Black darkness, deprived of light for so long any warmth had long washed out, leaving space as cold as the frosty climate outside. Unlit, for there were no residents to await as there hasn’t been in many rotations, features cannot be distinguished thus there is only a void similar to the one left behind in the old estate, one that had swallowed up a home in a nonexistent time.

Slowly shapes become observable as faint white light alas begins to emerge, specifically from both the floor and the distant smooth walls.

As more light is brought into the rather large room the size of a personal hangar, its hollowness becomes ever more apparent for there are no occupants to the room despite there being more than enough size to house several large trucks. Perhaps it once was used to house something, but that something had nothing and thus it no longer remains. Furthermore with better luminosity brightening the surfaces, said surfaces do have noticeable erosion and dullness, the walls themselves imperfect as even the fine metal body has seemed to age without care like the interior of a long abandoned building. It wasn’t exactly disgusting, there were no other signs of an infestation or more abhorrent growth, but a lack of maintenance has left the cold room with chapped lips.

The walls, the floor, and most of the ceiling is made of metal exhibiting a white light, although all the sudden a chunk of the ceiling suddenly dematerializes to form a large gap in the shape of a diamond, the particle cloud dispersing into smaller fragments before vanishing completely, leaving one partial black void but now from outside rather than within. Also from the fissure is the first sound, that being a gentle breeze, not particularly loud but at least a departure from the pure silence that had filled the space for vast durations.

Another departure from absence is the entrance of an entity from the diamond shaped rift, a humanoid being with an azure body who plummets straight from the void, nearly crashing into the ground if not for a sudden bright blue flash from its feet before impact that suspends its momentum thereby allowing it to more gently touch ground.

The being’s body is primarily azure although with a black cape that slightly ruffles in the little wind fed through the open door, same with its similarly colored hair on its face that examines the room in silence.

Especially with the inclusion of a human-sized entity in the room, the garage’s vastness becomes only more evident as it swallows the man whole in the belly of a beast, for even the height was great as an untapered drop would’ve likely induced significant injury alone. In such a grand space the entity is so small, in a world so big even its barren nature hides the one man who just gazes around silently and slowly, the perplexity of the sudden erosion suppressed by the somberness of knowing he was the only authorized resident left.

That sentimentality is drawn by his starry eyes that stare wide enough to grasp a full image but not so much in astonishment, instead his face is majorly just mellow, similar to that of another face that long roamed the world. The face is of a grown adult, about midway through forties, and with that maturity comes an unrestrained melancholy. Although that is not to say the face is terribly aged, in fact it is relatively youthful in that it lacks wrinkles and its skin is still vibrant, muscles drawn in but still with a softness to the cheeks.

Long strands of silky black hair sit behind him, down to his shoulders and parted outwards with slight bangs along the edges like the drawn rays of the sun. His golden shoulders reflect the white shine of the room as he then lowers his head, his eyes slightly contracting.

Beneath the man’s feet is the dull white floor, the erosion more prominent up close, tampering with the reflectivity of the surface which is still present but lackluster, providing only an obscured image of the man facing back. Such erosion was not present earlier that day, or at least not thought to be to the eyes of the resident, for it had now become very apparent that some greater anomaly had transpired. Yet at this moment the man isn’t occupied by such thought, instead merely focused on the loss of those who had invited him first into this fortress, for his face told not of shock but mourning.

While the reflected image is imperfect, it does mirror the sight of another being’s descend from just above at the edge of the crest door, although this being has several strange tentacle cables emergent from its back, two of them hoisting a pair of other figures and the others catching the fall for cushioning. They land behind the man as they vanish from the focused floor, although the man’s attention shifts around regardless.

Behind the man descends the three who had found him, all of them being delicately placed on the ground before the woman with pink hair and the bald man are let go of by the golden tentacles, all of which regress into the back of the old friend with amber bangs, the tentacles visibly metallic although not exactly mechanical as their smooth movements are more organic, alien.

With the retraction of such tentacles however the friend is left with the sole appearance of human, and with her green eyes she glances around at the garage as do the others, for while the man had seen this room just earlier this was the first for the others who gaze in awe to the size of what better represents a militaristic base of operations rather than a lavish but ultimately commercial house.

Both the last resident and the old friend have grim demeanors to the room as while the latter hardly spent time in it, she at least knew of its significance to the former who has yet to speak a word, just examining his old home, the air still chilly as the warmth of the walls has yet to reach its adequate level. To better help combat the cold at least, the diamond door is closed as the surface materializes to enclose the ceiling, covering it with the same white metal that then glows the same with its neighbors.

Right after the enclosing the brief remnants of the breeze cease, letting the black cape come to full rest, same with the hair of the three occupants. While there is now light and presence in the room, the abrupt termination of wind again reverts some of the lifelessness back into the garage, the eerie silence no longer given a base track.

Or that is until the unashamed loud yawning of the elderly man who grabs the attention of the other three, watching him stretch his arms over his head like a child despite him appearing the oldest with his wrinkled and decrepit features. The yawn extends long and reaches deep before finally coming to its end, when Ekitai lowers his hands and excuses, “What? It’s been a long day, if you all forgot we were just fighting an undead army. Man’s on low battery and he got to charge.”

While Ekitai doesn’t appear too apologetic despite his justification, his friend beside him does as told by the horror on her face to the exhibited disrespect, to which Kokei turns to face the resident and apologize more earnestly, “I’m sorry about him, he gets cranky sometimes but I promise I’ll get him to sto-,”

“No, you must’ve had a long day,” softly understands the last resident in a murmuring voice, almost a whisper, for he too is running off of limited energy. He then turns around and pans his gaze around the garage while muttering, “We all must’ve….”

After the panorama, Meditat glances at his friend with a sigh before offering pensively, “You all must be exhausted, I can lead you to the bedrooms. The cold problem should start resolving itself and…the walls should be fixed by tomorrow. Hopefully the beds aren’t too bad, but I’ll check, I guess I can always make you new ones if need be regardless.”

A pause follows after the offer as his friend frowns and lowers her head, the nonchalant service of those abilities not having been heard for a long time, as they had become conserved and only used in highly threatening situations.

Raising her head back up to meet his gaze, Dana nods her head and accepts, “That sounds fine, I admit even I’m a bit drained….”

Nodding back, Meditat glances over to the other two guests and announces, “Come,” before then turning around and beginning a slow walk down the empty garage, only extending brief exchanges with those who he clearly still isn’t adjusted to.

That fact sticks with Kokei who lowers her head with a frown to the impersonality of the command, staying in place as both Dana and Ekitai begin to follow.

Although Ekitai does come to a stop and turns back to his friend to find her stationary, waving his hand which finally grabs her attention to which she nods and jogs up to them, catching up and continuing at a slower pace as they make their way out.

It’d be an understatement to say that the old house was pretty big, as in terms of how grand estates can be especially on this Earth, that was one of the most luxurious in the market with the size and features that only the very sliver of the top could afford. And yet compared to this fortress, it was not much more than an apartment room, perhaps a condominium at best, as even the elevator shaft that the four share is aggressively larger with a single pad that’s more than capable of carrying them with more than lavish spacing.

At first the surrounding environment is nothing more than a solid shaft around the pad made of polished stone, although that stone too has erosion with chunks eaten in, and the polish has also worn off with much of the wall just seeming to be a cave’s interior carved in.

However, the pad soon descends into an open story with dark gunmetal walls and several platforms dimly lit with reds and holographic racks of what appears to be firearms given their shape, although the room is quickly passed and the pad continues deeper into the shaft.

Moments later it then passes a much brighter story with white floors expanding omnidirectionally, for in fact the behemoth of the room has the height of several levels with many platforms being passed, leading to different doorways and smaller rooms before all being passed again.

While Kokei, Ekitai, and Dana all gaze in awe at the various rooms being passed as they breeze through another darker space with several gray corridors extending from different directions of the pad, Meditat instead just stares at the floor of the platform being stood on, no reason to feel any awe towards a place he had become so accustomed to, with the only variation now being one he couldn’t see as its very nature was absence.

Descending down at fast rates with flashes of light popping up whenever a new floor is visited, the reflection of the man stares back at the one on the surface, that melancholy still present in a frown as this visit of glimpses into the fortress is nothing but a chore to sit through while the guests seem to enjoy the show.

Gradually the pad slows its drop, its deceleration smooth but swift, emerging into another open story with a central circular lobby multiple levels tall with ringed bridges around the edge to segment each floor. Along those bridges are several closed doors spaced out enough that each could be storages or closet spaces.

Alas the pad comes to its ultimate suspension at the bottom of the lobby populated with clusters of white sofas spaced out, each cluster’s nuclei being a white table top. Along the curved walls of the base floor are five doors spaced out in such a way that they sit at the vertices of a star, and while most of the room has a minimal coloration aesthetic, the doors themselves have unique colors with the head of the star being red, the two beside it being sky blue and purple, and the two at the back being azure blue and green. The lobby’s floor is indeed white, but rather than being a hard metallic surface it is instead a soft fur carpet that covers the entire room, a comfortable choice opposed to the militaristic style of other portions of the base.

While the lobby is well lit indeed, a size grand enough that the croissant lobbies of the mansion now feel rather small despite in actuality being signatures of high class, there is still a chilliness as the heat has yet to fully sweep away the cold, although it is a problem that won’t seem to vanish so instantly.

Regardless this is the stop where Meditat steps out of the pad, to which the other three follow him with curious and astonished gazes, marveling at the grandiose scale of the floor as Ekitai faces up at the bridges above and Kokei inspects the couches beside.

Standing amongst the couches as Ekitai and Kokei roam on their own and Dana stays by his side, Meditat pans his gaze between the five closed doors on the base floor, his head slowly turning as he pivots whenever necessary although with minimal movements.

A frown sits on his face as there's a certain uncomfortability with the nature of what he knows he must permit, a conflict in his eyes as his forehead ever so slightly wrinkles.

There’s the sense of a moral dilemma as though he’s contemplating digging up a grave, for that is similar to what he must choose on, his mouth slightly opening for his gritting teeth to shine as he struggles to come to a decision.

Ultimately a decision has to be made, and with a heavy sigh Meditat lowers his head and begins pacing forwards, catching Dana’s attention with a puzzled expression.

Slowly down the lobby Meditat ambles toward the purple door while Kokei releases a yawn, although cupping her mouth with her hands to hide it, trying to remain respectful although clearly exhausted too. Not as respectfully Ekitai dives into one of the couches and lays on his back, his legs dangling over the side as he makes the sofa his temporary bed with a clear impatience, one that Kokei scorns.

At the purple door that Meditat approaches he comes to a stop a few inches in front, staring straight at it with his figure perfectly in the center of the door.

Gazing at the door somberly, Meditat freezes again with his mouth shut, his head close enough to the door to place his forehead against it without needing to take another step.

He takes in a deep breath, and upon its release the door breathes too, or more accurately it whistles as it dematerializes into a purple cloud that begins to disperse.

In front of Meditat the purple nanite cloud fully vanishes, revealing the room on the other side to be a nicely sized bedroom large enough to be a masters in certain houses with a window screen on the far side that exhibits a beautiful view of the vast green forest under the pitch black night sky, stars sparkling in the darkness amongst colorful clouds. Shining beautifully in the sky is the white moon with its craters and mountains visible from the ground.

In the room is a white hovering bed king sized which sits along the screen, and beside the bed too is a full body mirror. The floor also is fur carpeted, white like the lobby, and on that fur are cabinets along the walls as well as a long white corner desk by the door with a shelf above and accompanying seat.

The room is primarily occupied however with strange miscellaneous artifacts with an assortment of variously colored gems and rocks hovering above disks along the cabinets, some of them even seeming to have its own natural glow. Among them there is even a hovering necklace with a purple gem and beautiful golden chain, the chain hovering in such a way that it’s easy to simply pick off the disk. Along the walls there are what appear to be posters of various landscapes, from desert towns with distant pyramids to icy tundras and valleys populated with glowing cabins. In most of the posters too there are glimmers of nearby people, with some posters having a shoulder covered in chainmail and others with a man wearing what resembles a white race suit, seeming to be examining the same landscape with the photographer.

At the doorway Meditat glances over to the desk to find that on the shelf above are several pots with flowers, although it’s difficult to distinguish their traits as they’ve all wilted and died despite the owner never having missed a day of maintenance.

Staring straight at the dead flowers, Meditat just frowns as he finishes the examination of the room before finally exerting one last sigh.

All of the guests waiting on his word, Meditat turns around and begins walking back towards the center of the lobby as he declares, “You can each take one of these rooms for tonight, we lack ‘ideal’ guest bedrooms so these should suffice. You’re free to populate the closets with your clothing, just register your own inventory account.”

He then stops in front of the three who all turn their attention to him, including Ekitai who sits up although still remaining on the sofa.

After a brief panning glance to each of the three, he then mutters quietly, “Just please…if you could…at least ask me if you want to move something….”

In a swift motion Ekitai thrusts himself off the couch and to his feet, stumbling forward before catching himself. He then gazes at Dana who Kokei too looks to, and Dana faces Meditat with a nod and solid assurance: “We will, I know.”

She then glances at Kokei and Ekitai each as she propagates, “You each take a room, but leave the dark blue one be.” Both Kokei and Ekitai nod to her and begin walking away, Ekitai yawning again and stretching as Dana returns her sights back to Meditat.

Both Kokei and Ekitai out of frame, Dana and Meditat just stare at each other in silence for a few moments, no sofas to separate them. The white light strikes them both fair, both of them having similar expressions, at least both of them in understanding.

Despite the assurance there is still an expressive gloom on Meditat’s face, for he was selling away the rooms of those he had just lost to people he didn’t know, guilt of such action visible on him.

At least it is visible to Dana who frowns contemplatively, her amber bangs still mostly a mess from the prior conflicts that day, her suit a bit untidy but still holding up after all the hits. She maintains eye contact despite her eyes visibly shaking as though begging to break focus, although nevertheless she holds as she gently pleads, “Medit…please get some rest…okay?”

Without the same will Meditat breaks contact and focuses on the ground, not only diverting sight but lowering his head such that it partially obscures his expression. He stays silent for a few moments before then managing to softly assure back, “I will…don’t worry.”

Even without the mutual eye contact Dana maintains sight of her friend’s face as through her somberness she pushes out a slight smile of warmth, one truly sincere even if not the strongest.

Alas Dana turns around and begins walking towards the edge of the lobby as both Ekitai and Kokei remain still, both of them having reached the end but were eavesdropping into the brief exchange, facing Meditat still. Ekitai stands in front of the sky blue door as on the other side Kokei stands by the open doorway, although upon both being glanced at by Dana during her walk, they each turn around as the sky blue door dissolves and the two walk into their respective rooms.

Lastly Dana reaches her own end on the other side of both Ekitai and Kokei, specifically where the green door is, the door that also fades upon her vicinity which allows her to step inside.

Almost synchronously all three doors manifest shut with their own whooshes, leaving the only one left in the lobby to be Meditat, standing by the center still, not having taken off the blue suit despite the other three having been dressed far more casually, him ironically being the one to stick out as strange in a space so familial and sheltered.

Regardless he stands still in the same armor, still for several more seconds, hesitant almost to just return to his own room and sleep off the night.

The truth is, he couldn’t just do that, it wasn’t so easy. Perhaps it would be comforting, perhaps it would help ease the tension that’s been gnawing at him all day, perhaps it would all around be the healthiest option. Yet he couldn’t do that, not right now.

Standing at the center of the isolated lobby, the last one left, Meditat keeps his gaze on the floor, standing amongst the clusters of couches, the comfortable furniture for a comfortable family who could live cozily regardless of how dangerous their lives may be.

He takes in one deep breath and shuts his eyes, letting the breath sit in his lungs for an extension, raising his diaphragm.

Out the air releases just as slowly as it was taken in, and in the moment following the opening of his eyes, Meditat quietly asks to seemingly himself, “If you are properly connected to me…you know what question I want to ask.”

A few moments of silence follows as though he was waiting for a response from an invisible being, although that isn’t entirely wrong. In fact, eventually a response does come to him, spoken in the British male voice of Orial who confirms, “Yes, I do.”

Almost gritting his teeth and turning his head with another sigh, Meditat asserts himself with a steady stance, his body’s breathing slowing and calming, until ultimately he’s prepared to inquiry: “What is the day?”

A few more seconds pass without response, and in that time Meditat attempts to maintain control over himself, although there’s a clear hesitancy to him, as he’s putting his all into not shaking uncontrollably regardless of the cool demeanor he expresses. He keeps his eyes open and himself patient, knowing the answer was already calculated but he has to wait nonetheless to receive it.

“The date is December 12th, the year is 2864.”

Released from his hold, Meditat tightly seals his eyes, squeezing them shut and holding it closed, his whole face tensing up without hiding it, for the reveal has finally come to him after knowing the whole day the oddities that had to result in some anomaly. Yet even in the anticipation for the worst, he was still completely taken by storm.

He gradually does begin to loosen his face, his cheeks not as tight, his eyes finally able to open back up again.

His first response becomes: “So that means…they’ve probably already been buried…they’ve probably already had a funeral…they’ve been commemorated…all that already happened….”

Unable to even move himself to one of the many soft sofas beside him, Meditat just stands still as Orial confirms: “Yes, that is correct. They have had their proper public burials and funerals as well as ceremonies of any of their close relatives and friends. They have had their annual commemoration ceremonies, although those disbanded a few years ago. They are still mourned by the general public, although there is a majority consensus that has largely moved on from them. They are now primarily seen as legends lost long ago…and that includes you.”

That offhand mention sparks a flash in Meditat’s starry eyes before he blinks twice and his mouth opens, his jaw lowering. He raises both of his arms up as he finally steps to one of the sofas and takes a sit, resting his elbows on his lap as he bends forwards and grabs his temples with his gloved hands, digging his fingers into his skull as he realizes in horror, “Wait…I was pronounced deceased too? For a whole decade…I abandoned everyone…they all thought I was gone…what happened while I was gone…was Versepolis okay…what about X-Prints? I…I can’t go back can I…of course time travel is scientifically impossible but…no…come on…surely I didn’t just lose that all…and my body…it’s changed…that makes me…-”

“45 years of age, correct,” interjects Orial with the answer before following, “And you are correct, and unfortunately in the vast catalog of scientific discoveries made in the last ten years, there has been no stride in applicable nonlinear reversed traversal of time.”

While that statement was not too surprising as a feat like time travel would likely not be made in simply ten years as it would likely not be made simply ever, the wording of the response branches Meditat’s attention to have him inquiry in a murmur, “Wait…catalog of…,” before he raises his head, letting his fingers slip off his temples upon reaching the epiphany: “Wait I’ve missed a whole ten years of my life, what happened in all that time? You’re right…there must’ve been so many discoveries…so many technologies…so many events…so many…so much…I don’t even know where to start. I have an entire decade of history to catch up on…I lost so much…why does this all have to happen now…how is this even happening…you said time travel hasn’t been discovered so how have I flashed ten years into the future? And you didn’t seem to recognize me…specifically because it sounded like you expected someone else…but I guess you must’ve been helping Dana or…oh I blocked your communications didn’t I? I need to undo that…but first…I don’t understand…how did this happen? Nothing like this has ever happened in recorded history…I can’t tell if this is an aberration or…there’s no way Exitium did this…did he cryofreeze me or-?”

“I don’t know, sir,” interrupts Orial in an almost aggressively desperate tone, silencing Meditat appalled, his mouth still open to speak but without anything being let out.

Instead he just sits as he listens to Orial admit, “I do not understand the mechanisms behind any of these anomalies,…I apologize sir but…I do not know why this happened. And to all your other curiosities…I believe some coherency in this questionnaire would be appreciated, I understand your shock but I cannot help you in this frantic state.”

A sigh emits from Meditat before he lowers his head, calming himself once again as he seemingly needs to again and again. After slowing his breathing down he softly apologizes, “I’m sorry Orial…you’re right…it’s just…. I don’t know, first I lost my team– my friends– and now I’ve just lost ten years…all so suddenly…I still remember being deployed to sabotage the A.I servers earlier today. I promised him…I promised Flynn…I promised him…,” as his face begins to tense again, almost as though attempting to resist tearing up as the memory returns to him so quickly, those words spoken hours ago.

‘I’ll see you on the other side.’

Instantly Meditat throws himself off the couch, back to his feet immediately stabilizing himself. Next instant he moves his gaze straight to one particular door on the base floor of the lobby.

That door is the azure blue door across from Meditat, who stares at it in silence, acknowledging the plea that his friend had given him which he verbally accepted. The door is right there, and his room is just on the other side, the room he was meditating in just earlier. All he has to do is walk up to the door, let it open, walk to his bed, lay on it, and go to sleep. That is all he has to do, and thus he would fulfill his obligation, pass the day, and get enough rest to perhaps help him better traverse this new future he’s been thrusted into.

That would be the best option to take as of this moment, the healthiest, the wisest, the all around smartest.

Meditat takes a few steps forwards in the direction of the blue door, walking into an open space devoid of couches where the floor isn’t fur carpeted, and reaching the center of the section he stops.

He continues to gaze in contemplation, but even as he does the walls around him begin to move down, or more accurately he begins to move up.

For in the lobby the central elevation pad ascends with Meditat standing in the center, departing the bedroom area where he is meant to rest, for despite the valid reasons to slumber he couldn’t do such an easy task.

Instead the pad rises past the ceiling of the lobby, and with that Meditat vanishes from the room, the doors still shut, the three likely asleep or at the very least resting without the realization that one of them didn’t follow through.