I opened my eyes to a strange environment. I slowly looked around. But as soon he started to panic, I started to look around faster, roving at the surroundings. I was sitting on a bench next to ... the Spanish kid I've met before going unconscious. That's when it hit me. They caused the death of that old man by refusing to open the gates.

The guy looked at me. "O, you're awake. But it's nothing, I've only been waiting for three hours, no biggie."

I raised a brow. "You were? I doubt that."

"Yeah," said someone else, "He gave me the story. You ran into the forcefield and nearly almost yourself. I was here alongside him, waiting. It's just that he's here because he figured it would be better for you to see a familiar face when you wake up, whereas, I'm here because the women in the white suits think I'm 'cursed'. Just how much more ridiculous can all this get?" he sat on the bench opposite us. 

The guy who sat beside me looked at me again. "Now that you have the proof of me actually waiting for three hours ... are you gonna thank me, or not?" he asked.

I scratched behind my head. "Of course I am," I put out a hand, "I'm Ashto—you know what? Just call me Ash."

"Alright, Ash," he said, "I'm Miguel, and" he looked down at my mind, "I still refuse to take that hand of yours."

I scratched behind my head, smiling goofily. "Nice to meet you, Miguel." I looked at the other guy. "What about you? What's your name?"

The guy folded his arms. "I'm Hanso, and it's nice to meet you, Ash."

I smiled. But it didn't feel like a smile. It felt fake. I haven't faked many smiles in the past. Perhaps, I was still depressed. I did watch my friends die, after all. 

"Hey, Ash," Miguel said, "Now that you're awake, you have to go get scanned. One of the women in white told me that they were avoiding scans of the unconscious. They do have their reasons though," he sighed, "the world's messed up. They can't have any monsters in human skin entering the dome, so they scan the people. Apparently, the scanner detection is worse on the unconscious.

Suddenly, a woman appeared in front of Hanso. I jumped. She must have used teleportation. Instantaneous travel and relocation were impossible otherwise. She looked down at Hanso, her back turned on both me and Miguel. "You are now permitted to leave. A dark ability was detected by the scanner, so it read you as a Demon. You have my apologies for having waited three hours for a response." her tone was monotonous like that of a robot.

Hanso stood. "Took you long enough," he stretched, "I told you creeps I wasn't any demon!"

The woman suddenly spun around, slowly looking down at me. "As for you, code !A4B10,000 also known as Ashton Woods. You are to enter the scanner now that you have regained consciousness. Opposition is punished by death," she smiled, freakishly wide. Here I thought I would only piss my pants for hobgoblins. 

"Is that clear, !A4B10,000?" She asked, seemingly awaiting a response.

Assuming that odd code was me ... "Yes," I said, "but where is this scanner?"

"Allow me to usher you. You must now follow me." She started walking. 

I looked at Miguel, then Hanso. I raised my brows and performed a half-shrug. Before I turned around, Hanso started walking up to me. "I'm tagging along," he said, "Y'know, just to check if I'm the only demon."

Miguel stood. "And I'm coming to make sure those hands of yours are washed before you offer anyone else a handshake."

I smiled at them. But I wasn't happy. I was still depressed.

I followed the strange woman to the scanner. She eventually stopped walking and turned around to look at me as I neared with Miguel and Hanso. "Your speed is rather poor," she remarked. 

'I'm sorry," I apologized, halting. 

I looked at the scanner. It was huge. It looked like a capsule, and a pod at the same time. But it was more like a clear tube standing upright, in which I assumed I had to stand. Futuristic and not of our time, it was.

"You must enter the Scanner. You will be undecomtaminated—"

"Which is what he desperately needs for those hands of his," Miguel cut in. 

I glanced at him, smiling.

The woman continued, "then the scanning process will initiate abruptly after decontamination. Please approach the scanner quickly as I am needed somewhere else."

"Well," I looked at Miguel and Hanso, "here goes. It didn't hurt for you guys, right?"

"I don't know, man. It did hurt pretty bad when every man jumped on me after the scanner shouted 'demon'. It hurt my feelings too." Hanso showed an expression of profound but, of course, utterly and obviously pretentious mock-horror.

Miguel nudged Hanso with an elbow. 

I smiled again, then turned to the scanner. Nervously, I approached the scanner. When I reached a certain radius, something triggered the capsule to open for me. I slowly entered the capsule, my heart rate escalating. 

Miguel shouted, "You got this, Ash! There's no pain. But should you puke in there, I don't think this organization's gonna let it slide."

The capsule closed. 

"Body detected."

"Decontamination initialized."

Suddenly, white mist sprayed from overhead, stinging my skin. I jolted as it sprayed relentlessly. It hurt, but it smelt heavenly. But it did hurt. 

"Successfully decontaminated."

"Scanning ..."

My heart rate escalated. 

"Scanning ..."

"Sucess!" The capsule suddenly opened. The interior flashed blue. 

I stepped out of the capsule. Then I started toward the strange woman ... to amend, the really strange woman ... Hanso and Miguel.

Hanso frowned. "I'm the only demon after all."

Miguel put out his hand. "We can now shake hands."

I grabbed his hand, shaking it. "Thanks," I said, "for everything."

Miguel started walking, Hanso followed. "Now, we enter the New World."

I watched as they edged away.

They both stopped, turning around. "What's the matter? Don't tell me you're going to puke again."

"I guess Demons don't like entering new worlds alone. Ash, are you coming or not?"

I looked at them for while, but then a smile took my face as I rushed toward them. We were entering a new world.