Normal Day - Prologue

“Hey, Aiden!” He heard behind him, just as he sat down.

“Yes, Boss?” Aiden turned in his chair to face him.

“Any ETA on that level you are working on?”

“Should be ready by next week.”

“…”

Aiden knew that look. He has seen it many times in the past year and a half of working here. The look of “get it done faster.” He always hated rushing, but he was used to it by now and knew not to argue. He sighed before responding.

“I can have it done in two days.”

“That’s more like it. That’s why I like you.” He put his hand on Aiden’s shoulder, squeezing it before leaving.

Aiden turned around to face his computer. Looking at his reflection in the monitor, he looked very tired already. Darkness under his blue eyes. His brown hair needed to be cut; it’s a little shaggy currently. His gray shirt is slightly wrinkled because it wasn't put away after being washed. Looking down, it was the same with his baggy pants.

Only after getting this job, at the age of 24, did he realize that working for a game company wasn’t all that he thought it would be. He had always wanted to be a game designer growing up. Loving the idea of fantasy worlds, dragons, and magic. He often wondered what it would be like to live in a world like that. To use magic daily or ride on a dragon. Now he goes through the motions, working on a game that has no interest to him.

“Guess I’ll be staying late.” He stretched as he started up the computer.

He mostly worked on map layouts for multiplayer maps for shooting games. Making sure the map is as even as possible from both sides will be really hard in two days. Plus, putting all the items, decorations, and power-ups… He was certain that there were going to be lots of issues when testing came around.

“This is going to be a very long day.”

— A Few Hours Later —

It’s now time for lunch, but Aiden decided to skip it so he could get more work done. His coworkers were trying to get him to go, but he knew he had too much work to do.

— More Hours Later —

The time to go home had come and gone. Only he and a few others were still there at almost 11 pm. He knew he could go a little longer.

Around 1 am, he looked around and saw he was the last in the office.

“Should I head out too or work a little more?” He yawned for probably the fifth hundredth time tonight.

The lights flickered along with a small vibration.

“That’s weird.” He said aloud to himself.

The lights flickered again, and this time a much bigger vibration. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up, and he was no longer sleepy.

“Home it is.” He grabbed his phone and turned off his computer. He got up and headed towards the elevator.

“Right, it’s broken. Stairs it is.” He shook his head and started to use the stairs.

Sadly, where he works is on the twentieth floor. As he walked down the stairs, the lights flickered, and the vibrations kept happening. The vibrations turned into shaking, making him hold onto the railing, or he would have fallen down the stairs.

“What the hell is happening? It feels like a constant earthquake.”

When he reached the fifteenth floor, it felt like a bomb had gone off. He slammed into the wall, dropping his phone down the stairs, as the whole building shook violently. His head was hurt and slightly bleeding. He reached for the railing and held onto it tightly so he wouldn’t fall. 

“Damn it! What do I do?” His knuckles were white from holding on as tight as he could while the shaking continued.

Pieces of the stairwell started breaking apart, lights shattering around him. Then, he felt the steps beneath him give way, along with the railing he was holding onto. He tried to grab onto something else, but it was no use. He started falling down the center of the stairwell.

Time seemed to slow down as he saw the remaining floors whiz by him. He looked at the floor that was getting closer and closer. He closed his eyes tightly as he couldn’t bear to look.

“I can’t believe this...”