Ori and the Spirits Within: Revitalized

Chapter 23: Lacerations

NOTE: This chapter contains content that may be disturbing to some people. Reader discretion is advised.

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The ruined city's streets were barren, devoid of color and life, artificial light blaring from all sides. Still wandering the labyrinth of the city streets, Ori continued looking around at the foreign architecture and language surrounding him. Massive industrial buildings, odd-looking food dishes, the tiny glimpses of human life were all Ori had to gleam from: A metropolis devoid of the nature he was so accustomed to seeing. Why was this city so devoid of nature? Did humans make it that way, or was this just the natural state of the human world? He didn't know the answer, but it was something to ponder later, perhaps when he eventually found the human he was searching for.

Ori arrived at another small intersection in the city's streets, seeing the concrete extend in every cardinal direction. He looked up and saw these yellow, metallic objects hanging off from cables, each of them with a flickering yellow light. He had seen so many of these contraptions already, so he didn't pay it much mind and was ready to continue onward... until he spotted something on the side of the road.

It looked like that machine on one of the billboards, the one that Ori saw those other humans riding in. He saw its navy blue exterior and glossy finish, its large hull uplifted by four large, rubber tires. While it wasn't a standout feature of the city, this was the first thing Ori saw that wasn't a building, sign, or piece of trash. It was enough to pique Ori's curiosity as he ran over to see if he could get inside.

Fortunately, one of the back doors had its window rolled down, allowing Ori to jump inside and take a look around. After hoisting himself through the opening, Ori rolled onto the backseat of the vehicle, covered in a soft black material. There wasn't much to see from the back of the vehicle, so Ori looked towards the front to see a slew of small buttons and a lever.

The spirit quickly squeezed himself through the gap between the two front seats and plopped himself right in front of the lever. He immediately went to fiddle with the thing, but the lever wouldn't budge from its position, no matter how hard he tried. Ori then looked up at the buttons he saw, each marked with some sort of label or foreign symbol that Ori couldn't decipher. He pushed a few of them, but nothing seemed to happen. Ori grumbled in frustration, but he didn't expect to understand any of this stuff to begin with.

Ori then looked left and saw the big steering wheel of the vehicle, colored similar to the rest of the dark gray interior. He saw a couple of buttons on there as well, but... he saw something more... pressing: A faint, dark red stain on the front of the wheel. It was a small one, not glaring enough for Ori to notice it when he first approached the front of the vehicle, but it was there. The spirit wasn't exactly sure where it came from... but he knew it wasn't normal. Having his curiosity stricken, Ori slowly reached out to touch the red stain...

The moment Ori grazed the stain, his eyes were suddenly hit by a bright flash of light, making him recoil back and rub his eyes. When he was finally able to see again, the spirit was still in the same vehicle he entered... but that vehicle was somewhere completely different. Gone were the towering pillars of stone and gloomy environment, and in its place was a span of grassy fields and trees, separated by a long, concrete road that the vehicle was traveling down. Ori also noticed several other vehicles around him, each shaped and colored a little differently from one another.

To put it mildly, Ori was confused... and that feeling became stronger once he turned to his right.

His body jumped from shock as he saw another human in the passenger seat, with long brown hair with hazel eyes, wearing a teal-colored shirt with some odd-looking symbols. He propped his elbow on the door to his right before gazing out towards the fields. Ori saw the grumpy look on his face as if he was annoyed by something.