Episode 1 A Parallel World
The Paragon City was blooming with lights on the full moon night. The fluorescent lights lightened up the streets like a day. The crunching and cracking sounds of dry leaves being crushed under the pedestrians' feet added a natural melody to the usual noise. The autumn wind was weakened between the towering structures and skyscrapers. But not that much. Nightlife had just begun. The stores and stalls on the sides of the streets started to dim one by one. And the bars and motels lit up with bright posters attracting youngsters and office workers. Seemed like a Friday, the sacred day of hope in the week. The girl tightened the hold on her overcoat as she marched ahead resolutely. Her cheeks and nose were tinged with red. She was lamenting her now weak physique, which could not even bear autumn wind, let alone snow. She quickly shuttled through the crowd and ran into the inconspicuous street. The street was very calm and devoid of any hustle and bustle outside. The street led to the back of the posh residence area from the center of the city market. The street was usually very quiet and calm because it was too narrow to go through by car and felt gloomy while walking through it. There was a large iron gate on the side after going to other side of street. The girl rushed to unscrew the rusty stopper on the iron gate. It made screeching noise in a silent ally and opened with a hum. The girl let out a sigh of relief and rushed in shutting the gate with a bang.
Venus took off the down jacket and scarf. Her hands were numb with a chill. The house was equipped with an air conditioning system, and the warmth made her let out a lazy groan. She did not even bother to change her clothes and fell on the bed tired. It has been more than 12 hours since she came here. She had gone out to take a stroll in this new world after healing the body. This world was the same as her previous life. Just more advanced. Well, keeping up with the years they lost while in the apocalypse, they could also have had the same progress. This world had advanced normally without any apocalypse or dark beast invasion shit. She remembers the day when Drake killed himself along with the S-level monster. She was prepared to die along with him. Her physical body was contaminated with radiation from detonation, so it was a fat chance that she could even have a bone intact. The radiation was so powerful, it melted everything except for the earth. But fate had different ideas. Her spiritual sea concentrated the element which she had never used. Space and Time. Her soul escaped from the clutches of gravity and got lost in the probability of the Universe. She had lost her hold on the consciousness of her spirit. Her spiritual sea was following instinct. At this moment the girl in this world was suffering from high-grade fever. With no one by her side, she was burned to death. After entering her body, her spiritual sea started to optimize the body. It took almost 8-9 hours to heal the vitals. And then the body survived. And she also survived.
The girl's name was Iris King. Same as her real name. She was 18 years old. She had just started her University education. She was an only child with a joyful fulfilled life. But with a stroke of fate, her parents passed away in a car accident when she just reached high school and her elder brother had gone abroad for further education. He came running with the next flight after hearing the news. He wanted to take her along and transfer her to a school abroad. But she refused. She did not want to leave the home abandoned. She was 15 years old and knew how to take care of herself. Her parents had savings and property, by which she and her brother could live her life leisurely without doing anything. At first, she was sure that she could live through it. Her brother would call her regularly. But after that loneliness and an empty home were coming to bite her. So to distract herself she threw herself into studying and managed to get into the National University of Senex. The number one college in the Senex Country. Also, a very prestigious all around the world. She had just finished the formalities for admission and while coming home she fell sick. She died dreaming of her parents. And reunited with them.
Venus was her alternate identity. It was bound to the HERO, while she was serving the organization. But her real name was Iris King. The second young lady of the King family. After the beginning of the doom, the system fell apart. The accumulated property and prestige were of no use. The elders had already departed. And in the family, she was the only survivor. Hence she took a new identity of Venus to not burden herself with her family name.
Iris sighed with comfort. The smell here was so soothing. Without any radiation or excessive pollution. World technology had advanced to alleviate and reduce pollution. She could freely take in the breath without fear of burning her throat or lungs. She could roam everywhere without being on her toes. Well, she was not used to it. It had just been hours. It will take time. She just saw the world from the perspective of a teenage girl. She had yet to see the real world. Let's celebrate this new life. Her consciousness drifted to dreamland.
Iris stood up and walked out of the bedroom. She had had her best sleep in the last decade. She could remember the original owner's memories as she walked on. Just like going through her life like a memory lane. The house was built on a huge courtyard with a fence all around it. The piece of land was bought by the original owner's father just before the housing prices soared. The seller was so regretful after transferring the land. They made the two-story mansion in the center. And built the fence wall all around the land. So that the kids could play freely without any worry. The backyard had a small garden in which the mother of the original owner would plant some green vegetables and beautiful flowers also there was an old oak tree in the garden which was there for years and they did not have the heart to cut it so the garden was built around it. The original owner also wanted to grow a tree so her mother helped her plant a pine tree in the inner corner of the garden, which was towering over the house now. With her brother's passionate insistence, her father had to call the contractor to install the indoor swimming pool near the back door. They would play all noon on the weekends and their mother had to pull them out so that they would not catch the cold. The yard except for the garden was hard tiled. And the garden was shaded and installed with automation. So all the daily grooming will be done automatically. The original owner's father owned a few vehicles. For trips, for work, and casual rides. The off-road vehicle was for long trips. There was a sleek, elegant luxury car for work. And a beautiful charming motorcycle for casual or long rides with the mother. Iris was in awe when she noticed them. The original owner's father seemed to have a unique personality. Romantic and homely. Perfect. They were all parked in the shade on the right side of the front yard.
She went back inside after taking a tour again. Her stomach was hurting with hunger. The kitchen was equipped with all the latest technology and was very clean. As if it was never used. She opened the fridge. It was almost empty aside from the bottles of cold drinks and milk and other convenience food packets. After going through the body's memory she opened the overhead cupboard. There were cup noodles and pasta packets stored inside. Fortunately, they were not expired. She cautiously touched the equipment at first. But found that it was not very much different from the original version. She poured the heated water into the bowl along with the noodle cake and dried veggies sachet and waited for some time as per instruction. Then removed the excess water and added the seasoning and cheese found in the corner of the fridge. Even without fried eggs and sausages suggested in the package it tasted delicious and healing.
The old clock was clacking every second. The backyard was filled with the happy chirping of the birds and squirrels. The kitchen was also filled with a slurping sound. The sunshine warmed the day as the lingering chill of night swept away with the bowl of hot spicy noodles.
Ring... Ring... Ring...
The sharp ring of a phone call invaded the peaceful environment.