Epoch of Desolation

[Launching Revelation]…

[Launch successful]…

[Player will not be exterminated]…

[Checking mental state]…

[Mental state: Stable]…

[Studying Physical Attributes]…

[Physical Attributes studied successfully]…

[Assigning Class]…

[Class assignment completed]…

[Due to current Physical Attributes, Player has been classified as a Lightweight]…

[Modifying Player’s Dataset to fit their Class]…

[Dataset modified successfully]…

[Assigning Dataset]…

[Dataset assignment completed]…

[Granting Role]…

[Side Character Role granted]…

[Despite being a Side Character, Player Rain Leclair is still required in the development of a substantial plot, and in that regard has been given the choice of selecting a Division based on their Class]…

[Division selection has been postponed until Player has awoken]…

[Seeking Benefactor]…

[No Benefactor is currently interested]…

[Resuming Player preparation]…

[Player preparation completed]…

[Duration taken for completion: 5 years and 15 days, calculated from the 18th of August, year 2024, to the 3rd of September, year 2029]…

[Time of completion: 5:03PM]…

[Player Rain Leclair is now ready to participate in Revelation]…

[Starting location: Edinburgh, Scotland]…

[Final notice to Player Rain Leclair: Spawned Glades are to be ventured into within 48 hours. Repercussion for failure? Melding will occur]…

[Releasing Player Rain Leclair from his pod]…

###

Happy birthday…

Rain’s eyes flicked open sharply, a dot of blue and purple hue resting silently in his peripheral vision, while the words which had snapped him awake became transient echoes that were lost forever to him.

His skull was extremely heavy—almost as though its components had been swapped from that of the calcium of bone to the galena of lead—while his mind was clouded by a thick hazy fog which was only now beginning to clear bit by bit.

What had happened to him? Where was he?

He wanted to see. To be able to view his surroundings, but despite the fact that his eyes were wide open, they were smeared by a blur of muted, dim-golden light which prevented his wish from coming to pass.

The latest of his questions came at that moment: Why… Why couldn’t he seem to remember much?

Rain was unable to arrange his thoughts into a singular coherent form yet, despite that, he was able to figure out one thing: Something was wrong—with himself.

Besides the basics of life which had been ingrained in him right from the beginning of his existence—a beginning he couldn’t even recall, nor those who had caused it—everything else was either partially or completely blurred; some were even imprisoned in a cave of darkness.

He would have panicked physically in that regard, but his body was too weak to react. It was almost like he had been caged within an unbreakable wall of cement.

That realization of his caused his chest to spasm stiffly. And as if only now registering that to survive he needed a lot more of the stale, dusty, and decaying air he had been breathing in, Rain’s mouth flung open, revealing a small gap between both his lips.

It was painful. Breathing was excruciatingly painful. His throat was dry and hurting, and every breath he drew in felt like torture. Regardless, he needed to breathe. And, most importantly, he needed help.

Rain tried to call for just that, but his words were stuck in his throat.

His lips were open, though the only sounds able to make their way out of his esophagus were raspy ones which shared a lot of similarity to the choking croaks of a person being strangled.

I can’t speak?

Another realization regarding his situation dawned upon him. This one caused his heartbeat to race and his stomach to churn and quiver. He could only react to the frustration he was feeling by protesting with his toes and fingers. Those, though, were useless in the grand scheme of things.

Unable to do anything to better his situation, Rain finally resolved to lay still, breathing slowly for a while. After which he focused his attention on the unforgiving, hard, and discomforting surface he was lying side-faced upon. And as if his sense of feeling had been waiting for him to do just that, it was at that moment that he experienced a shivering sensation pricking his skin, and, as well, a chill seeping into his bones.

A single tear rolled down his right cheek, but its warmth was not enough to make up for the cold that had taken control over his body and mind.

He needed answers to his questions, yet the more he reached for them the farther into a bleak horizon they ran.

Still, he did not give up.

As his blurred eyes darted about, and his throat kept trying to produce a word, his mind persisted on trying to attain answers from his fragmented and hazy memories.

It was not until the dim-golden yellow light bathing his eyes had transformed into a dull, ethereal silver that seemed to be everywhere and nowhere at the same time, was he able to finally produce a single word…

“Hello…” Like a toddler who was only just learning how to speak, Rain mumbled in a scratchy whisper, and a momentary wave of joy swallowed him up. Until he realized that his call had been met with a deafening silence in return.

Was he all alone?

A colder chill than the previous one crept up his spine.

“Hello…!” he called out again, louder. But still no reply came. The beats of his heart transitioned from a slow trod to a gallop, and this time his panic was palpable.

Breathe… Rain told himself—stabilized himself—as he closed his eyes for a moment while taking in the damp air clouding wherever he was in with shivering breaths. Breathe… He told himself again before finally opening his eyes as his galloping heart calmed down somewhat. And this time whatever had been left of the blur veiling them was lifted ever so slightly as though they were thin cataracts successfully removed by an ophthalmologist.

Plus, because of that, he was able to glimpse a particular set of features he seemed to have been struggling to remember.

Across from him, on the shattered screen of a plasma tv, was an image of a teenager in a messy hospital gown with blonde short hair, a somewhat shrunken face, and a mole on his right eye. It was an image of…

Me…? Rain mumbled to himself in a moment of quick apprehension, since as he moved his eyes, the hazel eyes on the tv screen moved as well. Then there was a short silence in his head, after which he added, Handsome.

He was not particularly sure why that thought had crossed his mind, considering his predicament, but he didn’t dwell on it for a second and decided to further his understanding of his situation by taking in his surroundings.

After all, he could finally see a lot more clearly.

Rain turned his gaze towards the walls within his current scope of vision, curiously scrutinizing their cracked and grimy surfaces.

It’s like I’m in an abandoned building or something. Am I?

When he looked further he made out a broken ceramic vase which had long decayed, as well as withered flowers, and a nursing tray toppled over with countless syringes littered all over the dusty floor.

What is going on here? Rain questioned himself, knowing fully well that he did not have the answer to anything, not even those concerning his own self. The syringes… The patient gown I’m wearing… I’m definitely at a hospital. But were hospitals always this gloomy?

Rain tried to push himself up from the floor as soon as he noticed that a little bit of strength had returned to his muscles, but his joints cried out in pain and he had not even been able to lift himself up an inch before he’d crumbled back down.

I guess I’m going to have to wait a bit longer then.

He forced himself not to feel anxious and decided to take things slowly, one step at a time.

No good would come from rushing things, obviously.

And besides, it seems like I’m all alone here. No one responded to my calls, and I’ve not even heard any sounds apart from the ones I’ve been making.

Rain gnashed his teeth in a slight frustration.

That’s barely reassuring. I’m a sitting duck here, one who doesn’t even know what has happened to him.

Tsk!

Rain Leclair. Seventeen years of age. That’s all I can seem to remember. I need more than that—some answers. Why am I in a hospital? Did I get into an accident?

Furthermore, he was completely dehydrated, that much was obvious from his features. And he was exhausted too. And hungry.

A wave of tiredness suddenly hit Rain’s core, causing him to close his eyes and exhale deeply.

It was then. Just as he opened his eyes.

He took notice of something which he had seemingly been subconsciously pushing aside during his moments of mild panic. It was an indistinct blue and purple-ish light to the corner of his eyes which seemed both far and near and kept pulsing in a low manner

What is that?

Rain was taken aback at the sight, but for some reason he didn’t completely feel as though it was something strange.

If he were to compare the feeling he was having for the pulsing light it would be similar to the kind related to his manhood. He knew he had one, but he could easily forget that he did.

Though, somewhere in his brain, there was a notion flying around that the light being present wasn’t a normal situation. That it wasn’t natural, and instead it was weird.

Rain’s thoughts were split into two contradicting parts in that regard, but he didn’t seem to care which was right or wrong.

All he wanted at this point was to get answers to all the questions he had, including the current ones which had sprung up due to this light.

That said… How would he get them?

Having already completely focused his psyche on the light through all his thinking—tacked on with his unwavering resolve to get answers—the pulsing blue and purple-ish light responded in an ethereal manner. Rain gasped as deep as his strength could allow while an incredulous look took over his face.

The light had spread out bizarrely, transforming into words before his view.

[Side Character Rain Leclair, a Division is yet to be selected]...

Side Character?

[Proceed to select Division?]...