Prologue

It was a bright warm day in May of 2019 when a dark blue sedan had smashed into a pearly white pickup truck. Riley Simmons, who was in the middle of a dungeon raid on his favorite MMORPG game 'Darkened Spirits', jumped in his seat as his heart began to race at the sound of tires screeching from the pain of being forcibly dragged across an asphalt road.

After a few seconds of clutching onto his heart and desperately trying to catch his breath; he took off his headphones and set them on his desk between his LED mouse and keyboard. He leaped from his chair, making it spin as he rushed past his disorganized desk and across his messy floor to the north-western part of his room. There he peered out from the only window in his room.

Just like he would always do in this situation, he stared at the intersection that haunted him for all 18 of his living years. "Was the crash fatal? Did anyone die? Should I go down there to help?" were always his immediate thoughts. After processing exactly what he had seen, he took a step back, collected himself, then looked out again. By now, his thoughts had changed, "It doesn't look too bad. The truck guy might have insurance. The sedan guy on the other hand." He gazed in awe at the badly damaged vehicle, it looked as though an angry giant had come with his club and smashed the front of the car.

Riley chuckled at the thought, "A giant," he shook his head as he walked back to the south east part of his bedroom, "Did they expect coins to come out of the car," he launched a haughty laugh before sitting back into his chair and solemnly placed his headphones on his head. Within moments he heard his teammates in the dungeon raid yell at him, "Where the hell did you go?"

"We fucking lost 'cause of you Riley," a female voice said to him.

"I'm sorry guys... There was a car crash and-" Riley got cut off immediately by a male voice.

"Fuc- Shut the fuck up!"

"Don't tell me to shut-" Riley's voice raised as he shifted himself in his chair. He stopped himself as he saw the depressing, 'You Lost' pop-up on his screen. "I apologize, alright." His teammates went quiet, "Nah, that's our bad I guess," the male voice said, "It's our last raid before you go on your military program, and I just really wanted to make it a good one."

"How long are you going to be gone for that by the way," the female voice asked while Riley closed out of his game and closed his eyes as he groaned, "A year."

"That means that you'll miss graduation! They couldn't postpone it until after June?"

"Nope, according to them. I must be there ASAP. They even had my mom send my bags 2 day before I was supposed to be there."

"I must be there ASAP," the male voice mocked, emphasizing the must in the sentence, then bursting out into laughter immediately after uttering ASAP.

"Shut up Daniel," the female voice screamed, "Just because Riley talks like an old ass man doesn't mean you should dis-" she snickered, "disrespect your elders!" Daniel began hollering, "Chelsea, that's a good one. That's a good one." Chelsea laughed as well, "I know, I know."

Riley smiled, his cheek lifted up so high that it pierced his eyes. Tears began to fall and his ears became hot as he reminisced on the past 4 years of his high school life with his friends. "I'll really miss you guys."

The laughter died down as Daniel began, "Relax Riley, you're only gonna be gone for a year right? It's not like you're leaving forever."

"Yeah, Riley! Cheer up. When you get rich off this shit you can buy us all sorts of sushi," Chelsea continued.

"I'll buy you guys each 6 plates when I come back," Riley said, wiping his tears off.

"And while you're gone, I'll finally get a higher rank than you. You're gonna have to start asking ME how to play the game this time," Daniel replied.

"Over my dead body," Riley chuckled.

"Riley," Riley's door swung open, his sister who was only 3 years younger than him, busted into his room with a forced smile and depressed look in her eyes. "The army guys are here, they're downstairs." She quickly turned around and walked out of his room with haste, leaving his door swinging. A cold air rushed in causing Riley to shiver before he shouted back, "Thanks for telling me!"

He took off his headset as he heard his friends say in unison, "Good luck Riley." He placed it on his desk and ran out of his room. As he went down the small hall that contained all 3 of the bedrooms and single bathroom in his house, his sister yelled from her room (that was to the right of his room, to the left was his room was their parent's room), "Text me your stacks of money so I can flex to friends, please!"

By the time he had reached the stairs, he had already forgotten what his sister said, nonetheless he replied, "Sure, I got you Rachel!" He slowly ran down the steps as he focused his attention on the 3 army men that stood in the middle of his living room.

They each had an aura around them that gave birth to an idea in Riley, "Go back to your room. Crawl up in a ball, and suck your thumb like the child you are," he imagined the shortest of the three men to say to him as he walked up to shake his hand.

The two other men were similar to each other, almost twin like. They were both towering over his mother who stood next to the three of them. At least they had to be 6 feet 6 inches. They could have been taller, Riley thought as he noticed that they had a slight slouch as to not have their head pressed against the low ceiling. All three wore some kind of casual green camouflage army uniform. The shortest one, who wouldn't even reach Riley's chin, wore a lab coat, blue surgical mask, and gray gloves. Next to his leg was a thick briefcase.

Riley finally reached the end of the stairs and walked past his couches to the doctor. "Hello there, are you the doctor the program manager was talking about," he extended his hand out to shake the doctor's hand.

"Hola," the doctor said in an authentic German accent, "I am the doctor in question. You must be Riley Simmons correct?"

Riley nodded his head, the doctor continued, "Wunderbar, you're 5 feet 9 inches. 18 years old. Black hairs, shaved face, no tattoos, outstanding leg strength, much to be desired in the upper area. Alright," the doctor stopped shaking Riley's hand, he clapped his hands, then lifted up the briefcase that he had next to him. "We are going to have just the most magical time. Follow us, the van is just outside."

The two tall army men turned their backs to Riley and his mom and awaited an order, "Chop chop now men," the doctor said, prompting them to walk toward the front door. It was only a few feet away from the center of the living room. They opened it, and walked out, behind them was the doctor, the cold air in the house seemed to vanish as they left.

Riley turned to his mother, she held her hands together and frantically looked around the room as she began stuttering. "I-I-I love you. St-stay safe." She looked at her son, smiled as quick as it faded away. "I know that look," Riley thought, "The face that is screaming out, leave now. Don't make me any promises. Just leave and don't say anything. I'm sorry, but-"

"Mom. I love you too. Tell Rachel that I love her as well. If I don't make it back." Riley bit his tongue. "If you don't come back what," his mom asked with hesitance layered under her words. "I'll be back," Riley replied while giving his mom a quick hug. He held her shoulders and pushed her back, a few moments later the doctor yelled into the house, "Quickly now, time is of the essence."

Riley hugged his mother one more time, then walked out of the house. Once out the house, he kept his head down so as to not see that dreaded car crash on that intersection, the police still had yet to arrive and the drivers were in some kind of argument about who was responsible. The only time he looked up was to see the van that he was supposed to enter. And his eyes quickly became fixed on it.

"I-I-I-" he stuttered as his heart raced. "I can just run there,"

"You cannot," the doctor retorted, "This place we are going to must be kept a secret, I can't let you see how we enter. You must ride the van."

"B-B-B-but I-I can't, I have"

"Motorphobia. Yes we know, we are thorough in our checks."

"So you must know," Riley ran up to the doctor, fell to his knees, and looked up at him while grabbing at his lab coat. "I can't be put into that van, please! Please! I might hyperventilate. Jump out of the van. Have a heart attack. Relapse! If something bad happens to me, then that'll be bad for the program, right!"

"You are correct."

Riley smiled, "But," the doctor continued, "Nevertheless rules are rules. You cannot drive without a license and you cannot come without being in this motor vehicle." Riley's smile wiped into a frown, as he jumped up from the ground and began running back into his house. However before he could even make it a few inches away from the doctor, both of the men (who were quite a few feet away watching for any signs of police or disruptors) seemingly teleported in front of him and grabbed him.

Riley kicked at the army men and screamed, "Mom! They're putting me into-"

"Sleep," Riley felt a sting on his neck, as his vision blurred. The last thing he saw was his mother closing the front door with tears in her eyes. The last thing he heard was the doctor, "Yeah, that's very good. You'll have a grand time."

Riley's world darkened as he felt his spirit be lifted from his body. He did not fully dream, instead flashes of his memory involving his father sporadically bombarded him in burst throughout his state of unconsciousness. How long he was in that state, he did not know. He could only guess later that maybe he was out for a few hours. However he felt as though he had been out for years, drifting through some kind of pitch black emptiness.

"Was this death," he thought. "Am I even still alive? I should have never signed up for the program. Train to get immortality from the government? That sounded like a scam from the start, I can't believe I fell for something so stupid. Here I was saying every day don't fall for scams, just for me to fall into one. Damn it all!"

Suddenly he heard whispers that disrupted his train of thought. Some meager and weak, others bold enough to cause avalanches with each enunciation of simple words. Others were choir-like, as though they sang to him. Another group of voices sounded like they were yelling obscenities at him. Another simple animal noises, accompanied by classical music. One voice, however, stood out amongst them all. It sounded so direct, so heavenly that it shook the very thoughts that came out of Riley's head.

"You've been in the dark for way too long. It's time for you to walk into the light at the beat of my song. March with the weak, impoverish the strong. Give sinners their sins, alcoholics their gin. Are you afraid of what lies beyond?"