Story dump

Chapter 18

Perfect Dystopia
(Original date: 12/11/22)

Note: In the flashback, Hirth is around 18 (22 in present day). Ceirvo is 16 (present day: 20)

     Hirth looked up at the holographic screen in front of him. His hands were trembling. He had always been nervous about his Sympas Trial ever since he was a child, scared he may mess it up.

     "8918," a voice said, startling him.

     8918 was indeed his name, despite him referring to himself as Hirth. He thought the name he came up with made him seem much cooler than he actually was. Regardless, he turned to voice, which belonged to 5669.

     "Are you ready for your incarnation to reveal itself?" They asked.

     He glanced at the hologram again before, despite his nervousness, nodding in reply.

     "Good," 5669 said, pressing a button.

     Several robotic arms came down from the ceiling, startling him. He sat still, however, trembling slightly as the arms began to scan him. After what felt like hours, the arms retreated, the hologram glitching for a split second after.

     'That's... new..' he thought, having never seen the screen glitch.

     A message was shown on the screen soon after, though, reading "Compiling data."

     He twirled a few loose strands of hair, trying to distract himself. After yet another long wait, the screen made a loud ding. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for his incarnation. The screen went blank, which was yet another odd occurrence.

     Suddenly, an error message appeared, which read "ERROR: SYSTEM OVERLOAD," followed by another error message, the screen glitching.

     "ERROR: NO INCARNATIONS MATCHING DATA TYPE FOUND."

     Hirth took a step back, terrified as the screens started glitching more and more as each new error message appeared.

     "ERROR: INTERFACE MALFUNCTION."

     "WARNING: KEREI DETECTED. TAKE CAUTION."

     His eyes widened. Kerei? He had always thought Kerei were terrifying beasts that were made up to make sure children followed the rules.

     'Were they actually real..?' He thought, the screen soon vanishing.

     He looked to 5669 for any kind of assurance, but they simply glared at him.

     "Wha... what.. was tha-" he started, but 5669 cut him off.

     "Seize him." They said.

     Before Hirth even had a chance to open his mouth, he felt several robotic hands grab his arms and legs, a needle soon getting jabbed into his neck. He knew what it was, having seen the same, fast-acting tranquilizer do the same to others. Within a matter of seconds, he closed his eyes, quickly losing consciousness.

———————————————————————

     Hirth slowly opened his eyes, looking around. The room around him was completely unfamiliar to him, and it was dingy and covered in moss and vines. He slowly stood up, nearly falling as his dizziness suddenly set in. He leaned against the wall, hoping to not fall over.