Chapter 00110001 00110000

I Shifted into my Anubis opening my mouth at the first humanoid and roared. The holograms shook slightly as though shocked. I charged and spun releasing my chains in an arc around me. My anger exploded through me as the memories began to flow.

The door closing with a thud and the sound of a hover car leaving. I slashed. The sound of my mother sobbing on the floor. I grappled and smashed a hologram into the ground. The bullies at school throwing me against the fence calling me fatherless. I bit and tore. Finally a pool of blood spreading around a single bloody shard of glass. I sank my sickles into a hologram and tore it in half.

I kept going for a while as a group stood outside slightly pale at what they were seeing. The room was now clear as glass on the outside looking in. Digits ran along its side indicating the time and possible points accumulated. "How long has he been fighting?" Lily asked with a concerned but curious look on her face. "He's been in there for two days. He hasn't stopped." Bethany said as she touched the side of the room enlarging the digits so everyone could see.

"That shouldn't be possible. How is he still fighting with such ferocity." Henry said as he looked closer. As they looked they saw something. Horacio pointed it out. "What are those running up the chains?" A light went up the chains from the victims to Sil's battleform. It was odd and a little disturbing. "He's had enough." Lily said as she opened the door. All the holograms suddenly froze and the terrain dissapeared.

I froze in my state of constant destruction. My enemies were frozen. "What happened?" I grunted.

I heard a cough. "Ehem!" I turned to find Lily looking at me. "Seems you've had a lot pent up but you need a break." Lily said showing me the door with her hand. "I can keep going." I grunted out. "You've been in here for 2 days. You need a break or you'll have a mental breakdown." She said with a slightly cocked eyebrow.

That look practically said it all. I either left the room or got dragged out. I closed my eyes and let out a long sigh. My form shrank to my civilian shape. "Alright." I said as I silently slipped past her and she followed me out. As I exited I saw the others standing there staring at me. "What?" I asked in slight confusion. Bethany pointed at the wall which was still see-through. "You were all watching..." I said in slight embarrassment. "Yeah... You beat my record." Lily said as she patted my shoulder and headed up stairs.

I looked up and saw what she meant. My time was 2 days, 8 hours, 47 minutes.

Total points is 2000.

Setting was easy mode.

Changed to medium mode at 1 day 20 hours 10 minutes.

Changed to hard mode at 2 days time.

Total holograms destroyed: 250

I gawked at the screens numbers. "How many points are the holograms worth?" I asked in my shock. "5 points on easy. 10 points on medium. 20 points on hard." Beth said.

Henry patted my left shoulder in passing. "Hope you're that much of a savage in the dome." He grunted. Horacio approached me with open arms making me feel awkward. "You did extremely well my friend! Extremely well! To beat our Lilies record is no easy feat!" He said as he spun me around and pushed me up the stairs.

"Though just to clarify. The points for that board are retorical. If you killed that many enemies then you'd probably get that many points." He chimed as he gently propelled me up the stairs.

I had spent so much time in the desert. With the bright overbearing sun and the sands. Everything seemed dim in comparison. It took a bit for my vision to adjust to the scenery.

I was back in the dusty, web covered building. The floral wallpaper was cracked in grey lines and parts of it had fallen off. The hard wood floor was in dire need of a sweep, a mop, and a varnish. I looked around in true realization of how old this place looked. "Believe you me. It was a lot prettier before we moved in." Horacio said as he moved around me. "What happened to this place anyway? Why does it look so dead?" I asked. I was concerned about whether the building was actually still safe to be in.

"I'll ask you a question first. If a god of death lives in a place... what do you think happens?" Lily said with her fingers locked together behind her back. I thought for a moment. "Well... everything within a certain distance would die right?" I said uncertainly. She nodded. "And when multiple death gods are gathered in the same place that would increase yes?" She said waving around to everybody. I nodded.

"Would you believe me if I told you we've only been here since 2 weeks ago?" My eyes widened in shock. " What!? How is that possible? This much damage takes decades to unfold. That would mean you've aged the building decades in only a few days!" I said in shock as another thought hit me. "Do I emit that... miasma? Will things around me die faster as well?" I asked as my voice got a little higher and panic started to take hold. Henry was suddenly behind me.

"No mate. You've gotten a god that's second best to Lilies in that department. She grows things out of the dead things. You preserve things and make them last longer. Persephone can make things grow but buildings and the like are part of your profession. So cleaning and upkeep of his place is your daily mission." He said as he patted my back.

Lily looked at me with a sad expression. "At least you're guaranteed 10 contribution points a day. None of us here can do it. Plants start growing from the walls when I clean. Everything disintegrates when Beth touches them. Thanatos cant clean to save his life and Henry passes through walls if he focuses too much. You could say none of us has a knack for it." She said as she rubbed the back of her head in embarrassment.

It was then I realised how hard life was on these guys. Their battleforms were so strong that they literally carried over into their civil forms. I nodded slowly and went toward a place that looked like a closet.

Within moments I had grabbed a broom, a mop, and a strange looking feather duster. It looked like someone and shoved a stick up a chickens rear. I opened the windows with a squeal from their slides and began to sweep. Everyone left as dust went out the windows and I opened the door sweeping out the excess into the street where it was wisked away in the breeze.

I flew about the place with the duster. Getting above the windows, the doors, and the desks. I quickly grabbed the mop and some grey colored water. I mopped and cleaned the place till it was spotless. (If I could purchase varnish it would make the floor look better but I dont think that's available here.) I thought as I looked at the hardwood floor. The color was nice but it was cracked and splintered in places. I let out a sigh of regret as I went about the rest of the house. The banisters and basement. The front walk and the walls needed a wash. Everything was covered in dust and dirt. Just like Lily pointed out. Noone could clean. So they just left it.

It wasn't long till everybody came back. Lily brought back a flower that was practically glowing which was placed on one of the window sills.

Henry brought back a coffin shaped couch which I found hilarious.

Horacio brought a painting of a war scene depicting the four horsemen. I found that a bit creepy.

Meanwhile Bethany had actually brought back something more interesting.

5 bottles of liquids that if I didn't know better I would say they were soda. "From The Vineyard!" She said with a smile. Everyones eyes bulged as they shot toward the bottles in a frenzy. Amidst the cloud that rose in the middle of the room a bottle flew toward me. I caught it quickly and took a closer look.

There was no label and the cap disappeared without a trace when I touched it. "That's not weird at all." I said as I took a whiff of it. My would be nose burned slightly as I smelled a carbonated grape smelling soda. I instantly started drinking.

I didn't drink it all at once. I was smart. I drank it bit by bit. The taste of food or drink was glorious. I had spent weeks without that sensation. "Ahhh. That's good stuff there." I said. Bethany smiled. And it was kinda cute despite the sharp teeth and having no eyes, ears, or nose.

After everyone had settled down I heard gears turning and the chiming of a clock. Like an old fashion cuckoo clock. And as I looked around I saw the sky quickly dimming as the sun shifted from being bright, yellow, and hot. It went into a pale, cold, and glowing blue. Filling the sky with its shine. Small 8-bit stars filled the night dotting the flat, dark, sky.

While looking out at the mystifying moon I heard a small chime. Like a dinner bell. Before a crimson page popped up in front of me.

It was a notification page showing a goblet with a small puddle of blue in it. /Total contribution points has reached 20 points/ was posted above it in gold letters.

Over the next couple days dust didn't gather in the building. And the walls and floor glowed as I kept them clean. The place was looking better already. The wall paper seemed less cracked and the place seemed more lively.

I had spent three days cleaning and then going down to the gym. The gym area was to train civilian forms. Civilian forms served no purpose besides looking pretty. So the gym made it so people could look fit and muscular. But not going meant you looked more "fluffy" and overweight. Beth told me that "The system rewards the workers but punishes the lazy."

After hearing that I started utilizing it. I had little to no experience with lifting weights and such. But Lily said it had a help system for people so you couldn't work out wrong.

When I stepped into the gym for the first time it was odd. My clothes were immediately swapped out to being in a white sleeveless shirt and gym shorts. Sadly, I'm skinny and there wasn't really anything to show.

As I began to lift a 5 lb weight I saw an arm diagram. It looked red and was seemingly attached to my arm. I lifted the weight till my arm was in the hologram. The hologram turned green and showed a different position. "This isn't so bad." I said as I started following the instructions.

It was two days later I decided to try the 10 lbs weights. I was wrong in that decision. Pain wasn't a thing in this place but feeling physically tired was. After 40 minutes my arms were shaking and my legs were ready to give out. The hologram finally finished and I fell over.

"Haaaah, Haaaaah, Haaaaah."I breathed out heavily exhausted from the workout. My body was hot and steam poured off me. I was even feeling thirsty or parched which made me wonder if I was alright. I heard a clink of metal on something before a bucket of water was dumped on me with a hiss issuing from my overheated body.

I blearily looked over and saw Beth with her face slightly blushing. I looked down to see what she could possibly be blushing at and was stunned. I had grown considerably more buff. Not Johnny Bravo by any standard. But the muscles were much more visible now though my wet shirt.

"Lily is calling." Bethany said as she rushed off in a hurry. I sat up from the water puddle which was still steaming and went toward the door. I felt a slight breeze and my clothes were back to what they were and I was dried off.

I couldn't help but try to feel under my clothes which seemed a little tighter than before. And I could actually feel my muscles under the clothes.

I shook my head and smiled a little at the ridiculousness of this place. "How convenient." I grunted as I ventured upstairs.

I got up to the main room and found a hologram being played on the only table we had. The hologram was showing footage of everybody at the table except myself. It seemed to be a group exercise in strange terrain I'd never seen before. Lily gestured for me to take a seat in a metal chair beside the hologram. I took it and watched.

It was a snowy mountain terrain with many nooks and crannies. Everyones heat signatures were shown on the map but you couldn't physically see them. I continued watching in interest as a group of what could only be described as Goblins and Rat riders went into the area inside of what I now knew was a kill box. They settled there for the night before checking their surroundings.

"Fools." I said and everyone looked at me strangely as Lily paused it. "Sil... why do you say they are foolish?" She asked with a twinkle in her eye like she was expecting a stupid answer to correct me on.

I pointed at the group shown in the photos. "I would like to point out first and foremost. That you always have scouts when in a group. the riders would be perfect for that if they can be quiet. You check the surroundings before entry. And once you enter. The standard for anyone is creating a defensive line on either side or in other words he should have set a watch. Then some of the group relaxes. But look at this guy!"

Lily handed me the controls for the hologram. I quickly learned the controls and the hologram zoomed in on one of the goblins leaving behind his weapon to go do something. "Noone should leave their weapons behind on expeditions or battlefields. Shows a lack of discipline and leadership needs to crack down on it. Could practically tear this group apart with my eyes closed if I had a single grenade." Lily looked at me with a cracked smile. "May I ask why a single grenade?"

I looked at her and pointed at the mountain behind everybody. "A single loud bang would cause an avalanche that would kill everybody with exceptions to 4 people." I zoomed in closer to the mountain. One could see how thick the snow was and there was a strange line across the snow. It was like it was ready to break. And right above the snow was a figure. He was cloaked in metal and had a large hammer in his hand. Lightning crackled around him in arcs.

"That's where Thor came in and wrecked the ambush you had going. Which means he either had inside Intel on the ambush or he saw what was going on and tried to take you all out together." I said as I pulled back into my chair. "Any questions?" I said as I plopped back into my chair. Henry began to clap as Lily laughed.