Disc 1: The Many Streams. Ch. 5: Shocking Blue

Common Day and Satis watched over their work. In a few minutes, they dragged the three unconscious men to the deeper crack in the floor. Using some of the pointed tools from a nearby worktable, he uninstalled all the NCCAGs from the vagabonds without waking them. The younger one was still in possession of his personal NCCAG. When someone has been meticulous, it’s possible to extract the NCCAG painlessly.

Despite the fall, none of the men woke up. As Common Day suspected, they were probably under the effect of some drug. They likely attacked him trying to get a NCCAG for the younger man. It’s possible to resist the withdrawal effects of not having a NCCAG if you use “alternative medicine”—a euphemism for hard drugs. Not that it really helped these guys, who weren’t at their peak.

The vagabonds slowly regained consciousness, and Common Day began his explanation:

“My dear Satis, let me be frank with you. I felt honored when you decided to give me life again, but I’m still worried. Worried about the lack of modern knowledge you have concerning human emotions. You see, your killing proposal is understandable to an extent, but…”

The vagabonds started screaming and trying to reach them, but the crack was deep enough, and the crack walls were too smooth.

“...But think about it. The world is about to end in less than a year anyway, so what’s really the point? Not only that, but these creatures probably won’t live long enough to see the End. In any case, when I fought them, I noticed something: probably all this mess is because of the younger one.” He pointed at the guy who was screaming the most. “His NCCAG failed at some point. I won’t go into detail on the operation of modern devices, but long story short: they are in need.”

He looked at the three NCCAG in his palm. Common Day went to the table and cracked one of them, kept another in his pocket, and showed the last to the astonished Satis. She was about to start an argument, but he stopped her.

“Where is the evil in killing someone? If a person no longer exists, what real damage is done? One could argue that the damage lies in the grief of their loved ones. Sadly, in this case, we have no time for proper research, and frankly, it’s not in our interest.”

He sat in front of the pit.

“And is it really evil if done by people or demons with bad intentions? A bad encounter could happen to anyone—what would be the purpose of it? Check this out.”

Common Day threw the NCCAG in his palm to the three vagabonds. They went completely silent.

“Despite trying to hide it, these three men are related. After watching their faces long enough, I could see the similarities. I won’t go to the trouble of ending their lives. Isn’t the best evil to let people live with their own guilt and regret? Three addicts, one drug.”

The three men remained silent. The older man shouted at him.

“You bastard! I will kill you when I get out of here, do you hear me?! I will fucking KILL YOU!”

The tension grew bigger in the room. Even Satis could see the sweat on the three men. If they were family, would it matter?

Common Day moved one of the coolant containers over the pit, to cover it. The vagabonds weren’t screaming, but he knew things would get bloody. After a few minutes, muffled screams echoed from inside the pit.

“Don’t you want to look?” Satis seemed surprised. This clearly wasn’t she expected.

“I prefer not to spoil the fun. And I finally got my NCCAG. Even if I don’t need it for healthy reasons, I downloaded many anime episodes here, which are irreplaceable right now.” A smile of joy spread across his face.

Satis was even more confused, so he continued.

“However, our friends down there seemed to be looking for something here. If I had to guess, the crack in the ceiling is man-made, and it grew bigger after the earthquake. This room looks like a high-tech operational center for this mansion.”

“What do you think happened to the people here, servant? Is it now common to leave the grandest palaces to failures like those in the portico?”

“The aftermath of god’s death was a bit…chaotic, to say the least. Some assume the rich were just killed since order and hierarchies became meaningless. But I theorize differently. Most of them probably had insurance—bunkers, backups, and all that. And as you saw outside, the communities aren’t entirely chaotical.”

He walked through the room, searching for some way to leave. It had power, like the rest of the building, but no elevator was in sight. The voice commander wasn’t responding to the usual commands, and the two of them couldn’t force the reddish door open.

But then he noticed it.

He tried a new command in the VC, and now the screens lit up. What appeared was beyond his imagination. It was like thousands and thousands of movies were playing on the forty screens, constantly shifting. None of them were related. So many unrelated things, some defying all logic or natural law. Common Day felt a growing uneasiness, as if watching something forbidden on a deeper level.

As if they were watching someone’s dreams.

Both turned to look at the reddish door again. Even Satis was nervous now—trapped in a room she didn't understand, surrounded by thousands of meaningless images, in a time it wasn’t hers. Common Day grabbed her hand and made his final request to the VC:

“Restart. All.”

Everything went black in an instant. Before their eyes adjusted to the darkness, the screens turned on again—this time showing only a black light. He felt a chill down his spine when he heard the reddish door opening in the silence. The vagabonds hadn’t made a sound for some time. With no other option, they walked to their new path, still holding hands.

The new “room” was also dark—or so they thought. Slowly, their eyes adjusted, and they could distinguish many tiny blue glows along the walls. It was Satis who shook his hand first.

Calling this a room was an understatement. They were in a massive, black stadium, made of some sort of metal. It was spherical—so perfectly spherical that it was unsettling. But the most terrifying thing was that the blue glows were actually thousands and thousands of capsules—with people in it.

Satis looked at the nearest one with awe and fear. The demoness looked into his eyes, not sure of what to ask. It was clear that Common Day didn’t know either. They continued forward along the only path free of capsules, both silent; staring at the people inside these capsules wasn’t an option.

Suddenly, all the blue lights turned rose.

Their inner alarms went off. The empty path led only forward, so they ran. Then Common Day tied the loose ends together: Mansion, dreams, capsules. These people…the bloody rich.

So now I know where all these bastards were. But why…?

New, large, blue lights turned on. The rebooting system was probably slow since it affected the entire building. Thanks to the new illumination, they saw another reddish door on the far side of the sphere.

In the new room, they found windows looking into the cryogenic chamber. It also had a VC at the center and, to their relief, more doors and stairs. This looked like the real command center of the facility—not only because of the exits, but because of what stood against one of the five walls. Like a saint to be worshiped: a one-meter electricity pile.

He released Satis' hand and smiled at her.

“Prepare for the second lesson of the night.”