Foresight God-Fight

The Users

Izaya's P.O.V.

I was just finishing with some work, a coffee mug full and hot. I sipped from it regularly as I work on the last details. After some undefined time, my mug got empty. I keep myself awake as much as I can. Thankfully, I finish before my body decides to ignore the coffee any further. I send it off after receiving the rest of my payment.

I don't recall how I got to my bed, just that it was already 4:46am and I was dead tired. I blacked out mere seconds later, with no recollection of the flow of time, everything around me turned sky blue. I'm standing on a circular gray platform, its details very clear with more distinctive shades of gray. I looked up from the floor and around. I stood on an encapsulated in a circle. From a certain amount of distance, there were more small circular platforms such as mine with silhouettes of people. I start to count around, first the circle platforms then the heads. If it weren't for a lack of heads I would say this is a clock. It was missing five people, why? I try to take a closer look towards the back but I fail to see anyone. Maybe there are people there that are so far I can't distinguish between the dark column and the person in front? It still didn't add up, I should be able to see at least three more of them. Some of the figures were too far to make out, one of them I could sort of makeup details. Only that I still didn't recognize him. To my right was an all too familiar figure... what's Shizu-chan doing here? I notice he's intently gazing at the center of the stage. Curious I look over as well.

There was a figure, right in the way, at the very center. How did I miss him?! He's practically obstructing my view. But, what is it? It's there and I see it but at the same time, I can't see it. My brain is fighting over what image it wants to attach to this thing-between nothing and everything at the same time. My head begins to hurt like crazy, I averted my eyes.

I hear it speak, "Ah, my apologies, I can't find a clear image of what sets your mind at ease. I'll try this one, it seems to be a common theme." Its voice also shifted unnaturally, like it couldn't decide what it wanted to sound like.

I was calm, surprisingly undisturbed by all the red flags my head was screaming at me for, then his voice landed on one I recently thought of.

"What?" I asked before my headache was lifted and I glanced back confidently. Now Shizuo was standing center stage, but also standing as a shadowy figure to my right. Everything about whatever was in front of me nailed Shizuo's image. Height, looks, voice, attitude, clothes, stance, everything was an exact copy, how the hell? The only thing that distinguished them apart was that one of them was dumbly staring at the other and the tone of their voices. Definitely the same voice, but sounded calmer, somehow... It made me feel so at ease that I loosened up, and I hated the fact that I noticed. It's Shizu-chan's voice! Nothing about it was calming! But I wasn't angry at him, I wasn't angry at the other Shizu-chan either.

After watching my mental breakdown it spoke again, "Now that we are all calm, let me explain the situation." I found myself also be dumbly staring at the center figure, just as everyone else did without a sound. "The image you are each seeing of me is different. Some see a loved one, some see whatever makes them the most calm." It shots a glance at everyone around, "I have called you all forth here for one reason. You are all participants of my game. Whoever wins shall inherit the mantel of space and time, be reborn as a god, having total control of the universe. In other words... you will inherit me." I snap out of my trance and start laughing hysterically. All figures turn to look at me, all but Shizu-chan who seems more phased by the figure in the center, "right right, you're going to tell me that you are the supposed god everyone refers to and is so blindly dependant on." He shook his head, "I regret to inform you that isn't the case. As you already experienced, no one can get a clear image of me for it is beyond human comprehension."

I chuckle finding all of this incredibly interesting, but I can't speak anymore much as I try, "time is running short. I must continue," it said in response to my thoughts, he somehow knew I was going to keep going. From the corner of my eye I see Shizuo finally turn to look in my direction. He also looks restrained and I can hear him growl, he gets turned to stand straight. He turns his head to my direction again and gets visibly confused. He then pays attention back to the figure, "the rules of this game are simple, you each get a future diary or journal, your lives will be directly tied to it. Their relationships with time has been distorted to a future up to 90 days. The time and frequency of these journal updates may differ, some of them update a few minutes before it happens and others may update hours before the written event happens. If anything were to happen to your phone will happen to you but not backwards, shield it, it is your life. Your position in the game is directly tied to it."

How interesting, one of the figures speaks up after that pause, it's a foreign language, English, "/Can the future be changed?/" the figure nodded to the person who asked said question, "the future is subject to change, if a user is about to meet their end there are steps that can be taken to avoid it, thus creating a new future to which the journal will reflect the changes. On that note, none of you are the determinator of your own future. Hence, making this a survival game, there are multiple means of winning or losing this game. Anyone can back out if they so wish to," a few figures started disappearing into thin air, including Shizuo, "dismissed," the figure said and I shot up awake in a cold sweat. I still have a headache, my phone chimed a couple of times. I pick it up in confusion, at first, I look at the time, 5:05am. I look at the entries, its somehow in the memo application, which is extremely weird since that application doesn't have a notification setting. I start looking through it, the entries read:

[5:04am] Number two called off work.

[5:04am] Number four rushed to get a bulky cover for their phone.

This wasn't a dream, I'm really in this. My phone chimed again, Number two is coming to your apartment. It's Shizu-chan, isn't it? As I thought of that the entry changed:

-Number One's Diary-

[5:04am] Shizuo Heiwajima called off work.

[5:04am] Number four rushed to get a bulky cover for their phone.

[5:06am] Shizuo Heiwajima is coming to your apartment.

So my notes get an update on what everyone is about to do? As my second guess rolls in my mind it changes again, now the top says: -Watcher's diary-

[5:04am] Shizuo Heiwajima called off work.

[5:04am] Number four rushed to get a bulky cover for their phone.

[5:06am] Shizuo Heiwajima is coming to your apartment.

Things got a million times more interesting and easier for me. I start laughing hysterically, let's wait Shizu-chan out and figure out what my timing is. I set up the chronometer on another phone and start adjusting a setting to have it send the entries to all other phones.