1 - Christmas
20th December 2044, Eichwald Center for Neurology and Psyche, Eichwald, Germany.
As Christmas approached, a wave of holiday cheer washed over the Eichwald Center for Neurology and Psyche, a psychiatric hospital for specifically betas and omegas. Nurses and doctors donned Santa hats, adding a touch of whimsy to their patient rounds. The stark white corridors were transformed by strings of colorful lights, their rhythmic blinking casting a playful glow on the bypassers.
Cut-up Christmas decorations in various forms -- Christmas trees, Santa Claus, elves, and reindeer -- crafted by schoolchildren on a recent visit were strung together along alternating red and green ribbons. The whimsical figures bobbed gently, filling the air with a touch of holiday magic.
The management board at Eichwald Center for Neurology and Psyche held a firm belief that Christmas was a time for universal joy, and their patients deserved a share in its warmth. Perhaps, they reasoned, the spirit of the season could even act as a catalyst for healing.
Tonight, a ferocious storm raged outside, plunging the entire district into darkness. With their power reserves precious, the staff at the hospital made the call to turn off the holiday decorations, leaving the halls dimmed for a single night.
Rounding a corner on the second floor, Mareike Holtz, a night shift nurse, felt a jolt of ice shoot through her veins. A dark, elongated shadow flitted past the periphery of her vision, slipping into a restricted area.
"Hold it right there!" she barked, adrenaline drumming in her ears. Grasping her flashlight tighter, she sprinted after the intruder.
The beam sliced through the gloom, revealing a figure cloaked in a long coat that covered him from the neck to the knees. The figure turned slowly, the harsh light momentarily washing out their features.
Mareike turned positively red when she realized who it was.
"Mr. Bates! I am deeply sorry. I did not expect you to show up so late at night, um..."
Atticus Bates, alpha, a renowned scientist who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine ten years ago, eyed the beta nurse from head to toe. He made her feel inferior just by looking at her.
The alpha held up a metal key in his hand.
"Nurse Holtz," he slowly spoke, addressing the beta nurse by the name tag pinned to her uniform. "I have already asked Dr. Schlinger for permission to come tonight. She probably failed to inform you."
Mareike bit into her lower lip in indignation. Why would the alpha hospital director inform a low-level nurse about Atticus Bates' visit? If anything, the head nurse should know about it, but he did not bother to inform his subordinates! How infuriating.
"I am deeply sorry, Mr. Bates," she apologized again. "Please carry on."
With those last words leaving her lips, Mareike turned around and fled.
Atticus Bates watched her retreating figure for a while before he scoffed to himself and headed to his destination. After a while, he arrived in front of a solitary metal door. After Atticus punched in the passcode, the metal door opened to reveal another door beneath, a wooden one. A decade of neglect caused some parts of the door to chip off, with questionable handprints marring its surface.
He inserted the metal key into the rusty keyhole, the worn metal groaning in protest as it turned three times. A final, metallic click yielded, and the door creaked open, revealing a scene frozen in time.
The room was still the same as the last time he came to visit.
File cabinets lined the farthest wall from the door, riddled with countless bullet holes. Drawers hung open like slack jaws, their metallic corpses overflowing with spilled documents.
A thick wooden desk, lay sprawled on the floor like a fallen soldier. One of its legs, a splintered casualty, lay abandoned beside a toppled wastebasket. Papers carpeted the floor in a tattered tapestry. Some lay pristine, untouched by the storm. Others, ripped and muddied, bore the muddy footprints of invaders long gone and drenched in blood spilled a long time ago.
Atticus furrowed his brows as a brittle crack echoed under his foot. Peering down, he saw a shattered picture frame, its glass a spiderweb of cracks. A family portrait lay face-up within, showing a smiling elder man, his much younger wife, and a young boy with a gaping hole where his face should be.
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Author's note :
Hello, my beloved loyal readers ヾ(･ω･*)ﾉ! Welcome to my newest creation, "Ascension : Dawn Of The Third Evolution". This is an ABO science fiction novel, as usual a completely different genre from other BLs I wrote so far, except for the ABO element, hehehe ( ꈍᴗꈍ).
Lean back and let this author take you on another exhilarating adventure.
I know that my dear readers do not like info dumping, but in order to properly follow the story in this world, I encourage you to read the auxiliary chapter in the auxiliary volume! It's not too long, I promise!