Chapter 1| First Encounter

I woke up in a mysterious space where a deep empty darkness greeted me, or at least, that's what my consciousness is currently telling me. I feel extremely detached, it is as if I never had a body to begin with.  I can feel every fiber of my being, stretched alongside this dark desolate void. I am everywhere yet nowhere all at once. I am falling yet it feels like I'm rising. I am in the future yet it feels like I'm in the past.  My current state is full of contradictions. At this point, I don't even know I myself existed. It is as if I am just… There… 

"I… Don't exist?"

Existence? But what does it mean to exist? If existence only means having a physical form then I don't exist. But, I can think. 

"I think therefore I am" 

I remembered those words, but, from who? All I remember are the meaning behind those words. 

I think therefore I am. If I myself question my own existence then it should mean I exist. 

I opened my eyes to the sound of water and a throbbing sensation in my head. I groaned, rolling to my back. The ground was cold, rough, hard and seemingly hollow. Each small movement I did made a noticeable metallic clanking. I was guessing it was made of some sort of weathered hollow metal. It was too dark to make anything out. My head began throbbing again and I clutched my head. It only lasted for a second before it waned and disappeared, leaving behind a strange, pulsating sensation in my head.

I pushed myself off the ground, into a sitting position and looked around. Chunks and fine grains of dirt latched onto my skin as I got up. I brushed it off both my arms. My legs seemed to be wearing something which helped guard my skin against the dusty ground. My vision cleared, but there was nothing much to make out. It was almost pitch black. The only thing illuminating the room was faint and I had no idea where it came from. From what I could see, there was a floor and some walls. They seemed to be made of aged and dilapidated metal platings. The walls and floor were filled with moss, and grass and plants were emerging from the cracks. There was a faint sound of water, like a waterfall, but I couldn't tell where it was from. Everything else was wrapped around in darkness.

What the hell? I thought. What is this place? How did I get here?

I tried remembering what happened before I woke up, how I got here in the first place, but I couldn't do it. There was nothing. I thought about what happened before the gap in my memory, but I came up with nothing too. I did it again and again until I found out that I couldn't remember anything at all. I looked down at myself, hoping it would conjure up some memories. I was in a t- shirt and some jeans. It was grimy and the color had faded. My skin was a lighter shade of tan, and I was moderately built. I waited, but I couldn't remember anything at all.

My heart began pounding in my chest. Why couldn't I remember anything? What happened to me? I tried to get up, but I suddenly felt nauseous, so I sat back down. I looked around again, at the dark room. My breathing got heavier as the walls seemed to close in. Questions ran in my head and I was drowning in it.

Then my nose picked up a scent. It was faint, but it was sharp enough and contrasted against the smell of the room. I crawled forward to get another whiff of it. It was diesel. I could barely wonder what it was when a loud but muffled clanging sound reverberated in the air. It sounded like a hammer slamming against a thin sheet of metal while rubbing against each other at the same time. It happened again and again and it got louder each time. I stood up, slowly backing away, preparing for the worst. The noise persisted to get louder and louder at set intervals. When suddenly, it felt like the earth beneath me was shaking. Increasingly getting stronger together with the sound. It inevitably got to the point where It became deafeningly loud that It shook my entire being. 

My stomach dropped and it made me feel extremely nauseous. I wanted to make a run for it but to where? All there is around me is a dark void. My entire being is telling me to flee. It doesn't matter where, just not at the source of that sound. I took another step back, preparing to run in the opposite direction of the sound. When suddenly, the sound came to an abrupt stop along with the shaking.

Silence engulfs the darkness once more. Too silent to the point that my hearing rang like an ear piercing mic feedback. My heart races as it braces itself for what's about to come. The beat of my heart and the ear piercing ring combined into a symphonic manifestation of my fear. 

A metallic creak began to slowly play in that direction. A thin white vertical line manifested and got larger and larger as it turned into a rectangular shape. It illuminated the ground in that area, showing a piece of the damp rusted ground I'm supposedly stepping on. 

The creaking stopped and a sudden faint light emanating from above dimly illuminated the room. The glare from the light made it quite hard for me to see, especially after being in this dark room for god knows how long.

I squinted my eyes a few times and finally got to see my hands and lower body for the first time. As I stared down at the palms of my hands, I noticed a huge shadow cast by something coming from in front of me.

I stand here frozen to my feet, at the sight of what I am about to see. I want to run but I can't. It's like my body is telling me not to turn its back into whatever that "thing" is. It feels like it's staring at me. Even though it's larger than the doorway and all I could see was the silhouette of its body. I could feel it staring at me. 

The "thing" crouched and held both sides of the doorway as it made its way inside the room. The noticeable pungent smell of diesel intensified to the point that I had to quit breathing through my nose and switch to my mouth. Even that didn't help, not only can I still smell its putrid scent, I can now taste the acrid texture of rotten diesel.

The ground shook every time the behemoth took a step forward. 

There I saw it. The behemoth that just entered. It had the head of a deer skull. I looked inside the eye sockets, hoping to find a pair of eyes staring back at me. But there was nothing there other than a pair of glowing crimson blood lights. Its majestic horns are all torn and tattered as a dying tree. I could make out what seems to be old blackened bloodstains from the tips of its horns. What's more perplexing is its body. It had a robotic mechanical body. One that is all rusted and disheveled. Numerous strips of metal meticulously laid and interwoven with one another, perfectly recreating a humanoid form. The surface of the metal platings looked weathered and sundered in time. On its chest seems to be a lethargically spinning turbine core. Certain areas of its body were wet. It took me a second to recognize that it was diesel. These viscous black liquid dripped from all the nooks and crannies of its metallic body. Explaining the putrid smell I experienced.

The behemoth made its move. It stared directly into my soul as it casually took short steps towards me. I looked to my rear but it's nothing but a dead end. It continued walking forward at the same mechanical pace, getting closer and closer toward me. 

"Go away!" My voice squeaked as I desperately tried to fend off the encroaching beast.

Eventually, my back hit a wall. I curled into a little ball. I racked my head, hoping to think of a way to escape this dreadful situation. There's nothing I could do. There's nowhere to flee and there is absolutely no way I could fight that monstrosity. I buried my face in my arms, preparing for the worst.

Before I knew it, It was right in front of me. I found myself staring directly at its disheveled turbine core, sucking up all the horrid smell of diesel coming out of it.  

It leaned forward and reached out to me. This is it? I closed my eyes to accept the horrible fate that awaited me. 

Instead of feeling pain or a ravaging strike, I felt two light taps on my hair. I could feel its cold damp rusted palm gently caressing my head. I looked up to find it retracting its hand. The behemoth turned around and walked towards the doorway. I watched the behemoth get farther away from me, dumbfounded. It didn't hurt me. It seemed like it did its best not to. Was it friendly?

It left me even more bewildered than I already am. 

As it got to the door, it turned its torso to face me. It then put its arm out, palm facing the sky, and it moved up and down, gesturing to me to come over. I think I still need a moment to take in what just happened to me. I have so many questions right now. Like what in the actual fuck was that? Where am I? What am I doing here? These are just one of the many questions I have in mind. 

Looking at the walls and floor around me, none of them are even the slightest bit familiar to me. Now that I've mentioned it again, I don't even know who I am to begin with. My heart started pounding again and my breathing heavier. This unknown pressure began building up again as I forcefully tried to remember the answers to these questions.

"Who…"

"Am…"

 "I?"

▂▂▃▃▅▅-!!!!!!!!-▂▂▃▃!!!▅▅■■!!!!!

A powerful unintelligible growl suddenly reverberated throughout the room, snapping me out of my stupor.

It was the beast, looking back at me from the corridor beyond the doorway, it was as if it wanted me to hurry up and follow it. I still don't know what to do, should I follow it? Won't that thing try to eat me or something? But it did leave me unscathe, I'm sure it doesn't hold any malice towards me, plus, I doubt I have much of a choice to do anything else anyways. I don't even have any idea where the hell I am. I had to go out, see what was out there, and know what was going on.

▅▅■■■■▅▅▂▂!

It made a softer growl.

"C-coming!" 

I replied hastily and with a deep breath, I followed it.

I ran towards it and kept at least 3 meters of distance between us while moving. I'm still quite cautious, I mean who wouldn't? 

Each step the beast took, made a thundering stomping sound. It doesn't seem to be as loud as the one back in the room but it's still quite noisy and irritating. The beast stared back at me briefly, seemingly to check on me. With a gulp, I mustered up all the courage I had and stared back at it in the eye. After a brief eye contact, it resumed to look forward, leaving me to bring my gaze elsewhere. 

The corridor, like the room I've just been in, was also in a dilapidated and desolate state. Flickering fluorescent lightings are the only thing dimly illuminating this place, some flickering at an even faster interval than the rest. Its buzz alongside what sounds like dripping water just adds up to the dismal atmosphere of wherever I am. 

We passed by what seemed like battered classrooms. Windows shattered, sharp pieces of glass littered the metallic ground, dilapidated tables and chairs all scattered and dispersed in chaotic positions. I noticed some of the black boards had something crudely written on it using a chalk of varying colors. I could barely make it out but I think it's saying "The end is near". Some of the doors are barely hanging on their respective doorways. I feel like I could smash them open with just a little force. 

After walking a certain distance alongside this beast. We reached the part of the corridor where the fluorescent lights are either torn or burnt out. It was quite dark ahead and it made me pause my steps. The beast which had already gone a few distance into the dark corridor noticed and stopped to look back at me. 

▂▂▃▃▂▂...

It gave off a soft growl, as if it's telling me that it's fine. 

I looked back at it for a brief moment and continued to follow it. After a few steps, we reached a junction leading to either left or right. The beast paused for a while, it looked right and moved towards that direction. I followed it and also paused at the point of the junction. Something felt wrong. It felt like something on the left corridor was watching me, although I only saw a flickering fluorescent light in that direction. It still felt… ominous…  

I looked at the beast on my right where suddenly-

▂▂▃▃▅▅▅ーーー!!

The beast gave off a tremendous roar and jolted towards my direction. 

"AAAAAAAAAAAGGGHH!" I screamed instinctively.

My soul dropped. I closed my eyes and was reminded of the panic stricken fear I experienced a while ago. I knew I shouldn't have followed it!

An immense gust of wind suddenly passed me by, almost blowing me away with it. It was followed by a massive tremor and an ear splitting crash. I took a peek and saw that the beast that was once in front of me was no longer there. I noticed that ear splitting sound that came from behind me, which was the left side of the junction.

There I saw it. The beast used its enormous body to pin down what seemed like a shadowy amorphous pile of black sludge. Its metallic fist stuck into the entity's back. The entity looks like it's trying to take on a humanoid form, as it made a shriveled up head and looked at me with its empty eye sockets, reaching out what seems to be its arm in my direction. The beast, without any hesitation, smashed its head with an ungodly amount of force enough to make the same gust that almost blew me away. The shockwave reverberated throughout the corridor, shattering any remaining glass in the vicinity, obliterating all the fluorescent lights and leaving my ears ringing. 

It was dark once again, but a crack on the wall allowed some light to penetrate through it. The cracks quickly propagated and utterly collapsed on where the beast once was. Dust and other debris stormed in, leaving a dust cloud to disrupt my vision. 

I coughed and fanned off the cloud. Dust and other dredge covered all over me and some even permeated my clothing.

As the dust cloud dispersed, so did my vision restore. A massive pile of debris lay on where the beast was. Its frayed yet majestic horn sticking out of the pile. Its body is probably buried in all that debris. The pile rumbled and so did the beast slowly emerge from it.

All the walls, windows, and other objects within our proximity were obliterated like a storm that just passed by a town. The parts of the corridor were all ruined and torn apart as an aftermath of the beast's massive display of strength. 

For the first time, I finally get to see what's outside the building I'm in.  A mild wind blew bringing alongside it, small particles of dust and other light materials in its direction. Roads cracked, towering skyscrapers torn asunder, and pieces of scrap metals half buried in a pile of debris are all that I could see in this desolate environment. This scene is then painted with the bland lifeless gray color of the skies, complimenting the barren and ruined atmosphere of the city.

I don't know why but looking at this deserted place gave me a faint sense of comfort and nostalgia. It's Ironic isn't it? A normal person would cry out in despair upon the sight of this scenery, but for some reason, I feel slightly at ease. 

I look back at the beast which just recently rose from the pile of rubbish. The entity which it subdued was nowhere to be found, it seemingly dispersed into the air or popped like a balloon without any trace. 

From then on, we went back inside the building which resembled an enclosed school campus. Once again we tread through its decrepit corridors, seeing the same sights and hearing the same sounds. We eventually came face to face with an odd looking door. Unlike the other rooms in this building, it seems like this door is completely out of place. Like the door in the room I woke up in, It's metallic and had several other features you'd see in a door of a bank safe. This however, unlike the previous door, is slightly cleaner and has minimal rust. It's not completely clean, but it's one where you'll realize that someone has been maintaining it well.