glee on mute on the phone. At night, I wake watching How I met your mother until 3 in the morning and sleep take me. Don't judge me.

However, for completely unknown reason, upon hearing my disarming voice, Evie's face pales.

She stares at me like she is staring at a monster before running back to her room.

And dinner is cold.

I brought a plate of tuna pasta to her room and knock on the door. However, when there are no answer, I left the plate in front of her door before leaving quietly.

What is on my mind, on my mind, on my mind-

Hahahahahahahaha-

---

What is the opposite of love? No, not hatred. It isn't hatred. It is an absent of love. An absent of everything.

No, love, hatred, contempt, or anything.

Only pitch blackness, a human shape void.

Evie is scared. She is scared of the person currently in her house.

In him, she senses nothing. Only an absent of anything.

No matter how much he puts on an act, pretending that he loves her, she knows personally, that it is not true, that it is all an act. And it is that revelation that hits her harder than anything else.

At that moment, her phone screen lights up.

---

In the morning, there was a knock on the door.

It was also at that moment that the pain prickling my neck is worse than ever before.

I can see it now, the immediate future. A man is knocking on the door pretending to be the police. When I open the door, he would point a gun at me.

With a smile, I went down stair and opened the door to stop the incessant knocking.

"Is there a problem officer?"

There was a pause in the opposite party action. It was actually a man and a woman. It seems my time sense is really shot and I can't trust it to convey a situation fully.

His face is covered behind sunglasses, however, he is too young to be an actual police though. Maybe 18, 19? There was both nervousness and aggression.

Also his badge is wrong.

He draws his gun, waving it around.

I wonder what it is about. Novak found out and hire some thugs to get his money back? Maybe. It doesn't matter now.

"There has been several report of instance of child abuse in this house by the neighbors. You have to come with us to the station."

I blink.

"Child abuse? Well, I ain't actually the guardian, what about my parents who are currently on vacation."

The man says, there was a nervous tick on his face.

"They aren't involved with this. It is you specifically who are involved with these report. I would ask you to cooperate sir."

I stare down at his gun, before moving my eyes slightly toward the woman next to him.

The vision said I would die in the hand of a woman.

You have to chop the head of these snakes. When the time comes, there should be no hesitation.

"And how do you know that it is me. Who told you specifically?" I ask nonchalantly, pretending to be harmless.

"Don't ask too many questions. Just come with us." The young man says nervously, waving his gun around.

Well, at that point, I have already broken his wrist. Well, that is- "should have" instead. This is strange, this shouldn't happen. The force I use should be enough to break most normal human wrist, but it wasn't broken. However, he is still in pain , and his gun is in my hand.

"Not today kiddo. Your badge is printed wrongly. And that isn't how actual police talks."

Then I point it at the woman next to him, and pull the trigger.

Nothing happens, but it makes him jump.

"Beside, you aren't going to be scaring anyone with an unloaded gun."

Raising my right hand, I block his clumsily thrown punch.

This is strange.

I crack my arm.

This shouldn't happen.

However, I still jam my left hand finger into his eye socket. While doing that, I use my limping right arm to take out a mag from his pocket. Well he was packing. I thought everything is a joke.

All of this happens in a short time span. So while the man is still distracted, and the woman didn't know how to react, I quickly whip the woman's orbital bone with my pistol, before reloading.

This is strange. This shouldn't happen.

As while the woman is stunned, she isn't dead or has anything broken.

Has my skill slipped this bad? In the past, whenever I do it, someone would end up dead.

Trying to not be distracted, I quickly reload the gun as fast as it is possible for this body, and am about to unload the whole mag on these home invaders.

When the time comes, you have to be decisive. You have to cut the head off the snake.

"Stop it!"

My ears were pricked by the sound.

I stare back at the source of the sound.

My sister was staring back at me with an indignant face.

I stare at her. My slightly limping hand didn't move.

When it is time to fight for your life, you have to be decisive, or you will end up dead.

I chose not to point the gun at her. Instead it stays where it is, pointing at the man's head. And I pull the trigger.

Suddenly, a ray of purple light struck me, knocking me flying out of the house. I spit out a mouthful of blood, gripping my chest, looking with disbelief.

Mouthing, 'you will regret this', suddenly I know no more.

Oh well, if it is time, I can always go back at a ghost and be spooky and stuff. I can also do more things efficiently than human me could.

Because after all, magic of this era is probably not advanced enough to destroy a soul just yet. Even then, not one like mine.

And then, I know no more.

 

[Naqu2o]

Spoiler

"Jesus fucking Christ Evie. Your brother is a psychopath."

...

"Why did you think it was a good idea to dress up as a cop?"

...

"I'm doing it for you. I was gonna scare him straight."

...

"Scare him straight? Causing shit to go down more like. Someone could have been killed."

...

"What do we now?"

...

"It is alright. We can make this better. He is not going to remember any of this. But first thing first, the reason we came here."

...

"Jesus, his heart is dark black."

...

"...What is this? How could this be.

There are no trace of the Others. His black heart..."

...

"I knew it. I fucking knew it. He is a psychopath. There aren't anything wrong with him. He is already like that since the beginning."

...

"It couldn't be. How could someone's heart be so dark?"

...

"Evie..."

...

"Evi-"

---

I have eaten human corpses before. It ain't actually bad.

The trick is not to get sick afterward. Well, after that I revolutionize the future catering industry with a cool spell and starves off our starvation issue and kick it down the line.

When I said "our", I mean the 8 million or so surviving human after the massacre.

Anyway, food. Currently, I am cooking for Evie and her friends. However, chuckling darkly, I am not currently cooking human meat.

"Kids, breakfast is ready."

So, my memories are hazy, but last night, Evie went home and introduced her friend to me, Luz and Sophia. They stayed the night. Well, at least Evie aren't riding with the bad bunch, I hope.

However, for strange reason, all of my instincts are screaming at me to do something. And that is why I am doing cooking duty to calm myself.

Putting my hand into the fire, I calmly feel the burning sensation before pulling it out again.

If you do it right, you won't get burned too badly, the rest I can blame on my clumsiness.

Ah right, danger.

A portion of my memories are missing. I know this. From last night to this morning, I don't remember how I got into bed, or what I was doing last night. There is a strong suggestion in my mind to not think about it, however, I came from a more barbaric time period and have forcibly extracted captured combatant's memories before. I know the trick to preserve my mind.

Outside of that, I have my time sense which I can use to cross reference to see when my mind was contaminated.

In the future, I often use this to wipe my mind every time a strange shady guy enters my mind. And this happens more often than you think.

On the surface, I am smiling, however there are dark undercurrent in my mind.

Either this is some MK Ultra bullshit and I got napped by a government agent in a coat yesterday without Evie and her friends knowing, which is possible. Or the second possibility which I fear the most.

I hope it ain't that.

I gaze back easily at Evie and her friends, and smile. However, Evie suddenly shudders.

Well, she is Evie.

Or is she.

Is she even my sister at all? Or is she just a fabrication of my memories.

And her friends, are they really her friends or the enemies here?

This morning, when I woke up in my bed, I have already checked my possession and in there, there is indeed an existence of a sister called "Evie" that I know. However, I am not sure. The moment my memories are tampered with, everything is uncertain.

Is this really my family? Do I have a family?

Is my parents actually my parents or a fabrication?

You see, the thing is that in a world where your memories, knowledge and everything about you are just a play toy for someone else more powerful, there aren't anything such as being too careful.

In the future, when a case such as cognition change like this happens, the result usually ends in the death of everyone involved. Unless that case involves me, in which case, I have a way out for everyone. However, I ain't as powerful as I was then.

Still, I cook dinner for my sister and her friend.

Waiting until the guests have gone, I chose a good moment to have a conversation with my sister.

Staring at her sudden frightened eyes, I say,

"Said Evie, you wouldn't be doing something bad lately right?"

I wait for a moment.

"What did you mean?" She says rapidly.

"I mean that boy Luz, tsk, tsk. You ain't dating him right? Don't worry, I won't tell our parents. You kids have your personal freedom and all that."

"AH! No, no. Luz is Sophia boyfriend. We aren't dating."

"Alright, alright. You aren't looking to fuck your friend's boyfriend behind her back, I get it. Totally." I chuckle, before leaving, not letting Evie saw me chuckling darkly.

She lies to me.

This house ain't safe anymore.

---

That day, Evie was waiting. She was waiting for her brother long into the night. However, that day, Allen did not return

 

[Naqu2o]

I was once called a heartless man. So, as a result of that accusation, I tore my heart out of my rip cage and presented it to the people present to see what kind of heartless man I am. I'm a heartless man, so what can they do to me.

That anecdote aside, currently, I'm in a completely different country with only a bag of cash on my back.

See I know a guy, a human trafficker.

Well, I don't actually know him yet, I will know him in the future, knew, whatever.

So, the other day, I call him up to help me skip the country. The surprise in his voice is matched by the amount of money I'm willing to give. So he is giving me a ride across the border, no paper trail.

"What is the problem boy? Getting second thought?"

A gruff man called back to me. Currently we are on a truck crossing the border of Mexico further south. Making sure that my pistol is within distance reach at all time, I gave him a reassuring smile.

"Never."

Well, it is just a day in the job for him. However, like Novak, I knew his deepest, darkest secret.

The guy works for the cartel. However, he also undercut the cartel he was working for and has a slave labor camp in the future. From what I know, after he became the underboss, he grew ambitious, and seeing his chance, he took it. For months, entire villages disappear in various countries in South America. He was running the cartel human trafficking ring, however he was also doing something incredibly stupid. He built his own labor camp. So, a percentage of the people he kidnapped are disappeared into his private business. The men are sent to work until death, while the women are reprocessed and sold to sexual slavery. And all of this run under the nose of the cartel boss.

I don't really understand. It seems to be an extremely risky business. Is labor really that profitable?

Anyway, in the future, his little slave powered "labor town" cause a big incident. And I am involved in it too, despite my protest.

When the end of the world arrives, magic returns and certain entities descended. There was a time of chaos and social collapse before the end time. During that time, I was running with a pretty bad crew called the "Pioneer" group, which pioneer the usage of cool magic. We carve out our own territories which is the entire world and everything, and everything that opposed us was struck down with absolute cruelty.

See, one day, Gardner ran across the border after his slave town encountered an extremely big problem and he begged for help.

Because of the descend of chaos, the management of Christian "C.G." Gardner labor town descended into anarchy, so him and a few of his underlings tighten down on the kidnapped people and force a closure of the labor town. Everything in town is homegrown and they were not allowed contact with the outside world. Supplies were tough, but they managed to get a cycle of violence running.

The captured people are too used to fear that they dare not resist.

So the situation of the camp lasted for several months. But then, C.G. has a bright idea.

Seeing the state of the world, he wanted to build his own fiefdom without the cool magic our Pioneer has. And what is the most important part of a fiefdom, the population of course.

So, get this, C.G. started running a force breeding program.

But this attracted the attention of a certain entities, which we would later call the "Primordial Being".

Several members of the Pioneering group who did research on the subject told me the "Primordial Being" feels compassion for the people and that is its expression of its compassion. I wouldn't really know. My memories of my contact with the Primordial Being are removed.

But I wouldn't call it kind from a human perspective.

See, the group of people kept in close enclosed cage started gaining strange mutation ever since the breeding program started. C.G. saw it as a sign that God was with him. However, he rapidly lost control of the labor town afterward.

See, the prisoner, they "devolve".

Some call it "evolution".

But they really devolve. The prisoner started turning a race of monstrous animalistic creature, that while still keeping some rational thought, is a slave to their nature. They are stronger, faster and bigger than a normal human. A single "devolved" human can tore a normal fit guy apart in minutes. They are also resistance to damage. And the worst thing about them is their reproductive abilities. A single pair of "devolved" human may give birth to dozens of more children in a year. They give birth every 3 months to 3 or 4 offsprings every time. Because of this, they are insatiable in their hunting and started hunting the surviving human.

C.G.'s group was of course the first victim, however, he somehow managed to escape.

So some members of the Pioneer wanted to execute him after knowing, however, our leader at that time, Leonard, dismiss the notion because human are rare at that time, and as long as he is still a pure human, Leonard was still willing to keep him.

See, in the long run, this was Leonard biggest mistake. He should have known that a few people would have reacted badly to his dismissal, but anyway-

Leonard holds a council on the strategy to deal with the "devolved" human. I abstained from voting. Leonard himself? He championed a "punitive" expedition.

The reasonale is that at that point we have enough power to drive the last "devolved" human into extinction. Leonard himself favored this approach. However, we were afraid that we would offend whatever entities that was behind the "devolved" human current state if we killed them to the last. Instead he proposed a "punitive" expedition to drive the fear of human into them, and dissuade them from ever daring to hunt human again.

My friend, Selene and Novak voted against the expedition. I could probably have swayed some more to vote for their camp, but I didn't want to get involved. Anyway, they were outvoted.

So, the Pioneering group held the first large scale "punitive" expedition since the group was created and demonstrated our power to the world.

Hundreds and thousands of "devolved" human was skinned, vivisect and left to exposure every few hours. We make sure to make the process as painful as powerful and long as possible so that their scream would warn their kind of what the human on the "civilized" side is capable of. Every one in a while, we would murder entire packs. Children are torn apart in front of their mother. There are no prisoners. One in a while, we would keep a survivor and parade their bleeding bodies near suspected hiding spot of the "devolved" so that their whimpering can be heard by the survivor.

Anyway, it is a successful campaign. It was also completely barbaric.

However, during this campaign, Leonard completely offended Selene. So, she told me to keep Leonard stupid for 3 days, after which she would have a big surprise for him. So I did, I turn him into an idiot for 3 days. He can't even eat, and he shat and urinated where he sat. Drool keeps coming out of his mouth, but everyone was too afraid to say anything.

On the third day, Selene's "surprise" gift was finished. See, Leonard was so excited by the surprise that his brain melted and dripped out of his nose.

However, at that moment, 10,000 human that was under our protection exploded at the same time. For, despite being destined for death, Leonard has his last trick. He connected his life with 10,000 human under our control, believing it was the safest protection for his life. However, Selene also has her trick. She uses the three days to identify the 10,000 human Leonard was connected to and put her surprise on them.

The cleaning up was a bitch. There was blood and pile everywhere, and I was on mind wiping duty so that the rest of the people under our protection don't get PTSD.

Novak accused Selene of being worse than Leonard, which she didn't deny. And well, their friendship ended on that day.

However, there is one difference between Selene and Leonard I believe. As while Leonard used 10,000 lives to ensure his life. Selene later on dies for humanity....

 

[Naqu2o]

In fact, I thought about eating from the rich woman's plate when I was time traveling to the past. It's- uh- a very bad idea. Of all the people among the "Pioneer" group, Selene always has that serial killer vibe to her. And while all the members of the "Pioneer" group have that I would kill people in a heartbeat vibe, we all grew up from the ashes of the world.

Selene felt like she already has that domineering "ruler ship over humanity" vibe even before the apocalypse based on the stories she was telling. So I ain't touching that, nuh-uh, no way. It's a good way to end up in whatever rape dungeon rich people have otherwise.

Anyway, upon touching down on foreign soil, I did two things. One is to buy another burner phone. And while I can speak Spanish, my accents are terrible. So, carefully picking my words, I pick up the phone.

"Hola amigo-"

---

The person I called was an underboss of the cartel C.G. was working for. Right now, C.G. isn't that guy yet. He still has a boss to answer to. It is a simple matter to be a rat and anonymously inform the cartel of any misdemeanor the "foreigner" might have done. And he has done plenty. Like the side job C.G. has didn't just start from nowhere, it already started at current time. Outside of the people he trafficked for the cartel, he was already keeping a few pretty ones to sell through another channel. And while the cartel is all kind of evil, undercutting the boss is a no no.

I am just a simple snitch.

But if that helps stop a potential future humanitarian crisis then maybe I'm doing a good thing.

We Pioneering group are very flux in our morality, and my approach is that as long as it doesn't cause problem to me personally down the line, I'm down with helping humanity.

And this is in a gray zone I'm acceptable with. It fits me just fine, being a rat.

However, you know what else isn't in my gray zone?

Something posing a threat to me.

I heard Bolivia is fine at this time of a year. When I got there, I only need to hunker down and started cursing.

This mind wiping business isn't over.

When I first arrived in the past, I was content with living normally, but they go after my family, they go after me? Now that is another thing coming.

I didn't want to invoke any magic at all in this life because I didn't want to bring that whole bag of evil with me, but since magic is already confirmed real, let evil confronts evil like the old time.

I only need to hunker down and started cursing.

Because the way I see it, as long as people don't know where I am, I can kill anyone in the world.

By tracing back the line of magic on me and the caster, it is possible.

But before that, I need to get somewhere safe.

Only when I'm safe can I feel relief.

I don't want to feel helpless in the face of power. And to do that, I need to be the one who strike first.

So, in my mind, there are plans and contingencies going on. In my line of work, I learn that the one who has no hidden cards are the one who die first.

Since the other unknown party has already started a shadow war, I must hid everything I have until it is time to strike.

---

"Eve. Did you contact your family?" Her friend, Sophia asks.

They were currently in an underground facility, near the school when Eve was first recruited. In this province, Luz was the one who was initially recruited, before he recruited his friend, Sophia. Luz and Sophia then met Eve, who was independently recruited by a recruiter.

On the ground of the facility, there is a giant pattern. An Omega symbol is printed on the floor. They believe in a Goddess, which grants blessing to this world to avoid a dark future. While all of this sounds like a cult, it is all actually real because they can use magic.

Eve tinkers with the spark of light dancing on her finger. It feels warmth to the touch.

All of it is real.

"The Goddess has said that you can radiate the way forward. I'm so jealous of your ability, Eve."

Among them, Eve can make sparkle, which can purify a corrupted heart.

Sophia can fight, and turn in a freaking werewolf in case of emergency.

And Luz, Luz can access mind and tinker with it. Together, they are helping the Goddess prevents a prophecy.

Again, this may sound cult-ist, but it all real.

Sometime ago, the Goddess has a vision of the future.

A dark and terrible future. Strange inhuman creatures inhabited the land. Human lives, hurdled in small cities protected by heroes wielding savage, terrible but awe inspiring power. The sky has grayed, the world has ended. Human march forward toward the end.

Again, this sounds very cult-ist but it is real.

However, at the same, something strange and terrible glances at the Goddess, and she suffers greatly, falling into a coma.

From that day on, she cannot interfere with physical reality anymore, and she can only act on the world through vision, dream, and manifestation of miracle and power.

And as proof, she shows vision of the condemned future in those vision. And those who met the Goddess can gain power.

From then on, an organization was founded. The Altena Foundation, for a better future. In secret they have worked to prevent this terrible future, while recruiting people with potential.

They are the people that "believe in the fantastical". Usually children are the one who fit the criteria, however, for unknown reasons, it doesn't work.

Instead one of the think tank proposes that it is people who "has hope for the future" that can be chosen.

There are also people that the Altena Foundation has to fight.

They are the "Dark ones", people whose heart has been corrupted by unknown mystical influence, causing their personality to distort. It can range from violent tendency, to actual evil act being performed under the influence of the unknown influence. It is believed that the "Dark ones" are one of the reasons for the bad future, and it is the duty of the Altena Foundation to fight them.

However the "Dark ones" are difficult to fight. It is said that the dark influences often cause them to commit evil deed, however how is that any different from normal crimes people commit.

It is where the Foundation comes in. Using state of the art technology, they analyze erratic behavior, change in personality and sent people to investigate.

This is a massive undertaking, so hoping that the phenomenon are self contained, as the appearance of the dark ones often appear around the region where the Goddess has become comatose, they set up surveillance there.

It is not until Eve reported on her brother's changing personality that her new friends, Sophia and Luz intervened.

However what they discovered was concerning.

Allen is not affected by any known dark influence, however, he is evil on his own.

Afterward, Luz erased his memories. That is supposed to be the end of that. However the next day, Eve's brother ended up missing.

And that is why Sophia is concerned that Eve hasn't contacted her parents to tell them about their missing son. Eve, in her opinion, is having a panic attack and isn't thinking straight.

"He knows. He must know. That is why he reacts like that and disappears."

"How can he knows Eve. Your brother doesn't have any abilities. Beside we established that his heart is pitch black, may be he has done something and need to skip t-"

A glare from Sophia causes him to shut up.

Luz was never a good talker.

"I have always felt like we are missing something. Like a detail we couldn't have known. And one day it would come back and haunt us." Eve said. Because the Goddess said Eve would be the one to light the way forward, the people around her has the tendencies to believe her. She is often right, prophetic even.

However, even she can't believe how prophetic she was because the moment she finished her word, Luz was choking.

He was dry heaving.

His mouth was suddenly shut, like invisible lines were sewing them up.

In a panic he tried to touch his mouth, but nothing happens.

He tried to pry open his mouth open, making gurgling noises. Alerted, Sophia immediately comes to his side and try to help him.

Luz was choking. And he was dying. In the end, to save him, ruthlessly, using all her force, Sophia dislocated his jaw to open his mouth.

But at that moment, they were horrified.

Cockroaches were crawling out of Luz's mouth in a tide.

Something dark is approaching them.

 

[Naqu2o]

When you look at the sky what do you see?

Is it the beauty and wonder of the stars? Or is the sky just the sky?

When I look at the sky, I feel horror, horror that makes my eyes bleed, my brain trembles, and my hope dashed. Only those who looks up to the sky with horror would survive the end of day. Only with the attitude of being in awe of the sky, and awareness of the infinitesimal of existence can you live.

We are so small, so, so small. A speck of dust in the eye of God.

Only with this awareness did I survive.

To me, magic is something dark, horrible. Even though I thrive in the end, I am aware that my status is a survivor, while the other human are "livestock" of the unspoken being, let alive on a whim.

When the pioneering group of "survivors" decided to "protect" the surviving human, I am aware that those actions are akin to that of keeping pets. It is what remains of their humanity.

I am aware. I am aware. I am aware. I am aware. I am aware. I aware. I await an ending. I am aware. I am aware. BLOOD, MORE BLOOD, MORE BLOOD FOR ME. I am aware. We all burn in the end. I am aware, I am the end of all possibilities.

We are aware.

Anyway, what was I saying?

Ah yes, to me, magic is a horrid, terrible thing. It is something that should not be touched easily.

However, when touched, I must see it to the end.

Currently, it seems that there are hostile magicians out to get me, even in the idyllic time of the past. In the pioneering day. We burn them. Slash them. Cut them. Blind them with eternity. End them. Bleed them. Devour them. Erase them.

However, we are very limited in option here.

Ah, what was I saying.

Ah, to me, magic is a horrid, evil thing.

A hand suddenly reaches out to stop my shaking hand and guide the ritual back to track.

Ah yes, who is it?

Impossible.

Can it be?

It is... It is... me?

Another me wrapped in the shadow of the forest and wildness is in the room with me, guiding my hand.

Ah yes, I realized it now. I am on drug.

I really shouldn't have taken that much drug.

Anyway, yes, to me, magic is a dark, dark thing. It is something that I shouldn't do under any circumstances in this world.

But I have no choice.

My mind is altered. What else was altered then?

I am aware that magic is an evil thing.

However, it is with that awareness that I am performing it. It is my deliberate decision.

And with that realization, it is as if a veil has been lifted from my mind and I can think clearly again.

Damn, I almost lost it then.

Keep it together, me. I can't degenerate on the first time I performed magic in this world.

Anyway, I'm currently on drug, and is also drinking a mouthful of blood. Surrounding me is blood, a circle of blood, with symbols drawn in blood. However, this ain't any would be occultist first baby circle, it comes from instinct and bloodied experience.

My soul is touched by something that should not be and has been irrevocably altered. Even now, as I live and breathe, I know I am permanently tainted by the beyond.

However, that beyond doesn't exist, it is locked in a future that will never arrive.

It is with that knowledge that forestall my soul alter forever.

Because it [never happened] and [doesn't exist] in the first place. With that knowledge, I lock the evil thing in place.

However, in truth, it has never left me.

If I can't deny that it [never happened] and [doesn't exist], it happened, and exists.

And currently, I am tapping into it tentatively, reaching into the veil of the real and the fantasy.

These thing doesn't exist, and shouldn't exist, but because I acknowledge it existence, it just is.

Anyway, currently I am tapping into a curse. In the future, it is called the Curse of Food, because it is the source of food for most of the 8 million surviving human in the apocalypse.

In the future, there are no food without danger, no danger that is unpoisoned, and no safe haven except for the Pioneering group's grand project.

One problem that we have is the shortage of food for 8 million people.

After many days of researching and abandoning myself, I came up with an idea.

I curse 8 million people so that cockroaches, insect, snake and rat would come out of their mouth.

This is actually a very successful endeavor as it provides a sorely needed source of food for the people in need.

Why during every interval, people can bite down and chew and has the protein they need.

My good friend dealt with the psychological issue while the solution was still need. However, afterward, it was fine, the human race survive, eating cockroaches, rats, insects and snakes that emerge out of their mouth unending.

But in fact, despite my benevolent effort, the curse is actually very valuable strategically speaking.

Until now, a person who can resist my curse is extremely rare.

This isn't a big issue as people in the apocalypse can usually has enough mental preparation to deal with the very practical side effect. However, it still takes time, as the emerging creature may disrupt them. And those precious time can be deadly.

But I am also aware, in this era, it should be fatal.

I can't access anything big here. But this should be able to kill. Every meal that the enemy caster take are cockroaches, insects and every disgusting thing they can think off.

It should be no issue to the caster of the apocalypse, because we lost ourselves in the end, but it should be fatal to the caster of this era. Their mental preparation should not be sufficient enough. I am aware that it is unlikely for them to be sufficient, but it might still happen. In which case, we can only take the next step as they come.

But this should be enough to disgust them to death, I believe.

And before their death, I ain't coming out of this basement.


And I ain't going to die. Because in my mouth, there are worms, and I am chewing on them for sustenance.

Nobody can find where I am, and I have sustenance to go on forever, and a bag of drug.

I ain't going out until the other party is dead due to mental collapse.

 

[Naqu2o]

What is magic to you?

To Eve, it is something wonderful, that opens up a new world. There is a greater wonderful out there.

However, there are dangers. The Dark Ones are those who ruin the beauty of magic.

Even so... you still have to move forward, it is a beautiful world out there.

...Lately, Eve has been getting vision, ever since her brother...

She believes it is the gift that the Goddess spoke of, but she doesn't understand. Others don't understand, they can't understand. She sees her brother marching ceaselessly into a sea of fire that burns her eyes to look at.

And then, the mountains of corpses and the sea of blood follow his footstep.

And then the vision stares back at her. It frightens her. Nobody can understand what having someone like that living under the same roof as her. At the same time, she can't tell the others full details. Who would believe her when she doesn't understand her vision herself.

Eve has been getting vision...

Such as a man made of light standing in the room with her, observing her.

Her thought are threads of light and he is unraveling it in his hands, playing with it like toys.

"Ah, this is no good Eve. This is why you die first. This optimism of your."

Suddenly he laughs

"I understand the situation now. The vulgar self are harming you. There is one solution to this."

"Make me real."

Then, the face wrapped in millions and millions of thread stare back at her, his face was near her face.

"Eve?" There was a knock on the door.

Suddenly, the girl blinks. Then, the last few moments disappear from her mind. As if nothing has happened.

When you stare into the abyss, the abyss stares back.

The moment magic is invoked, perhaps there has been some barrier that should not exist that was broken down.

"I am here to tell you about Luz treatment. They have put him at the Goddess's feet. We can only hope now, that the Goddess would help him."

As none of them could do something about the seemingly strange curse that manifests out of nowhere.

That bit of information about her important friend shakes Eve out of her stupor. However, she can't help but think of a certain ideology in her mind. A brilliant future.

---

An extremely bad premonition suddenly flashes in my mind, and I spit out a mouthful of blood. However instead of coalescing at the end, the blood glows, burning my eyes.

Oh no, it is happening again.

Sometime when you open a door, something undesirable from the other side of the door uses that moment to enter without your knowledge.

And this time, it is the same. It is something that has haunted me for a long, long time.

I don't know where it is going, but it is not my problem now. I have more direct threat to deal with.

Such as something calling itself a "Goddess" giving feedback on the other side of the curse.

Everything that calls itself a God is bad news. Potentially ending the world

 

[Naqu2o]

"ASK THE GODDESS FOR HELP NOW!"

No one knew whose voice it was, but there was instantly a commotion.

At that moment, everyone can feel something approaching. Something very dark and heavy. A terrible curse that would wipe out everything.

And despite the current pitiful situation happening to the boy, idly, there was something in their mind.

'It is not a power to be touched.'

'You shouldn't touch it.'

'Get away.'

However, soon, all of their confusion was washed away by a divine power. The power of a Goddess.

Yet, it was also the worst possible response for the current situation.

Because-

---

I encounter a God.

At that moment, that was the only thing I can say. That was the only sensible thing I can say. Because I was going insane.

In my head, there are voices. And those voices, they are screaming. Incessantly, louder and louder until I can't hear anything, until my ears bleed, until there was tears under my eyes, and blood under my nose.

And those voices, are my voices.

All the horrible memories, they are coming back, louder and louder.

I remember a strange person building a corpse pyramid in the middle of an urban city.

I remember the thousand of headless sculpture made out of human.

I remember the depravity and barbarism of the end of time.

I remember the Gods descending, and the human screaming out as a species.

'STOP! STOP IT! PLEASE! I WISH IT WAS ALL A BAD DREAM! I WILL WAKE UP! I WILL WAKE UP! AND WHEN I WAKE UP, I WILL BE HOME!'

Problem is I have already waken up from that nightmare, and I'm already home.

But, I encounter a God.

I stare back at the God.

This was not the first time that I have encountered a God.

I remember a time, when I was young, not in body, but in spirit, and my heart was filled with the naivete of youth, and I encounter one.

When I look into his eyes, I saw the future of our world, of our species as a whole. I knew the future 100 ahead. I knew what would happen, or at least a general idea.

I didn't agree with his idea, but I couldn't deny that it has merit.

I see my mother lighting up in the flame at the end of day, oh how my family spontaneously burn, how they burn brightly. And when they burn, there weren't even a speck of them left.

The entire continent burns.

The lucky one, and I walk through the fire of the end of day as the Gods descend.

And slowly, but surely, I come to agree with the being known as THE END.

Other people have other ideas. Other Gods have other ideas for what to do with human and the human souls.

However, I and THE END have come to an understanding.

In that cruel world, perhaps the kindest solution is the merciful killing of all of humanity.

I and THE END have an understanding, one day, when the Gods have played thoroughly with humanity, and the living and the dead suffer in eternal anguish, when existence is worse than nothingness, we will bring hope.

We will bring The end.

Everyone will burn in The end, but it will be a final relief to a sad, dying world, toyed with by wanton Gods.

That is the agreement at least.

That is, if it is the only solution.

I walk out of the flame of the end of day, completely renewed, with an understanding.

However, the world I am currently in has not yet reached that forgone conclusion.

Instead of the normalized tragedies, there are nothing here. Idleness, boredom, but thing hasn't reached that conclusion.

Until now.

When I feel a God arriving, the first thing that die inside me is hope. However there was some comfortable reassurance in that action.

Sure enough, I can never escape in the end.

The moment, I saw a God, I stab myself.

And from which, there wasn't blood, but only flame.

I stare at the God angrily, and spew out

"I may have lost this time due to my lack of preparation, but know this. This world is not for you. I will end everything myself if it means keeping it from the hand of the Gods."

And then my body burns, faster and faster. However, I was also ascending.

This is the exact state I was in, when I walked out of the end of world.

An understanding