CH 3

Akatosh slowly let the memories flow away. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then opened her eyes and got up from the bed slowly.

The alarm clock on the dessert table read 3:40. She can probably forget about sleeping now, she thought and switched the light on. Akatosh was amazed that there was electricity at all... "A rarity," she muttered to herself.

The room was small and shabby but clean...as best as it could be. The yellow wallpaper was peeling off the wall, the light flickering. Her bed was just a frame with a mattress and a blanket. Next to the dessert there was a small drawer that was missing a leg, opposite it was a bookshelf without books, these have become a rarity since the change, at least for people in poverty.

She got up and shuffled towards the bathroom. "Perfect" she said when the light in the bathroom didn't work...what a surprise she thought. She reached to the left on the sink, took the box of matches lying there and lit a candle.

In the broken mirror above the sink appeared the image of a woman with long black hair, aristocratic features, prominent cheekbones, piercing ice blue eyes and thin pale lips. You could see that she hadn't had any decent food for a while.

She wore a black T-shirt, military-style pants with knee pads and black metal-plated boots. Akatosh realised how cold "no" she thought, how blank her gaze was, as if you were looking into the eyes of a fucking horror doll, she thought. Soulless.

She completed her morning routine and sat back down on her bed.

The world has changed a lot since that day, she thought. Elementals have appeared, humans have been corrupted, the world is dying and space has been torn apart so that otherwordlers inhabit this cursed world.

Elementals are people who have been altered by an unknown energy. Most manipulate the basic elements like fire, water, air and earth, there were different sub-forms for example in the water category: ice and in the earth category: sand.

Then there were the Conceptual ones. These manipulate concepts of the universe such as death, life, space, time, destruction but also sharpness, separation, merging, etc... Most Conceptual´s are very powerful beings but they are very rare and there is only one of each concept. With his death the Concept is passed onto the next person.

Next there are the Physicals where various physical attributes have been enhanced. The Morphological ones appear as a sub-form: which take on abilities and physical characteristics of Animals or Mythical Creatures.

Lastly there are the Mystics. These cannot be assigned to any of the categories. Examples include Enchantments, Healing, Telekinesis, Empathy, Psychometrics, Truth Seekers and much more.

Nobody knows how exactly the process of the Change is or what the result will be.

Akatosh was also changed. She became a weapon, a life stealer... a god of the death. She could handle any weapon with expertise and instinctively knew the weak point of any opponent, so that appeared to be her calling...killing.... She pushed those thoughts into a box where all the other dark experiences and thoughts of the last few years were trapped, but it seemed full to nearly bursting. She feared the day when she could no longer hold back her darkness an the box will be shattered. Would it break her ? Akatosh wondered dimly.

She thought about the other Changes in addition to the Elementals.

Humans have been corrupted by Nephost's otherness, turning into grotesque forms filled with primal fury knowing only destruction.

They are divided into different levels from 1-10. 1 the weakest and 10 the strongest. One can be compared to a knife and 10 to an atomic bomb she thought direly.

Then finally there are the "One Way "Portals. These are used by various species as a prison. Akatosh gave a bitter laugh at the thought. There is no food and now our planet has become another prison for countless species, from slime - dragon....

Mankind seems lost, Akatosh thought, glancing at the alarm clock. 5:30 it shows.

Akatosh got up, put on her leather jacket and made her way outside...to her work.