Rain starts to pour

A man wakes up to the default alarm sound.

It is the start of the day, though not for nightowls.

Eat breakfast.

Freshen up.

Ready for the rest of the day, which means work, work, and work.

The sky is clear and the sun is hot, and yet it feels like it will rain later in the day. There is something about the air...

The man, Titor, realized soon after what is something about the air. It isn't a sign of rain, but silence.

Titor finds himself deaf to the sound of the town. It is as if he walked into a nightmare.

The noises he makes just being alive feel all the more closer to him.

He breathes.

His heart beats.

His footsteps played a steady rhythm until he stopped.

Titor, for a moment, felt like he was have an episode.

Then nature comes alive before him, in places he cannot see.

The wind blows.

The birds sing.

Leaves rustle.

And again, his own sounds.

Titor continues walking and walking. The sense of wrongness creep up on him with every step.

But, Titor just needs to return to his routine and go back to work, and it shouldn't take long for him to get there.

Titor opens the door.

The sound is bigger than he remembered.

The vast emptiness finally overwhelms his nerves.

"Where the hell is everyone?"

There is no one at the front desk.

Titor did not meet anyone in the halls.

The office area is similarly empty.

Titor checks if it's a day off. It is not.

Titor calls his manager. No response.

Titor sits down his workspace, feeling awkward about standing still.

So, he isn't pacing anymore, but his knee bounces nervously anyway.

Titor considers waiting for someone to come. He doesn't want to walk home immediately after arriving here.

He will not work however. Doing so might distract him, but he will feel very stupid doing something so pointless in this situation.

Titor calls his manager again. No response.

Titor goes through a list of contacts he doesn't mind bothering for the day. What a coincidence it is that no one answers.

Titor stands up and decides to snoop around.

He finds himself with an unusual amount of power over other people. On paper, it doesn't seem much, and Titor himself believes that it will not be such a fruitful endeavor--

But in this very space, he has power to see through the familiar strangers in his life.

The neighbors have been familiar. There's the family picture Titor sees on occasion.

On another desk, one of a junior Titor hasn't spoken with much, there's a sticky note with a five-character code.

It is not the password to the computer.

It doesn't have to be a password for anything. This computer has the default password, and it is already logged in on a few sites.

There's a news on a political scandal about the president of a country Titor doesn't pay attention to having a mistress. How uninteresting.

Titor powers off the computer and moved on to the manager's.

Similarly, Titor got in without any real obstacle. The manager uses the bookmark function of the default web browser, and there are some unfamiliar site that would definitely take Titor to places.

Titor stops himself. Titor just wanted to play with power. He doesn't want the burden of knowing what the manager has been up to.

Titor calls his manager again. It is not a secret matter but he's come to face with it again -- he might just be stupid.

Titor leaves this place. There's no meaning in staying here.

A crack of thunder breaks the sky open and rain starts to pour.

Titor was just about to step out of the building, but it seems that he has more waiting to do if he doesn't want to get wet.

Titor notices something. It wasn't the sign of rain, and it wasn't silence, that was in the air.

He thought about this matter for a bit because there is nothing else to do.

It feels like there is something in the rainy sky that isn't rain or any other thing that he already expected to be there.

Whatever it is, Titor cannot figure out.

Unfortunately, the world doesn't move for Titor's convenience. He doesn't want to think anymore and wants to go out and back home.

The rain doesn't physically stop him from going outside, but Titor very much doesn't want to be wet.

So, the rain falls as it does, and Titor waits.

In the meantime, Titor turns to the internet again.

What happened to everyone?

There are no answers to be found. No one even seems to be asking questions.

It's as if the town had lost contact with the outside world.

Titor checked the public pages of the people he knows. There they are but, at the same time, no one seems to be on.

Titor is the only remnant of the town in this wider world.

That cannot be.

Titor doesn't remember exactly when he started but he must have taken at least half an hour searching for answers.

The rain still pours, but he must go out there and find people, anyone.

Titor took an umbrella in the locker room -- a lucky find -- and went out in the unceasing rain.

Now, it feels very normal that no one is wandering outside.

It's one of those days where the weather is too harsh, and one can expect it to destroy something.

The river that goes through the heart of the town rages on.

Titor didn't realize things have become so dire.

He just realized that he might have missed a public advisory that kept everyone indoors.

He cannot confirm it because he believes the rainwater will ruin his phone if he takes it out. And he's already a good distance away from his workplace to go back for some shelter.

Titor had stolen the umbrella only to ruin it.

Titor decides to seek shelter in one of the nearby buildings. He can probably walk home, but it doesn't feel at all safe for him to do that.

There is a bike shop that doesn't have its shutters down. It's dark inside, and it doesn't seem to be manned.

Luckily, it's also not locked.

The sound of the bell jingling as door opens has transported Titor to a safe place, out of the rain.

The shop is dark, illuminated only by the bit of sunlight that penetrates this weather. The air feels cold and humid, smelling of oil, rubber, and steel.

The back door is open, leading to a darker room.

"Hello?"

Titor calls out.

He doesn't have a plan in mind, but he has to make his presence known, only hoping that the shopkeeper doesn't kick him out.

No one responds.

Titor waits--

But his patience had already ran thin so he couldn't stop himself from intruding further.

Titor finds the lightswitch. He might have hurt his eyes from sudden flash of light.

An older man lies down on a couch. On the phone in his hand, a video featuring dancing girls is paused with the message asking if he's still watching.

Titor considers shaking the man awake.

"Hello?"

No response.

Titor shakes the man. He realizes the man isn't breathing.

Titor checks again.

Indeed, the man is dead.

Titor calls emergency services. He didn't consider that a dead person might not be an emergency issue anymore, that maybe the man has been dead for too long to attempt resuscitation.

No response.

Titor calls again.

Titor doesn't know what to do, and it feels like there's nothing he can do.

He doesn't want to stay in a place with a dead man, but he also doesn't want to go out there in this weather.

It doesn't seem to be getting better.

Titor just waited by the door hoping that something good will happen.

About half an hour later, Titor receives a call.

"Hello?"

"Hello, I'm Detective Teach #12 from Redriver City, Department #2. We found your post on Webs regarding the situation in Waterside Town..."

Titor doesn't really trust people from other places, because they do things that stain their reputation. The problem also exist among neighbors, but everyone knows who's bad in town.

Nevertheless, Titor doesn't really have much of a choice.

The detective says that there's a team coming into the city to investigate matters. They will do it despite the weather.

Titor's task is simple: keep talking about what's happening.

In return, Titor finally gets to hear someone respond.

Apparently, there is nothing unusual about the weather.

On the other hand, there is a reason why the people have apparently disappeared but it's mostly of no concern to Titor.

Most importantly, Titor is suspected to have some complicated issues because of his testimonies. He still has to be interviewed more intensively.

Titor was told of this very plainly. He considered leaving the scene but he doesn't really have a plan, not knowing where to go and what to do, so he let himself be convinced to be taken for interrogation.