Chapter 0:
Element/Zero [Book 1]
July 21, 2011, 5:43 PM
In the city center, specifically on Flinders Street, a 17-year-old boy named Philip Mrown walked alongside his best friend, Andrea. He was of average height, with short hair styled back, delicate features, and a slim body. She was tall and slender, with a mature appearance, light brown hair that reached her waist, and dark green eyes.
Gray clouds covered the sky, and the sunset was approaching rapidly.
Even though winter had just begun, the cold had already been hitting the city for several days. Andrea didn't seem to be affected much, as she was only wearing a lightweight sweater. Philip, on the other hand, had on a coat with synthetic sheepskin.
"Today's date was fun, wasn't it?" Andrea said, smiling, as she leaned forward slightly to slow down Philip's steps and look him directly in the eyes.
"Yeah..."
His response was short, his voice sounding muffled. They continued walking side by side in silence, though occasionally she would start a new conversation.
"How did you see Touch? He seemed more lively than usual," she said, laughing a little.
Philip smiled with a touch of melancholy before responding.
"Yeah, I think my brother has been in a better mood since we started visiting him frequently."
"That makes me really happy. It's something I've been searching for years," she replied with a radiant smile.
Seeing that smile, Philip's feet stopped and his breath caught. They had reached their destination, the station located on the banks of the Yarra River. Situated in the center, Flinders Street Station was one of the busiest areas in the city and a frequent meeting point. However, neither of them was heading towards the massive, old building but rather towards the tram stop in the middle of Flinders Street. There, Andrea would catch the last tram, which departed at 6 PM.
As they walked, Philip pondered something that wasn't quite clear in his mind. It made him wear an unusual expression and remain silent for much of the journey, except when Andrea initiated a conversation.
A feeling had been welling up inside him for some time, but he couldn't articulate it, and that frustrated him. There was something he wanted to tell his friend, and although he could have said it at any other time, something in his heart compelled him to do it now.
"What do I want?" he thought, shaking his head vigorously to clear his thoughts.
When they reached the corner of the station, she took a few steps ahead, then turned around and waved her hand gently to greet Philip. "I hope we'll see each other again soon," she said before turning back around and crossing the street. But when she tried to do so, something caught the sleeve of her sweater. It was him.
"What's wrong?" Andrea asked, tilting her head.
He lowered his gaze with embarrassment, stammered, his face contorted, but he couldn't say anything at all.
"Nothing. Please take care."
He let go. She smiled faintly, various emotions shining through her expression.
"Yeah, of course."
Finally, they parted ways. Philip leaned on the metal railing surrounding the entrance to the station as he watched her cross over to the tram stop. He sighed and looked up at the sky, trying to suppress that strange sensation that tormented him. At that moment, he noticed something that stole his attention, making him forget his confused feelings and replacing them with sheer terror.
There was a small purple spot nestled among the clouds.
It was barely visible due to the darkening sky, but it was there. A shiver ran through the boy's body.
"Could that be...?"
A few seconds later, the spot over the street in front of him expanded several blocks into the city center.
He looked around, but no one else had noticed what was happening. When he looked back up at the sky, a force pushed him backward, and his body flew and landed on the stairs leading to the entrance of Flinders Station, about three meters from where he was standing. Slightly stunned and disoriented, he managed to lift his upper body off the ground. At that moment, he could assess the whole situation.
A massive translucent barrier of purple color descended from the edges of the spot in the sky. He couldn't fully grasp it due to its enormous size, but he estimated that the barrier enclosed a significant portion of the city center.
"DARK ENERGY! RUN!" someone nearby shouted.
Panic spread throughout the area. Everyone outside the barrier fled as fast as they could. The impact of the barrier's fall also destroyed parts of the surrounding buildings, crushing some people under the rubble.
Yet, something distracted him from everything happening around him.
"Andrea is inside!"
Enduring all the pain and fatigue he felt, he forced himself to quickly get up and ran toward the barrier. While the people outside were running with all their might, those inside seemed to still be unaware of what was happening. "It's like time is running slower in there," he concluded.
Andrea's body was ripped from the ground and flew dozens of meters towards the blotch in the sky. But it wasn't just her—every person, plant, animal, building, streetlight, and even the ground itself was torn from its place, soaring through the sky towards the blotch, where they were disintegrated and turned into lifeless dust. This is one of the most well-known characteristics of that mysterious force known as "dark energy"—the disintegration of matter.
The barrier and the blotch dissipated. Philip fell to his knees at the edge of the enormous crater that was once a significant part of the city. He couldn't comprehend what had just happened. His face contorted, and from his mouth came a phrase that seemed to be spat out from the depths of his being.
"Dark energy is..."
Psychis:
Physically identical to humans, but with the ability to partially control a force known as "dark energy." This enables them to have powers beyond comprehension, such as teleportation, precognition, telekinesis, and countless other abilities. Everything seems possible for them.
Until the arrival of the modern age, they were attributed names like sorcerers, wizards, or witches and were often violently persecuted by the rest of society due to the fear their powers provoked.
In 1986, the Civil Protection Law for Users of Dark Energy was passed in Melbourne, Australia, aiming to legally protect any psychi who sets foot in that territory. This led to waves of millions of psychis from all over the world seeking a place that would provide them refuge and freedom from discrimination and hatred experienced elsewhere.
In 1993, the Dark Reform Act was passed in the United Kingdom, seeking to end disputes by curtailing certain freedoms for psychis in exchange for ensuring national security.
Current Psychi Population Data:
0.09% of the population are psychis (approximately 6,304,000). (Statistics from 2011).
65% of psychis live in Melbourne (approximately 4,090,000).
20.6% (approximately 1,300,000) of psychis live in the United Kingdom, with the majority in London.
0.5% (approximately 35,000) of psychis live in Argentina, with the majority in Buenos Aires.
4.5% (approximately 285,000) of psychis live in the United States, mainly in New York, Los Angeles, and Miami.
5.4% (approximately 343,000) of psychis live in Japan, primarily in Tokyo.
4% (approximately 138,000) of psychis live in various other parts of the world.
Psychi Abilities and How They Work:
Psychis modify reality through their powers, but this modification is not conscious, so they cannot play with reality at will. The changes are limited to the user's power, which is typically strong enough to alter what everyone in their immediate environment perceives and feels but no further. To make significant changes, a great deal of power is required, and no psychi can manipulate reality as a whole; they only shift what they perceive before and after a change to those around them (referred to as personal or proximate reality).
That is why most psychi abilities are combat-oriented or psychic in nature, as those are the only ones they can put into practice. Although the process of "creating" these abilities is not conscious, they are achieved after completing a stage called "activation," where, after one or several psychological processes, usually related to trauma, the user can begin using an ability related to these processes.
This "activation" occurs after an intensification of those processes, so if it is, as in most cases, a trauma, the activation of the corresponding ability can be violent and take a significant amount of time for the psychi to control it.
Classification of Psychi Abilities:
Grade 1: The lowest level of ability, often referred to as "predetermined." These are the abilities that any psychi can possess. They include flight, superhuman endurance, resistance to low temperatures, and emission of dark energy currents. It is very rare to find a psychi without some of these abilities.
Grade 2: Psychic abilities. These are very common abilities that do not pose a significant danger. At most, they can affect a small group of people or, in some cases, no one at all. Examples include telekinesis, precognition, and mental manipulation.
Grade 3: Medium complexity abilities. These are slightly more complex than psychic abilities but do not represent a high degree of skill on the part of the user.
High Grade: Unique and complex abilities. These are extremely rare and powerful combat-oriented abilities. They consume a significant amount of energy, so they can only be used sparingly in combat. To obtain a high-grade ability, one must extensively train with a Grade 3 ability until it evolves as the user adapts to the training.
Amount of Dark Energy and Consumption:
Psychis possess something they refer to as a "Container," which is their internal storage of dark energy and limits the amount they can produce. These containers are divided into "Cells," with each cell representing the amount of dark energy required to fly for half an hour.
An average psychi has between 80 and 140 cells. A Grade 1 ability consumes between 1 and 10 cells per day, with the amount increasing on cold days.
A Grade 2 ability consumes between 3 and 7 cells each time it is used, depending on the complexity of the ability.
A Grade 3 ability consumes between 8 and 14 cells, again depending on its complexity.
High-grade abilities consume between 20 and 55 cells.
Please log in to leave a comment.