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A Life in Darkness
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A Life in Darkness:
A World Shifters Story
Heinreich T. Sioson
Published by Heinreich T. Sioson at Smashwords.com
Copyright 2015 by Heinreich T. Sioson
This is a work of fiction.
All characters appearing in this work are fictitious.
Any resemblence to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
I was running now. I felt them coming. They were close behind us. I dared not turn around for fear my mind couldn’t comprehend what I was seeing and would fall apart. Even with my telepathic and telekinetic powers at their fullest trying to hold them off there were just too many. And they were gaining. But I had to keep going. I had to protect the young girl in my arms, clinging to my chest as if it was the last lifeline on Earth. And I was. I had made a promise. Not to Central, for it was they who pronounced Bol guilty. Bol Piles, my friend and mentor, was gone. No, I was protecting this little girl now because I promised her mother I would. My very first assignment would be my last, one way or the other, if I failed.
We were the last human beings on this cursed planet.
Part I
18 hours ago…
I touched down inside of an abandoned building, the portal’s shimmering blue light the only source of illumination anywhere. I saw what remained of lighting fixtures overhead in this almost empty office space but none had been used in years. I opened up my mind to see if there was anyone left in the surrounding area; I sensed no mental presence. It was as I feared but wasn’t unexpected. This was the Sunless Earth, after all.
It was cold here but I was wearing a warm topcoat. From a pocket I pulled out my PDA and read through the assignment profile. The digital text popped off the screen and hung in the air. I was tasked with two things: ascertaining the whereabouts of the Scouter who went missing on this world weeks ago, and finding and bringing back Kari Greene to Central alive. According to the Scouter’s report – the final report he was able to send before he disappeared – Kari and her mother, Fiona were last seen in the heart of the city. They were hunkered down in an old shelter. According to his reports, some of these bunkers had enough food to last a small family for about three weeks; more than two weeks had passed since the Scouter went missing and we lost contact with him. I came here three days after his last report came in. Its final words were, “The darkness is coming for me.”
As I read off the last words on the page I heard a shuffling, almost like feet, in the darker reaches of the room. I stiffened and made sure my senses were at their peak. I stood still, listening and reading for signs of life. There was nothing. I let my powers subside and looked around the room one last time before bringing up report telemetry.
********
What can I say about Emily Jane Charleston? I didn’t like her. Cold. Yes, that’s the word I was looking for. She was cold. She was gorgeous for sure but how anyone can stay attracted to her for long after speaking with her is beyond me. We first met a couple of days after Bol’s arrest, and when I tried shaking her hand what I got in return was a blank, almost disgusted stare like I was someone below her station. But I didn’t care, I just held it out there until she realized I wasn’t going to yield. The moment she shook my hand it felt like a victory. It was a small comfort, something I desperately needed at the time. She’s my Grounder so I had no choice but to report in.
Emily Jane Charleston’s stern face appeared but the screen was blurry like I was looking at her through a thick screen of fog. There was a lot of interference.
“Darrius,” said the frowning woman. Her English accent made my name sound like an accusation.
“I’m reporting in, Emily Jane. I’ve touched down and read the assignment profile.”
“Good.” I waited for her to say more but that was all.
I went on. “I understand I have two missions while I’m here, but which one takes precedence—”
“Finding the potential Shifter Kari Greene takes precedence,” she interrupted. “But find out the last known whereabouts of the missing Scouter and if—”
“And if he’s still alive.” It was my turn to interrupt.
“Precisely.”
“Understood. And if he isn’t?” I was blunt. I was losing patience with her attitude.
“Then you are to proceed with the primary assignment,” Emily Jane responded.
She didn’t even hesitate and Central didn’t even care about retrieving the body. He had friends and family back home that will most likely never see him again.
“Fine,” I said.
What else could I’ve said? I could’ve argued with her but it meant wasting time, valuable time I didn’t have. And it would’ve done no real good. This was a test from the Central Hub of World Shifters to make sure I was playing by the rules. After Bol was found guilty I was told to stay in my quarters until further notice. The first time I went out to eat a guard stopped me and strongly suggested I return to my room. My prison cell. He said my food would be delivered to me. I wanted to march my way past him but the Conclave – Central’s governing body – was tracking my every move, word, and thought. I had to be careful. Much to my surprise food did arrive soon after I ordered it. But it wasn’t much comfort and I ate very little during those first few days. The only reason I was allowed to leave my quarters was to be briefed for this mission. That was also the first time I met the Ice Queen, whose pixilated face was now floating in front of me.
“Good. Do you have any further questions?” she asked.
“No.” I didn’t want to talk to her anymore.
“Be sure to report at regular intervals and keep me informed.” She cut off report telemetry and I stowed my PDA away.
I looked around and couldn’t see anything at all. Dear life was it dark. I made my way to what remained of an office window and discovered most of the building’s side was gone - it looked like it had been blown away by an explosion. I looked into the night sky and saw the moon and the stars, and even a few constellations. It was quite marvelous. But my rapture was checked when I looked down at the view before me. For miles I saw building after building crumbling and falling apart. Many were pockmarked with bullet holes while others looked like they were hit by explosives. A few buildings seemed to have parts that were melted away. And some still, were damaged in a way I’ve never seen before done to manmade structures. These buildings had been gnawed upon, as if by some giant creature that had helped itself to the concrete, glass, and metal façade. I shivered and thought it might’ve been the lack of light or my mind playing tricks on me. Part of me wanted to believe that.
Staring at the streets below I was able to make out what was left of a bygone world. There were husks of cars most of which were rusting away. Lining the streets were broken light poles, hydrants, and other things you’d find in any normal city. I even saw paint from faded dividing lanes. Taking a minute to take it all in I saw there was not a single street or sidewalk left intact. There were weeds growing in the streets but most were already dead. How could they stay alive? This world hadn’t seen a single ray of sunshine in almost a decade.
********
I didn’t have much time left. In a few hours the moon would set and most of the light would be gone. I had to get out of this building and find my way to the center of the city. Despite the light from the moon and the stars it was still dark enough to pose a risk of me tripping or plummeting to my death from some hole hidden beneath a shadow. Focusing I increased my night vision by a factor to better see my surroundings. When a Shifter increases their night vision it isn’t like the
familiar blurry green image from those fancy night vision goggles you might be familiar with. For us, everything is seen through a clearer, ghostly pale blue hue. I looked around to test for clarity as well as my depth perception. Good. Now, to get out.
I looked down and to the left and saw that whatever had destroyed the side of the building had blasted part of the floor away as well. Looking through the hole I realized I could jump three floors below me to solid ground. There was a perpendicular wall that ran all the way down to the floor below; I could use that to descend. I took another glance at the bottom, took a breath, and then jumped. Using my powers to enhance my physical capabilities and with a bit of acrobatic flair I somersaulted into the hole and towards the wall, planted my feet onto it for the briefest of moments, turned my body to face the floor, and then somersaulted to the ground. After my soft landing I disengaged the physical strengthening meme and looked around for the exit. There was a stairwell at the other end of the room and I approached it.
Halfway across the room I heard that strange scurrying noise behind me, this time much louder. I immediately turned around. There was no one to be found – the pale blue image of the world around me only showed vacant devastation. I reached out with my psychic abilities and found no mind, human or otherwise, waiting for me. Again that cold shiver coursed through me. My animal instincts were screaming at me to get out of the building. I shouldn’t have been as jumpy as I was. Shifters are powerful psychics with the ability to move objects and people to our will and because of that we’re rarely in danger. This was the reason none of us carried weapons on any assignments we’re on. But being in this destroyed husk of a building made me nervous. Not just this building, but this world. A Scouter had gone missing here and the final message sent back to Central had me on edge.
The darkness is coming for me.
But there was nothing here. My mind told me there was nothing here so I had to believe it. But there was something here. I could feel it. However, there was no choice but to move on so I shook my head and moved towards the stairwell. I lucked out and found an intact set of stairs leading all the way down to the ground level. I breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to the bottom.
********
Walking out onto the dead and darkened streets of what was once a vibrant city stands as one of the most surreal moments of my life. I looked around hoping to see some form of life, of hope. But there wasn’t any. There was nothing to meet me but the emptiness of a world gone dark forever, for every other city in every other part of this world had met the same fate. Kari and her mother were southeast of where I was so there was no choice but to simply find them and get out at once. But first, I had to find out what happened to the Scouter who went missing; his loved ones deserved that much at least.
When one becomes a Scouter, their primary mission is to gather and collect information about the world they are assigned to visit. Regarding persons of interest, Scouters must observe them, find out all they can, and then report their findings to Central. They’re also tasked with providing the information necessary for Shifters to integrate themselves into the world they’re assigned to. If a Shifter has to stay on a world for more than a day Scouters were the ones who would set up living arrangements and give them whatever they needed so they can blend in as normal, run-of-the-mill people.
Every potential Shifter, including myself, starts out as a Scouter. It serves partly as training so the potential Shifter can get used to the life of traveling from world to world. It also helps weed out those who aren’t cut out to be a Shifter; such folks stay on in that role permanently. However, many opt to stay on as Scouters instead because they find themselves more suited to the task. Some prefer the comparatively sedentary life afforded to them than that of their counterparts. There are others still, who just aren’t able to cope with the fact that a stranger’s life, or even that of an entire world’s, will be directly affected by the things they’d do. Whatever the case may be, no one ever questions why one would choose this path for them self. The man who went missing was one who made such a choice.
********
I had to locate him at once. I closed my eyes and concentrated on the area around me. All my senses were at their highest, my mind now fully open to any thought in the telepathic ether. Concentrating hard enough I could sense a person’s mental state up to several miles away, but I couldn’t read their thoughts. However, I sensed nothing. There was no living mind I could touch. I could hear the distant crackles of still-burning fires; I could smell the faintest scent of decay and rot; I could feel the smallest dust particles in the wind, and I bet if I opened my eyes my night vision would be so strong that looking at the stars and the moon above would’ve been enough to hurt. But none of these were relevant to the task at hand: I couldn’t sense the mind of the Scouter who had gone missing. I let the sense enhancing meme subside and I opened my eyes. Shaking my head I took out my PDA and used my only other option.
Prior to going out on assignment every Shifter and Scouter has a tiny tracking chip embedded deep under the skin just below the right ear. About the size of a pin head it emits a powerful signal our PDAs can track. These are activated in the rare cases when one of us needs extra support or is unable to return home. I’ve only ever heard of a handful of occasions in which one of ours had fallen off the radar only to check in some time later. There had never been a case in which one had gone missing completely for so long a time before.
Holding my PDA with the screen up a blue display hung at face level and I accessed the tracking program with my mind. The display turned into a 3D model scaled to show me everything in a five-mile radius. The map represented me as a white circle in the center of the virtual city. The display was flickering randomly and almost at a sustained rate; this shouldn’t have been possible considering the advanced technology that went into making the device. To fix this I used my free hand to adjust the display’s signal strength. Once the image stabilized it began sending out a ping I hoped would reach the tracking device.
I was beginning to consider other options to find my missing colleague when a blip appeared on a corner of the screen. Scrolling through the map I saw the signal was two miles west, almost in a straight line in the opposite direction from where Kari and her mother were reported to have been hiding. This was disconcerting but it didn’t matter, I had to find him. I made a mental note of the ping’s location, put away the device and started west down the desolate street.
********
Even though I knew before I shifted into this world that it had been devastated long ago, my heart still sank as I walked its streets. It didn’t hit home until I was walking beneath a destroyed overpass, parts of which had collpsed onto the street. As I walked around pieces of rubble I looked up to see what remained of a large truck container hanging over the chasm, its contents spilled out long ago. They were teddy bears. A number of them had fallen onto a spot ahead of me and I walked towards them. Reaching the pile the variety of colors I encountered was startling because it juxtaposed so much with the dark and destroyed world it had been left to decay in. I saw blue, gray, black, and even some bright pink and purple teddy bears. I bent down with care not wanting to disturb the resting place of these poor inanimate creatures and picked up a brown one that had been separated from the pile. With reverence I inspected it: it was small, about six inches high and half as wide. Despite the layers of dust it was still in very good condition.
Staring at it I imagined where this bear could’ve gone, what little child it could’ve comforted during the night. I imagined a parent coming from home one day with this bear in hand. The child, having heard their mother or father opening the door, runs down the stairs to greet them. I could see the wide eyes and wide smile as they see this cuddly little thing and the child grabs it and hugs it. The parent bends down to kiss and hug their child, the most precious thing in the world to them.
I stared into the obsidian eyes of the bear and imagined all this. I let the vision pass and was
about to put the bear back in its resting place when I stopped. I looked at it and thought, it deserved a home, somewhere. I placed the small bear in one of my coat’s inner pockets and continued my journey.
The PDA hovered in front me as I navigated through the ruined streets of the city. If the street had been full of people I think all of them would’ve stopped dead in their tracks at the sight of me. That brought the thought of what the city and its people were like, before the world made the mistake of playing with fire.
I studied the floating 3D map to gauge how far away I was from my adjective. I was maybe halfway from where the tracking beacon was located. It hadn’t moved at all - I wasn’t sure whether to take that as a good sign or a bad sign. Regardless, I was closer now so I was able to better pinpoint the beacon’s position. Magnifying the map the blip was on the fourth floor of a five-story building. I was glad I was getting closer because the eeriness of this world was something I couldn’t fully grasp despite my expanded mind.
You have to understand, Shifters are powerful psychics who can travel between worlds. Our telepathic and telekinetic abilities – though varying in strength and training from person to person – make most threats of harm meaningless. But that wasn’t the case here. Every dark alley I passed, every mangled building I walked by, and every random noise I heard made me question myself and my perceived strengths pale in the face of decay and ruin this world fell into.
At no other time since I arrived here did I feel that so strongly than when I saw a battered newspaper dispenser on the sidewalk in front of an old sporting goods store. I stopped to inspect the dispenser. Its red color dulled by time and negligence and the left side had been impacted by a heavy object. There was no evidence around of what hit it. Stowing my PDA away I bent down and tugged the latch keeping the casing closed. It wouldn’t give. I smiled and thought the person who designed this would’ve been proud it was still protecting its contents. Using my mental gift I unhinged the latch and opened the panel and pulled out one of the newspapers. Time had not been kind to it, however, as most of the text had faded away and what was left was illegible. But the image on the front page was still vivid and unmistakable.
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