Unreality

4. Empty Canvas

Amidst a rapidly mutating environment, Virgil York now followed Joshua's guidance, as his AI Partner had been equipped to navigate situations such as the one they now found themselves in.

The photosynthetic garden that was supposed to be waiting for them inside was no more, with only a few remnants of scattered plant life remaining to attest to the fact that it had existed at all, and even those appeared to be on their way to extinction, as they were on fire. A strange, heatless fire, which actually made the place colder rather than hotter, and which caused the plants to simply fade away into nothingness once consumed. The whole place was marked by this nothingness, as if its entirety had been painted in black with endless brush strokes.

'Are you sure about the danger level being mild?' inquired Virgil, his voice calm and collected in spite of his surroundings. 'Reality seems much too warped for that.'

Joshua was quick to confirm it though, and so the Ethos agent marched on, heading towards the inescapable red moon above, since — according to the droid's sensors — the source and core of the space they found themselves in appeared to be located directly underneath it.

After a couple more minutes of wandering the darkness, Virgil spotted something ahead. As if an invisible fog was dissipating in front of him, his eyes were soon able to discern what appeared to be a large mansion in ruins, which he quickly deduced could be but one place — Ariadne's home, now reduced to a heap of rubble.

'A broken home...' he murmured to himself.

But before he could think about what might be found there, he heard a scream coming from the entrance. Without wasting time, he picked up the pace, and quickly traversed the dark path before him, avoiding all the burning plant life along the way.

After reaching the entrance, he immediately spotted a human body laid out on the ground, next to one of the cracked stone pillars which stood on both sides of the shattered front door. He was quick to examine the body, identifying it as a middle-aged man who appeared to have passed out. From his clothing — no doubt a uniform —, the man could be surmised to be a guard of the photosynthetic garden housed inside the domed structure Ariadne had entered.

'Contact headquarters,' Virgil told Joshua. 'Tell them we have contaminated civilians and need backup.'

Joshua did as instructed, but his communication was soon interrupted by another scream. Following the sound, both the droid and the Ethos agent turned towards the front door, where another man in uniform appeared. This one was conscious and standing, but his expression quickly betrayed his panicked state, which saw only a minimal decrease when he spotted Virgil.

'W-Who are you?!' he demanded in a cracked, threatening voice. 'Are you the one doing this?!'

'No,' the Ethos agent was quick to reply. 'Calm down.'

'I-I don't understand what's happening!' the man cried, his voice still marked by fear and desperation. 'One moment we're inside the greenhouse, then all of a sudden the whole place gets dark... and we start hearing voices in our heads! Can you hear them?!'

As if on cue, a young female voice made itself heard to both of them.

'Another one? Why can't you loathsome creatures just leave us alone?'

'There it is! Did you hear that?!' shouted the panicked man. 'She's coming! We gotta get out of here!'

It was then that Virgil saw her — out of nowhere, standing in front of the demolished mansion door, there was a child. A young girl, whom he quickly surmised to be a young Ariadne Seymour, remembering the pictures he had seen moments ago in her home. The one before him now, however, possessed one inescapable difference, for her eye sockets were utterly empty.