Fractal Plane: Awakener's Pact

Chapter 10 - Humanity's Next Evolution

1

Shin Kagami paced around the spacious dome. Having waited inside the place for quite some time, he first heard the signal for the start of the operation around thirty minutes ago. He knew full well that it was all due to a series of happenings in the outside world, the part of the real world that has connections with this Fragment.

Ever since thirty minutes ago, he felt that the Nullities have begun emerging outside the room. Spawning one by one, they mostly took on the humanoid forms that the doctor had admittedly grown weary of seeing. They spawned from the floor, from the walls, and from the rock fragments that were scattered all over the area.

Staring at the walls that contained web and ruined rocks, Dr. Kagami gave a forlorn smile.

Those lesser Nullities would not be able to enter and disturb him anytime soon.

He turned to look at a stone tablet at the center of the room. Resting on top of a raised platform, the tablet glowed with green light. Along with an urn right behind it, it stood protected in the middle of a large worn-down shrine resembling those used in ancient temples.

Yellow smoke emerged out of the urn and continued traveling upwards, all the way to the supposed ceiling that cannot be seen.

In a way, it resembled the pulpit that a priest would use. Only this time, it was located dead center, being the main attraction of the ancient amphitheater.

Dr. Kagami approached the console and looked at the runic markings on the stone tablet. The mark on the back of his hand glowed in conjugation with his hovering of it over the tablet.

Knowing that his plan is almost near fruition, Dr. Kagami finally got the much-awaited peace of mind, and he started reflecting on his journey to get to this point. Looking at the room he's in, he seemed to see shadows of people.

He knew that these shadows were not in any way related to the Nullities that continued to spawn outside. These shadows represented the past, taking form of various people, appearing and disappearing from sight...

Shin Kagami has always been close to death. He was not sure when he realized that fact. Could it be five years ago, when he first entered this world beyond his own? Perhaps it was far before that.

Some could say that it might be the result of some generation-spanned curse, but young Kagami had no place for those superstitions. For the he of back then, the future was looking bright, and it had remained so as he aced his exams and moved on to Aspira, the most prestigious hospital in Shiroki City...

"Isn't this what you always wanted?" asked the shadowy form of a girl. She looked like a young adult with hair tied in a bun. Her lively form skipped ahead of a young man that followed behind her.

"I still can't believe it."

"Come on, you should have more confidence!"

The form of the girl slapped the back of her male friend.

"I believed in you, and so did everyone from class. Now that you're a step closer to what you always wanted, no way can you have cold feet. You're gonna change the world, one step at a time, right?"

The man nodded. "Yes. Yes, I will."

Dr. Kagami could still hear those lines as he saw the fleeting, translucent appearance of himself from eight years ago walking into Aspira as an intern. He still remembered that conversation he had with his then girlfriend and the scene that followed when he walked into the hospital.

With those bright eyes brimming with idealism, he had then eased his way into the ranks of the pharmacists, and the following three years had passed by like a blur.