Chapter 2

(??? POV)

'How did I end up in this situation?' I wonder to myself while flying through a very colorful tunnel. First I die, then I get brought to some place that gives off a nostalgic feeling while also managing to look like somewhere straight out of a TikTok.

'I remember that guy saying my memories about going there would be wiped, does that mean I won't remember anything that happened there? I guess it's also a plus in its own right cause I do NOT want to be aware that I am always being watched for entertainment purposes. Would I remember what world I am going to anyway even if my memory is wiped? I guess I'll find out when I get there. Oh god, why am I so…sleepy?...I don't think…I should...feel…tired.'

***

(Narrator POV)

It was a normal day in the season of Autumn. The month of October in the year 2007, It was as normal as any other day could be for the world. People going to their jobs, children going to school, and farmers working on keeping their animals happy while tending to their crops, making sure there were no pesky bugs devouring their harvest. Tourists admire the leaves changing their colors and moving on as the weather gets cooler.

Today though, will be a cornerstone for the changes that will soon be occurring around the globe starting with one of the global superpowers, the United States of America. A strange beverage machine showed up late at night while many were sleeping. Those who saw it were probably too drunk to think about where it came from or why it seemingly popped up out of nowhere, so they just ignored it.

"*6 Months later*" (2008)

Half a year has passed and it is now April, more of these machines have popped up in every country, causing concern as to who put them there and why they don't seem to take any currency, yet appear to hold beverages inside of them. Another thing that baffled the people around the globe was the strange naming each of these beverages held, such as, "Double Tap", "Juggernog", and one that was even called "Quick Revive".

People laughed at the name of the last beverage simply because they thought that it was a gag of some sort. Eventually some people, dissatisfied that the strange machines could not be opened nor could the drinks be bought by any known currency were just taking up space where useful appliances could be, reported this to the authorities.

Said authorities not caring all that much decided that they wouldn't pay much heed to these requests, recently they had taken no action. Until a man tried to blow a machine up to get what was inside and was shocked when not even a dent was left on it. Someone who was recording the whole ordeal posted it online; that video was quickly taken down by the government, but it was too late.

The video had gone viral and was posted in other places such as Twitter, many people reposted it there to where it could not be taken down fast enough. It even reached other countries with how popular it was, and that is saying something considering that this was 2008, the time where there were mostly forums and a few other platforms to post it on, so it eventually got put on Youtube, with that happening its already high popularity soared even further, especially considering you don't get to see too many things such as someone using a homemade bomb on a vending machine.

More so if the bomb somehow managed to not even put a single dent in the seemingly impervious vending machine as the resulting explosion failed to even make it budge from it's original position. Concerned with what exactly these vending machines were in the first place, the governments of each respective country tasked their military with the collection of the machines with the purpose of "protecting their people ''. It wasn't really a lie, not entirely at least, they had another goal in mind, which was to investigate what materials were used in the creation of these vending machines in order to harness the blast resistance for themselves.

Before anyone could execute their respective orders the world experienced a shock that caused unease and distress. For some reason around 3 hours after the bombing caused by the man to try and get into the vending machines, everyone began seeing things. An example of this is the holographic screen type interface with a timer in the top right of their view, they would think it could only show up in Sci-Fi movies such as The Matrix or others.

It caused such an uproar that the government put out an announcement that people should stay home as much as possible for a time while they attempted to figure out if this was an attack on them or not. This was happening in each and every country, from superpowers such as the U.S.A all the way to small countries like Singapore.

Things slowly calmed down as days passed, and everyone started to get back to their normal lives with the strange hologram displaying a timer counting down, showing that the belief everything was going to go back to normal again was nothing more than fantasy they drowned themselves in. While they now live in trepidation for what the timer will bring once it hits its expiration date.

When exactly is that expiration date? Two years from the day that the vending machine incident occurred. Two years until the inevitable apocalypse that these people don't know about will come and ravage their world. In the meantime while the people of the world were getting back on their feet after having the rug pulled from under them, something was stirring…

"*1 Month later*"

Nothing really of note happened in this month of May, unless you count the fact that the government was unable to remove the vending machines, and as a result of them attempting to do so caused something else to happen. Now strange looking machines which held what seemed to be gumballs were popping up, similar to the vending machines these bubble gum dispensers did not take any known currency. So people left them alone and didn't really bother with them, since they didn't seem to mess with their lives other than just being there, seemingly taunting them with the fact that nobody could get any of their product.

People were cautious enough that they did not mess with the gum machines, lest something happen like the last couple of times someone decided to do so. Unfortunately all good times must eventually come to an end.

"*1 Year Later*" (2009)

Time has passed and it has now been more than a year and a half since all the incidents had occurred. Everyone seemed to be back on their feet and back to their lives before everything happened. It was springtime in Japan, so the cherry blossoms were going to be blooming soon since they hadn't already. It surprised people that they hadn't bloomed in April as they usually did, so they decided to blame all the strange worldwide occurrences over the past year and a half for this change.

Some people were enjoying their lives, while others weren't, one such person that falls into the latter category was on the streets right now, disheveled and drunk as he had tried to drown his sorrows, albeit with little success as he was a lightweight and a sad drunk unfortunately for him and those that were around to hear his angry sobs, at the moment his already negative attitude was bolstered by the liquid courage that was alcohol.

He had been fired as of the previous night because of something that he had done more than a year and a half ago.The worst part of it was that for him getting a job was already hard, and getting fired from this one would reflect badly on his record and he might not be able to get another if any other place he tries to work at checks it thoroughly.

It was a lose lose scenario for him, all because of a stupid descision he made to try and blow up a vending machine in broad daylight to get the drinks inside of it. He thought he had hidden it well enough that it was he who attempted to get into the machine via explosive force. He wore a mask, a hood, and he even had a backpack hidden somewhere nearby with an extra change of clothes and shoes should the operation fail.

It never really mattered much in the end because he got arrested for having a large enough bag that could hold contraband such as guns, drugs, a bomb and other things of the like. He got arrested for being the one in the popular video on the internet that had tried and failed to blow up a vending machine, but since there wasn't any real property damage and nobody showed up and declared that they owned these machines, he only got 4 months worth of community service, and probably being put on a watchlist of sorts.

That incident was put on his record, but he was able to keep quiet about it. There was a broadcast saying that they had caught the bomber, but never what their identity was so people were left to speculate. Until eventually his boss found his record and got him fired for being the one who bombed "public property". That leads us to now, that man's name is Masaru Shibuya, the irony is his name Masaru means victory, gentleness and intelligence. Yet he didn't seem like any of these at all, and now he is suffering for the mistakes he made in the past.

Masaru here is storming down the sidewalk in a drunken fury, angry at both his boss and at himself, mostly at himself though as this could have been avoided if he hadn't tried to get into that vending machine.

***

(Masaru POV)

'Dammit! Why did I have to get myself fired?! It's going to be near impossible to get a job now, FUCK! I just had to go and try to get into that freaking machine didn't I? AllI had to do was walk by and not care, but I wanted to see what on earth a drink that couldn't be paid for with normal currency tasted like, it probably would have been better than that bottom shelf Sake I got.'

People were avoiding me, like I was some sort of animal on the loose, I didn't like that and it only made my mood sour even further, it probably doesn't help that I was and probably still am drunk.

I came across one of those machines that seemed to dispense gumballs, so I decided to try and get one. 'Maybe it would help me calm down some, but I doubt it. I have no job, I probably won't have a job for a long time and I have no idea how to change that.' Those were my thoughts before I tried to use the machine.

My thoughts afterward however were much different, hell I think I even looked like a crazy person for a bit. "Come on, maybe I can get something from here unlike those damned vending machines right?" I asked myself while looking for a place to put a coin inside of the machine.

'That's strange, why is there no place to put the coin? It should be on here somewhere I think.'

"FUCK THIS SOME SORT OF JOKE?!" I yell out in frustration, I mean, I think I am justified in feeling this way right? Right? "All I want is just a piece of gum, FUCKING GUM AND I CAN'T EVEN GET THAT MUCH?!" I start out kind of quiet but as my frustration grows so does my voice. To the point where I begin to feel kind of hoarse from the yelling I'm doing, and not having drank water for many hours definitely was not doing me any favors.

In my frustration I try to move the Gumball machine in any way shape or form, to the point I even try breaking the glass with my fists as I punch it, over, and over, again, and again to the point where my hands are bleeding quite profusely.

I think I broke something, and it was definitely not the glass, as I feel a searing pain coming from my left hand. "ARRRRRGH!" I grasped my hand trying to ease the pain, but it only got worse, people were starting to crowd around and there seemed to be a mix in the group. Half of them seemed to be calling for help and probably a mental hospital for me, while the other half were recording this, probably to post on those forums where the video had gotten popular before.

***

(Narrator POV)

Masaru was getting worried that another incident would be put on his record so he tried to push through the people that had gathered around before they could get a good enough look at his face, he broke out in a sprint, rushing towards the nearest person to move them out of the way so he could make his escape.

Before he could push the person in front of him out of his way a large humming sound began to emit from what seemed to be everywhere at once yet right in front of them at the same time. Each person stood there stunned, forgetting about the man who was injured and seemed insane to beat up on a gumball machine.

Even Masaru was stunned for a moment before he started his sprint to get away from the area again, and shoved the person he intended to out of his way and continued running as fast as his body could carry him, he ran and ran until he could not run anymore. He ended up near an alleyway which he decided to go into to take temporary refuge and regain his composure, he had been seemingly sobered up by the humming in that area before, and now he was trying not to scream in pain because of his broken left hand and his severely injured right hand.

After what seemed like hours of waiting, the pain in Masaru's arm seemed to subside enough to where moving the arm slightly no longer brought unbearable pain, he started to get up from the ground and out of the alley while slowly stumbling his way to a nearby hospital that would accept a late night walk in patient.

With that, another eleven months pass with no news on the crazy man attempting to destroy one of the machines, only the results of him failing to do so.

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Author Notes:

This chapter was mostly made by Fruitful cuz yes ill admit i suck at world building U_U