1 Who am I?
[ Do not blame the hand fate deals you with. Blame your inability to change it. ] – The Dealer System.
***
Who am I?
Where did I come from?
Why am I locked up?
Those were questions that had crossed his mind—countless times before. Questions, he had no answers to.
Life as he knew it, revolved around the tiny room he lived in. A room that was constantly brightly lit. Everything within it, was white as snow, his clothing included.
Not that he knew what snow looked like, he simply read about it. His knowledge of the outside world was limited to what he read in books. The books, were by far, the one thing he looked forward to the most.
Being locked up in a room that was devoid of any natural light, he had no perception of time whatsoever. Instead, he measured time in meals!
Three meals were randomly given to him, in what he assumed, was a day.
A wheezing sound echoing from the ventilators, followed by a sweet smell, would fill the room; prompting him to suddenly feel light headed and lose consciousness.
Upon regaining consciousness, he would be lying on his bed, and on the floor beside him was a meal.
The meal was contained in a layered transparent compartment. With it, was a rubbery-plastic knife, spoon and fork. Possibly done to reduce the likelihood of self-injury.
'Do they think I'll hurt myself?' He would often wonder.
This meal greatly varied in taste; depending on the order in which it was given.
The first meal was always savory, the second, was usually bland, and the third was rather sweet.
However, because the meals were randomly given to him, causing him to lose consciousness in the process, he had no concrete way of discerning when a day had passed.
Despite that, he was certain that after his third meal was given, a day had either already passed, or was close to passing.
From the moment he started keeping count, he reckoned he had consumed about 8,760 meals within the room. Which translated to about eight years.
'Where was i before those eight years?' He wondered.
He later noticed that after every twenty-first meal he had, from the last, a book was left for him. The book's contents greatly varied each time. From fantasy to science, and even history.
Because of the prospect of reading a new book, he greatly looked forward to the twenty-first meal with glee and eagerness, each time.
At first though, he was not sure what to make of books. However, as he opened one up for the first time, he somehow knew what all the tiny scribbles meant.
From books, he learnt of many things concerning the outside world; such as how it had gone through a great deal of change over the past century.
From the sudden appearance of the Phantoms, to the Hierarchy Scheme that was implemented soon after. He found it all so bewildering.
According to the books he read, the world had once been at a time of unparalleled peace and prosperity. Many inconceivable strides of science and innovation had been achieved. In fact, it seemed as though nothing could possibly go wrong.
However, something did go wrong—terribly wrong!
Towards the end of the last century, scientists had finally solved the problem of instantaneous travel through dimensions.
One could instantly travel from any given point to another, within seconds. The portal-like openings that made this possible were known as Gateways.
The Gateways changed everything!
It was soon discovered that their extent was not limited to places on the earth alone. They led to other realms, these realms were known as Voids!
The humans who ventured into these Voids, emerged with new found power and abilities. These abilities seemed almost god-like, to the average person.
People with abilities, were classified into two. The first class, was known as the Gifted.
Those who were gifted, had the ability to manifest power within their bodies, and perform unimaginable feats.
The second class was known as the Ungifted.
Ungifted ones, were unable to manifest power from within their bodies, and required; items, special books or weapons to do so.
However, a third class also existed. This class consisted of people who chose not to venture into the Voids.
Hence, they remained ordinary humans, and were known as the Neutral ones.
Soon after the emergence of those with abilities from the Voids, a war of unknown origin ensued.
The peace and stability that the world had known for centuries crumbled, as those with abilities challenged each other, and fought for supremacy.
To quell this sudden uprising, the most powerful of the gifted, at the time, formed an alliance with eight other gifted ones, whose power rivaled her own. Together, no one could stand up to them.
Ultimately, the Gifted triumphed over the Ungifted. This brought about a time of utter chaos, death and destruction.
That however, was nothing compared to the unparalleled death and mass destruction that followed, when the Phantoms appeared.
The humans, neglected to assume that just as they could venture into the voids through Gateways; the opposite was equally as plausible.
Gateways randomly appeared at any time or place. From them, Phantoms emerged.
Phantoms were beasts or monstrosities if you may, that plagued humanity.
The Phantoms could wipe out entire cities or nations, at their own whim.
They were known as Phantoms, because no one knew when or where these Gateways would appear.
Soon however, it was discovered that; a few of the Ungifted had a special ability.
An ability that enabled them to hear the cry of the Phantoms!
Through these cries, it was possible to roughly estimate where a Gateway containing Phantoms would appear next.
When this came to light, the nine Gifted ones who formed an alliance, implemented a law.
They called it; The Hierarchy Scheme!
The details of the scheme however, were not entirely revealed in any of the books he had read over the years.
He later concluded, it had something to do with retaliating against the Phantoms' attacks.
This was because he often read of the Phantom Hunters. An elite group of individuals with incredible abilities.
As the term suggests, Phantom Hunters were tasked with annihilating the Phantoms without fail.
Over the years, thousands attended the Institutes, in various regions, in hopes of learning more about abilities--and becoming Hunters.
Only a select few managed to graduate from these institutes and became Hunters.
Through the Hierarchy Scheme, one's ability set them apart, from being considered either; elite or trash.
It was an absolute rule, which gave survival of the fittest, a whole new meaning!
***
The thing that struck him the most however, was the existence of women.
'What or whom, are they really?' He wondered.
He found it absurd, how even the most powerful of Hunters that he read about in some books, inevitably fell prey to the so called 'charms' of women. Were they really that dangerously alluring?
He was sure to make a mental note, to be careful around women.
"Hmmm, not to be taken lightly…these women." He muttered silently to himself.
As far as he knew, he had never seen any other human. In fact, whenever he looked at his reflection on the walls, he wondered whether all humans had scarlet-red eyes and long brown hair, as he did.
***
*Growl *Growl *Growl
An unusual sound resonating from his stomach reached his ears.
"It seems as though I am famished." He said. "Should I not have received my first meal by now?"
Sitting on his tiny bed, he then stood up, and started pacing around.
Seconds later, a sound he had never heard before reverberated through the room.
It was a loud machine-like, metallic sound.
He looked in awe, as part of the wall separated and created a narrow opening.
*Thump *Thump *Thump
His heart was racing.
By instinct alone, something was telling him to stay within the safety of the room. After all, he had done so, for as long as he could remember.
'Why now?!' He thought.
Yet, despite that, a smile appeared on his face.
He had always wondered what lied beyond the white walls of his tiny abode. The prospect of leaving the room was far too exhilarating to pass up.
And whether or not it turned out to be choice he would inevitably regret in the near future--he took that first step.
As he made his way towards the opening, he could hear the sound of his heart violently beating. He took slow-shallow breaths, and felt his chest tighten.
'Am I afraid?'
He finally stood within the opening, bordering the boundaries of his room. Looking up, he assumed it was about six meters high.
'Why is it so high?' He thought 'Other humans could not possibly be that tall, could they?'
His gaze drifted towards the dark hollow space before him. It was the exact opposite of his room.
Dark, cold and empty. Not in any way inviting.
Yet, something about the whole setting playing out, felt familiar and nostalgic--in an eerie kind of way.
He took a deep breath and his heart-rate settled. His eyes filled with resolve.
Upon touching the hollow space with his bare feet, it lit up. Illuminating a large hallway. The opening to his room shut, almost simultaneously.
"Congratulations Quill." A voice said. "You have passed the test, and will now be integrated into the Hierarchy Scheme!"
