A man walked through the remains of a field littered with the charred bodies of humans and animals alike. This man, who wore a lantern with a blue flame and the tattered remains of once-great armor, looked over the scene of devastation. His face bore a complex expression of joy and sorrow of triumph and failure. This man, who was destined to meet his end, looked upon a desolate war ravaged plane around then with a calm movement turned around and walked towards his new fate.
It was a windy day here in the Antarctic Center. The wind swept by, kicking up snow that had long since fallen. Upon the icy roads of Falcon Scott walked a man who looked to be in a hurry. He had short brown hair and looked to be exhausted with bags hanging under his eyes. His face was pale and held an exhausted expression. He wore a thick coat that ran down to his knees and a pair of heavy sweatpants to stay warm. His shoes were nothing special, just padded boots to keep his feet from freezing.
Under his breath, he murmured, "Crap, crap, crap." His hurried walking turned into a jog, then into a full sprint.
He was late for work. He had snoozed his alarm one too many times and was now running behind. He hadn't even had time to drink his morning coffee before leaving, hungry and tired he sprinted to work.
After a minute of weaving through crowds, he could see his agency's center. He burst through the door, only to be stopped by security, who asked to see his ID card.
The card read:
Name: Noah
Last Name: Brooks
Age: 24
ID: 440986972
Height: 5'10"
Occupation: electrical engineer
The security guard looked at the ID, handed it back to him, and nodded.
"You're free to go, sir."
Noah nodded back and kept walking. Wheezing and out of breath, he made his way to the employee lounge for his much-needed cup of coffee.
As the synthetic coffee brewed, his mind drifted to the day ahead. He started making a mental list of tasks to complete. After a few minutes, the machine stopped making noises and his coffee was ready. He poured it into a mug taking a deep breath to enjoy the smell, he sighed, then took a sip.
Today was Maintenance Day, which was essentially glorified menial labor. All it entailed was checking the sensors scattered across the city. Not the most exciting thing to do, especially on a cold day like this, but work is work.
Still, he considered himself lucky not to have been hit by the Nightmare Spell when he was of age. He'd take sensor maintenance over fighting horrible creatures any day or so he told himself.
After finishing his coffee, he excited the building for another day in the field. As expected, nothing special happened. The day was steeped in mediocrity just another set of repetitive, simple tasks. He fixed sensors, chatted briefly with the people around town, and occasionally stared at his watch, eager for the day to end.
When the clock hit 6:00, Noah could not have been happier. He just wanted to go home and sleep.
On the way home, his communicator buzzed. It was a message from his friend Ashton, asking if he wanted to hang out. Torn between going home and seeing his friend, Noah paused in the middle of the street, weighing his options. After a short self debate, he decided that catching up wouldn't be so bad, I mean he hadn't seen Ashton in a while.
At the restaurant, he met Ashton and some other friends. Ashton had been a close friend for many years and had been infected by the Nightmare Spell long ago. In fact, that's how Noah had met the others in the group; they were Ashton's cohort.
There was Liz, the archer; Bryan, the tank; and Light, the healer. Ashton was the swordsman and a well-rounded fighter.
Noah hadn't seen them in some time, so it was nice to catch up. But it quickly became obvious that he didn't have much to talk about. Aside from a slightly hectic morning, Noah's life was uneventful. every day was the same thing, wake up, work, then sleep.
Ashton, on the other hand, had plenty of stories to tell. The conversation quickly became one-sided, with Noah simply listening as Ashton and his cohort shared tales of their travels.
Noah however didn't really mind this. In fact, he actually quite enjoyed it. Hearing the tales of their harrowing adventures was a breath of fresh air in his boring suffocating life. Their stories, so grand and surreal, they felt like fairy tales to some like Noah.
they stay at the table for many hours; Noah listens to their tales. some about hordes of skeletons, some about slaying huge beast and others about their achievements in defending large human fortresses in the heart of the nightmare world.
eventually thought, the stories ran dry and with not much to talk about Noah bid farewell to his friends and headed back to his apartment, and his every day boring life trudged ever forward.
*One month later*
After many days of darkness, the sun had finally appeared on the horizon. After such a long absence, it was refreshing to see it again. It was the perfect day for a peaceful stroll to work.
Noah got out of bed and began brewing coffee, then got dressed. Since it was warmer, he wore cargo pants with thermal layers underneath, a long-sleeve shirt, and a nice brown overcoat. He also put on his old reliable padded boots.
Ready to go, he poured coffee into a disposable cup and headed out.
The walk to work was serene. The sun was just rising, casting a warm glow across the desolate streets. Despite the coffee, Noah still felt groggy. Odd, but he figured he'd just stayed up too late on his phone.
He entered the agency building with a smile. Handing the guard his ID, he decided to make small talk.
"Good morning, sir," Noah said, trying to sound casual.
The guard, slightly surprised by the conversation, replied, "Morning. Can I see your ID?"
"Sure," Noah said, yawning as he handed it over.
The guard looked up without lifting his head. "Long night?"
Noah chuckled, a little embarrassed. "Nah, just up on my phone."
The guard gave him a deadpan look, then handed back the ID. "Have a good day."
"You too," Noah replied, continuing on his way.
Today was another boring maintenance day, but manageable thanks to the milder weather.
As he stepped outside, he took a deep breath. The cold Antarctic air filled his lungs, contrasting with the warm sunlight on his face. With a sharp exhale, he set off for another day of menial labor.
The day passed uneventfully as usually, until he reached a sensor near the city outskirts. He heard a faint humming from the electrical box beside it. Curious, he put on his rubber gloves and opened the box.
A wire had detached from the main transformer, nothing serious, just a quick fix.
He reattached the wire then jumped in shock as the sirens blared.
Almost instinctively, he disconnected the transformer again. The alarm only had time to say only part of its message: "Open in 105."
He stood there in stunned silence then his ear turned red and he look around. he let out a nervous laugh and scratched the back of his head. That was embarrassing.
But he couldn't shake the feeling that something was off. He double-checked the system. sifting through the jumble of wire he tried to find faulty circuit, but it was strange the only thing that seemed to be wrong was the power. No other wires were cut, not circuit boards where broken.
Noah scratched his chin 'So… why did the alarm go off?'
Noah was then struck by a chilling realization.
'If the only issue was the power source… Why did the alarm activate at all? …Shit.'
Panicking, he reattached the transformer. Again, the sirens blared louder this time.
"Warning. Warning. Gate opening in 15 seconds."
Noah's body trembled.
"A gate? Here!? In 15 seconds?! There's no fucking way!"
"Warning. Warning. Gate opening in 10 seconds."
He felt a rising wave of despair. No time to run. No time for the Awakened to respond. Noah's face contorted in horror.
'There's not hope'
"Warning. Warning. Gate opening in 5 seconds."
This was it. Is this really how it ends? He still had so much life ahead of him… places he hadn't seen… dreams he hadn't lived.
But what could he do? He had no powers, no formal training, he was screwed.
but as the despair finally took over Noah's mind something snapped, a sudden resolve filled Noah's head.
'No, it will not end like this'
Noah turned around and ran as fast as he possibly could, but before he could even reach his full speed Reality cracked. The air itself seemed to fracture, right in front of him. He felt as if his hand was being ripped out of his head.
Then everything went black.
His body hit the ground, unmoving. Lifeless. At the mercy of whoever or whatever came through the Gate.