Echoes of Chaos Part-1

March 11

I was staring out the window at the light snowfall in the midst of March. I had applied bandages from the emergency first aid kit I keep in my apartment.

The abnormalities surrounding me and the peculiar scenario I generally find myself in got more perplexing by the day. I examined the shattered ornament with the noose still attached.

Suicide seemed like a simple way out of this mess, but I don't want to go out like that; I want to get to the bottom of everything, but as I discovered the hard way yesterday, someone is attempting to keep me from knowing the truth.

The man on the subway yesterday, he may be operating alone or he could be part of a group. I doubt he survived the crash, but because I did, he most likely did as well.

I had too many questions in my brain, so I began formulating numerous hypotheses in order to find a solution.

Given that I awoke at my apartment after losing consciousness on the train, the hooded guy or his accomplices most likely brought me here, carved the message up my body, and hanged me on the rope.

Do they wish to convey a message to me? I suppose the sole message is imprinted in my belly, but I refuse to think that their aim was merely to murder me; if they wanted to, they could have done it while I was unconscious.

What does the phrase 'DEATH IS COMING' mean?

According to my interpretation, it suggests that everyone will die; is this a forewarning of some form of genocide?

Why is it relevant to my life? I'm just a regular guy living an ordinary life.

I don't want to think about it anymore, but I can't stop myself from trying to figure out what's going on. I was nearly murdered as a result of that, and now the noose event makes it two.

The hooded man most likely did not want me to perish...

I was reminded of his warning.

'Take this as a lesson freddy and stay out of my way.'

He doesn't want me to meddle in his affairs, but how am I meddling in his business? I was going to investigate the old building in the photograph.

I had a startling epiphany. I searched my pockets for the photo but couldn't locate it; they must have taken it. When I turn to look, I realize that my previous clothing is nowhere to be found.

I was dressed formally with an overcoat, but now I'm wearing a bloodied T-shirt.

Is looking for that ancient building interfering with his affairs, or does it indicate he wants me to interfere, and that warning was nothing more than a reverse psychology trick?

I've been on edge since the minute I opened my eyes in this familiar atmosphere, and the more I ponder, the more I'm on edge.

I was knocked out in the subway and brought here to my apartment; it's likely that they're watching me right now.

I took a glance around my room and shut the windows. I felt like a fool for not thinking about it beforehand, but I had too much on my mind already.

This is my own apartment, but certain things are out of order here; I never used to keep things clean in the first place, so I couldn't pinpoint what was out of place here; it was simply a strange sense I felt when I opened my eyes here.

The possibility that my unit had been bugged or that I was being observed from the apartment building across the street occurred to me. My mind's gears were turning at breakneck speed as it began to build several methods that would solve this issue.

When I began searching for the bug in my already messed-up flat, I felt as if the aching from my belly wound had vanished. The bug was the least of my concerns; I wanted to find out who was behind all of this and why I was involved, but I didn't want my personal life to be jeopardized by something I didn't even know about.

I began by searching every area of my living room, where I was hanged, for a bug or any other peculiar device from which the hooded guy or his squad would try to keep their tabs on me.

They could be too clever for that, but I didn't want to take any chances, so I examined each of my clothing compartments one by one but found nothing. I examined the walls carefully, hoping to locate a single opening, but there were none.

I rushed into my bedroom and began throwing up everything in there. I removed all of the covers and threw the mattress off the bed. I looked under the bed but couldn't locate anything.

Returning to the main hall, I threw all the paintings off the wall, smashed the glassware, and searched behind them but found nothing. I was becoming agitated.

"Wait...These paintings?"

My apartment's corridor was full of paintings, but I don't recall seeing these specific ones. I went up to smash the unknown pieces of art that were hanging on my wall the instant I spotted them.

There were also a lot of decorations in my place. I used to purchase most of what I could afford, even if it was completely worthless, and it all sat in the hall until today, when I crushed everything in my paranoia.

However, sadly, my search yielded no results. I proceeded to look inside my kitchen faucets but found nothing.

*Ding*

My ears pricked up at the sound of my doorbell. I wondered who would come to see me, even though my coworkers, who are among the few who know I live here, don't come to see me.

I approached the door with care; I regretted not having a peep hole at my door; I wanted to know who was on the other side of it, and my imagination began to conjure different possibilities.

The most common one that comes to mind is the hooded man from the subway. There's a possibility that the rest of his gang may pay me a visit, but I doubt they'll show themselves to me.

"Who....Who...Who is it?"

There was no use in inquiring if the person behind the door had any aggressive intentions, but I did intuitively.

Surprisingly, no response came from the other side; instead, I heard another ring of the doorbell.

I moved gently towards the door, opening it for a quick glimpse. It was fortunate that my door still had the chain lock to bound it.

I peered behind the door and was surprised to see the man in the blue hat there.

I hastily tried to close the door, but he destroyed the chains that were tied to it with his chainsaw.

Certainly, he had brought a chainsaw, and it is clear that he intends to murder me, but the more pressing concern is how he is still alive.

I witnessed his death in the alleyway. He had no pulse, yet he is perfectly well and has no scars from his wound. He wore the same attire as previously and held a yellow chainsaw.

His breathing was ragged, as if he was rushing from something before arriving here. He looked me in the eyes with a frightening glare, making it clear that he is here to hunt me down.

He intended to draw me in by ringing the doorbell, and I fell for it. I might have had a better chance of surviving if I had stayed hidden in my apartment.

I was laying on the floor, staring at the panting murderer. It reminded me of my experiences on the train. I was in a similar position, however unlike this guy, the hooded man maintained a calm demeanor around him.

The other difference is that I am not afraid to act here; I was fortunate that I chose to shatter the paintings rather than discreetly remove them; as a result, there were glass fragments laying behind me, which I could use to at least protect myself. It was the first time I had thanked myself for my paranoia.

While I lay on the ground, stunned, the man continued to approach me with caution. Aside from giving him a sense of superiority with my emotions, I picked up some glass pieces behind me, which doesn't indicate my surprise was a fake.

I'm still amazed he's alive; I saw him dead in the alleyway; perhaps he blames me for his death.

I didn't have the luxury of thinking about all of that at the time, so I tossed some of the glass shards at his face; in response, he instinctively spun his chainsaw, but the glass shards were too small for the chainsaw to stop anyhow.

"FUCCCCKKK"

This was the first time I heard him cry in anguish. He glared at me even harder than before, the few glass pieces entering his face merely amplifying the frightening gaze.

At that time, the killer stopped cautiously going over the glass floor; he wasn't terrified and raced straight at me, walking all over the glass.

I also lost the luxury of treading cautiously, so I rolled to the side to evade the impending strike.

In pain, I bit my lower lip as glass pieces stuck to my right elbow.

When the Hell did I buy so many paintings?

I swiftly stood my ground, and the first thing I did was knock the murderer off balance, causing him to fall on his side. His legs were covered in glass fragments, yet he didn't lose his balance as I expected; instead, he appeared to be waiting for me to do so.

When I drew closer to him, the killer took advantage of the situation and stabbed me with a glass shard.

When did he get it?

I was befuddled, and the tremendous pain from all of my body's wounds was causing me to lose consciousness.

And I couldn't afford to, or I'll be dead. I saw the killer shoving the chainsaw at me; it was too near to dodge, and I wasn't particularly athletic, so I kicked at his side of the abdomen reflexively.

He lost his footing and collided into the table in my hall. The glass above the table cracked as well, adding to the sea of glass on the floor.

As I saw this chance, I grabbed a large piece of glass and slammed it on his skull. A normal person's head would split open after such an onslaught, yet he appeared fine and ready to counterattack.

I was panting. I expected to see his lifeless corpse after bashing his skull, but I was surprised to find his hand twitching. I moved my right leg in terror to stomp his arm, but he used his other arm to release himself.

The sound of the chainsaw being dragged across the floor, crashing into glass fragments, resonated throughout the room; all of my might was focused on holding the killer in one spot, but I couldn't help but keep an eye on the chainsaw.

He was attempting to cut off my leg in order to free himself, so I leaped back, falling on a few more glass shards.

"Argh"

I bit my tongue to keep my voice quiet as I saw the killer rise from his damaged state. Worried, I grabbed up one of the now-mutilated table's wooden legs and flung it at him in an attempt to keep him down.

It seemed evident that if he could withstand an attack from a big glass slab, a piece of wood would be nothing, but I was frantic to fight.

I was afraid I'd kill him at first, but that doesn't appear to be the case.

The murderer stood up calmly, despite having many wounds on his head and glass pieces all over his body. Despite his tenacity in the face of onslaught, it appears that the attacks are still effective.

I was hoping that if I tried a few more attacks, he'd eventually lose consciousness, but something completely unexpected happened right in front of me.

The man pulled out a pen—or what appeared to be a pen—and placed it against his nape, as if injecting something, and his wounds began to heal noticeably soon after.

His facial wounds healed in an instant, ejecting the glass shards lodged inside his body; his head wounds, which would have required numerous sutures, were gone.

All I could see was the blood that had remained from his wounds a few minutes before. With my jaw open, I watched as the man calmly picked up his fallen blue hat.

I burst out of my astonishment and hurried directly to my bedroom since his calm look gave me goosebumps. I didn't bother to glance behind if he was after me or not, I simply ran.

I just shut my door as soon as I entered the room, I knew it won't do any good but what could I even do.

The chainsaw ripped through the door as soon as I finished locking it, halting inches before my stomach. It came to a halt for a split second, producing a moment of silence. My heart was racing so rapidly that I could hear it.

I hurried away from the door as the killer retracted his weapon and threatened to destroy it. I hid beside the bed since I had nowhere else to flee to. I reside on the eighth story, with a crazed killer with a chainsaw on one side and a glass pane on the other.

I don't even hear the neighbors; the killer undoubtedly killed them first before coming for me.

I need to figure out how to get through this. My phone is in the living room, so I can't contact the cops, and I don't believe I'll last that long.

The chainsaw is the most serious issue. I need to find out a method to get the chainsaw away from him, although I am not confident in myself to handle him in hand to hand combat but it's still a better alternative than battling him with a chainsaw in his hand.

Despite his injuries, he was able to get back on his feet and battle, not to mention he had those strange injections that rapidly healed his wounds.

I hurriedly glanced around the room for methods to save myself, and the best one I could think of was luring him towards me and throwing him out the window.

My preparations were thwarted when he entered the room, leaving a damaged door behind. He cocked his head and gazed around the room until he spotted me.

I was hiding behind the bed, which was not difficult to detect. I considered hiding inside the cabinet, but it would cut off my escape route, not to mention staying here would increase the likelihood of me throwing him out the window.

He came straight at me, attempting to thrust the chainsaw into me. I grabbed the discarded mattress in the room and flung it at the killer, temporarily blinding him.

His chainsaw cut the mattress cleanly, but it was enough time for me to seize his chainsaw. I was terrified, and my hands were plainly trembling, but I couldn't stop myself; I exerted all of my power to draw the chainsaw away from him, but it was futile.

He didn't move an inch, and all I felt was a kick to my belly as I was thrown through the glass pane.

*BEEP*

A beeping sound echoed around the room, which I mistook for ringing in my ears, and soon fractures appeared around the glass.

Wait. Cracks?

I automatically looked at the window with the newly growing cracks since the glass in the window isn't that delicate to fracture with just my body weight.

I was astonished, but it was the worst kind of astonishment. I turned to face the killer, who was staring at the odd band on his wrist, from which a continual beeping sound emanated.

The ache in my body became more intense, and I had accepted my impending death; perhaps I had already died on the subway. If the killer kills me, I'll either wake up on another day in another strange scenario, or all of this will be over. There were many things going on in my life, and I didn't want to die without knowing the truth.

Suddenly I got up, another surge of energy shot through my veins; I'm not going down without a fight.

Then, to my surprise, the assassin had retreated. He left the room and even the apartment, and I stood there confused, not grasping what had occurred until I felt the building tremble.

I discovered that the trembling was what caused the fractures in the glass, but why is the building trembling?

Is there an earthquake?

An earthquake is the most probable explanation. The trembling became more intense with each passing instant, as if another trouble had found its way to me after the first had passed.

Even still, an earthquake is far simpler to deal with than a psychopath with a chainsaw out for blood.

That, however, is where my reasoning was incorrect.

The trembling became more intense in a matter of seconds, and I looked down through the window to see what was going on, but what met me was......An Explosion.

The floors below me exploded, and the trembling was no longer simply an earthquake since the structure was plainly collapsing.

I raced towards the door, but it was too late; the building was so skewed that it was difficult for me to exit. I crashed into the same glass pane again, which fractured even more.

I moved around to the next window, the one with the smashed fissures; at the time, it seemed easier to endure a serial murderer following you with a chainsaw than this.

I gazed up at my apartment's ceiling, which was slowly turning into a wall. As the paint dust began to fall off it, the top of the apartment building collided with the one in front of it.

The wall on the side of the mangled door began to crumble and collapse to the already fragile glass, the glass window cracked completely, and in order to survive, I grasped one of the window's metal joints.

Glass pieces were embedded in my hands, but I was too concerned with survival to think about the agony. To add insult to injury, several fissures appeared on the ceiling, and the structure itself began to break from the center.

I saw a huge chunk of concrete ready to squash me over, the building was slowly breaking apart, and I knew that if I didn't let go of the metal handle, I'd be squashed by the falling concrete or flattened once the building broke off completely, but if I let go of the metal handle too soon, I'd die by falling.

I bided my time, without shifting my gaze from the slab of concrete that was going to fall on me. I didn't even blink, and as soon as I realized it was going to collapse, I let go of my sole lifeline.

The concrete eventually collapsed upon the metal handle, twisting it to inconceivable proportions.

"Argggh," I exclaimed as I collapsed to the ground in excruciating pain in my legs. My knees were bleeding, and my toes were almost completely pulled off. The force of my collision reached my shoulders, and it felt like a big weight was pressing against me.

I dropped to my knees and waited for the agony to go away before looking up at the falling structure and the dust cloud above me.

My eyes widened, and I hurriedly rose up and began sprinting away from the catastrophe zone. My leg became limp, but I didn't care since survival was more essential.

The dust clouds were coming up to me as the structure nearly crashed to the earth. To live, I kept sprinting at that childish pace until I was inches from the point of contact.

Before I could exhale a sigh of relief, I was met with the sight of a black automobile in front of me.

The vehicle's door opened, revealing the assassin with the chainsaw.

"Motherfucker"

Just when I think I've escaped one impossible life-threatening circumstance, another even more difficult one appears.

My leg is limp, the adrenaline is wearing off, and the agony all over my body is catching up, not to mention I'd be terrible at hand-to-hand fighting here due to the glass shards in my hands.

I couldn't help but cuss since this man just reappeared to steal the moment of satisfaction I deserved after conquering this calamity.

He approached me with the chainsaw in his hands; the blood on his face vanished, having been cleaned away. He had an extremely smug grin on his face, as if he was assured of triumph.

So why would he want to kill me?

I was looking for alternative methods to survive this nightmare as he neared; I couldn't flee now since behind me is a dead end and in front of me is a crazy man.

The only solution I can imagine is for him to approach and flee towards his car; but, as easy as this plan sounds, it is really tough, especially for me in this state.

The beeping from the killer's bracelet made it clear that he had planted some bombs in the building. The chance of the same bombs in his car exists, so if I escape in the car, he may just blow it up.

That is, assuming I can run away from him; my legs are useless and damaged, not to mention the immense power this monster possesses, which would make running away from him impossible.

I made many plans in the single second he approached me; it's a gamble with no guarantee of survival, but it's worth the chance; I'm not ready to accept my death just yet. First and foremost, I require responses.

I stayed there for a few seconds waiting for him to approach, but as it has transpired all day, something unexpected happens every time I think of a survival strategy.

Nevertheless, unlike the other unexpected happenings today, this one made me quite happy.

*BANG*

The sound of a bullet hitting metal resonated across the neighborhood. Because everyone had left or were already dead as a result of the building collapsing, my opponent and I were the only ones who heard it.

*BANG*

Another gunfire struck the black vehicle, the killer instinctively crouched, I dropped my head but was unable to duck owing to my leg injuries, but it appears the gunshots aren't for me.

Behind the black vehicle, another one neared the spot where I would have been murdered, an SUV identical to the one the killer brought came into view.

The unknown motorist made a clean cut between me and the murderer, preventing him from murdering me. The door of the unfamiliar car opened, and on the driver's, seat was a brown-haired man approaching middle aged status.

"Get in"

I have no idea who this person was, but I'm not going to turn down his gift of kindness.

*BANG**BANG*

The unknown driver opened the car window slightly to fire, not to kill the man, but to keep him engaged and keep him from reaching the other side and murdering me.

"Come on!"

I used every ounce of energy I had to walk to the automobile, which was only inches away from me. It took some work, but I eventually got there.

After I secured the entryway and the unknown driver helped me get in, I noticed the killer getting into his own car through the window.

"Thanks"

It was quite difficult to talk, but I managed to say one word of thanks, and I was grateful that he came to my rescue.

"Don't mention it, here." He was concentrating on driving across the debris-filled road, but he provided me with an injection identical to the one the blue hat assassin got. He could tell that I was in no condition to use it myself, so he pressed it against my nape with his one hand.

It seemed like he clicked a button at the top of the injection, and as soon as he did, a stinging feeling struck my nape; it felt like an injection, but the effects on my body were similar to narcotics.

It seemed as if a current flowed down my body, each hair on my body stood up, and my pupils widened, I felt invigorated, and all my wounds began to heal with evident speed.

"Holy Crap" I was finally able to talk with my body almost fully recovered.

"Your legs pretty messed up, it'll take time to heal even after taking the comet" I glanced down at my leg, which was messed up but visibly recovering, and I concluded that 'Comet' was the name of this drug.

"Well, I'm Edward. Edward Jenkins. Call me Ed"

He reached out his hand for a handshake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Ed. I don't know why you came to help me, but I'm truly grateful that you did," I said as I accepted the handshake.

"What exactly do you mean when you say I come to help you? You're the one who dispatched the SOS man."

Edward glanced at me, perplexed. He showed me his wrist, which had the same mechanical band as the killer's, and it displayed a map of the region around my residence, along with a signal.

"Wait, I don't recall sending an SOS, and I'm not even sure how to do that in the first place,"

I replied, pointing to the gadget wrapped around Edward's arm.

"I was shocked that another QS-Band spawned here, but I never expected something like this to happen."

Edward had a similar grimace to mine, gritting his teeth in annoyance. I didn't entirely comprehend what was going on with these QS-Bands, but his attitude reminded me of how I had responded to something stupid in the previous few days.

"Hey, I've never heard of QS-Bands, and I've never sent an SOS to anyone...At least, not that I recall. But the person attempting to murder me did have an identical device."

"A QS band operates on a code that is unique to each individual, your code matches to the one who sent the SOS, it's not a shabby device to be tricked like this." My code matched? When did he even check my code? How exactly does that work? I had no idea this type of equipment existed.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to me.

"Hey...When did you receive the SOS?"

"I'm not sure, it might have been delivered today or a week ago, there may have been various things interfering between the signals to fully determine that,"

Edward didn't seem too concerned about it, but one thing is clear: I didn't send him the SOS today since I was too busy escaping from a certain killer.

I start thinking about it, forcing myself to recall everything from the previous days until I reach a particular point.

On March 8, I recall snorting some drugs in a bar and then waking up in my bedroom the next day. I dismissed it as insignificant at the time, but now that I think about it, my recollections of the period between the club and my apartment are gone.

Did I issue an SOS at that time? Did I do something that prompted the man with the blue hat to seek my death? Did I learn something and then forget about it? I believe certain occurrences, such as that girl's accident, awakened my deleted memories.

I realized how bad the memory gap is, and it's not only the period between March 8th and March 9th; I have no recollection of the whole of March 10 after blacking out at the subway.

"Hey you good?"

Edward jolted me out of my reverie when he carefully swerved the vehicle right to avoid the busy traffic; we had left the scene of the accident and were heading someplace...

"Can you tell me where we're going?"

I realized I had no idea where we were headed.

"To a secure area, away from those Limbo bastards."

"Limbo?"

"It's an organization, and the person attempting to murder you is most likely a member of it. It wouldn't make sense for him to have a QS-Band otherwise."

Unlike a few minutes earlier, Edward was calm at that moment; he rapidly examined the entire circumstances and drew the most likely link. It appears that the person I met on the subway is also a member of the Limbo group.

"What makes you believe they want to kill me?"

I couldn't control my worry and ended up asking the most apparent question I could think of.

"I'm not sure, we don't know anything about them, they're a huge fuckin mystery." We? He might be referring to his teammates.

The killer and Edward had some fascinating technology with them that I have never seen before. I had my suspicions about why the killer would want me dead because I was a very normal person with no links to any of this.

Talk about the Devil. He came towards us when I was thinking about him. He smashed his car into the one me and Edward were in from an alleyway on one of the turns.

"Fuck..."

Edward cursed in surprise; the automobile appeared to be resilient, so there wasn't much damage done, but the problem is getting out of this bind.

The traffic wasn't bad, but because of this exceptional example of road rage, the cars surrounding us began running madly, causing a traffic jam, and our automobile was locked by the killer's car into a wall.

"Now shoot this," Edward said, attempting to pull the car out, but the killer appeared stubborn, so he handed me his revolver. I am the closest to the murderer, which provides me an edge.

I had previously purchased a gun, but I had never shot someone, and the firearm Edward handed me is a bit unique, looking different and more sophisticated.

Survival was more essential now, so I cracked the vehicle window slightly to let the muzzle out, aimed it as accurately as possible at the driver's seat of the other car, and began shooting.

The recoil from the first shot was insane, but I managed to control it. I shot a couple more times until the killer ducked and Edward was able to free the car.

Edward drove away, but we were being pursued by our unpleasant guest. Edward pushed open the sunroof and motioned for me to climb in.

"Go ahead, get him out of our way."

"Are you certain? I'm not a ballistics expert."

"He doesn't seem to have one anyhow, and save this, if you are hurt, inject it right away."

Indeed, the killer doesn't appear to be carrying a pistol, he was pursuing me around with a chainsaw the entire time, and he could have easily killed me if he had a gun.

Edward gave me another Comet injection. If I were to be hurt, I gaze out of the sunroof at the coming flyover; behind me is a back vehicle following us, as well as several civilian automobiles.

The assassin changed lanes gracefully, lurking behind civilian cars until he could get close to us; I couldn't shoot until he was within a few feet of our car.

He struck us sideways from his car, giving us a good jolt, but he was also closer to us, so I started shooting.

"I told you to keep him at a distance," Edward cried as he maintained the vehicle's balance. The murderer tried to smash again and was smacked by Edward instead, while I continued firing at his tires.

The civilian vehicles had stopped a long distance away from us after hearing the gunshots, giving me a clean range for fire, but the killer kept driving in a zigzag pattern to evade the bullets.

The automobiles in front of us had either halted or increased their speed, creating a mass panic situation. In an attempt to get away from all of this, Edward crashed the automobile into several civilian vehicles, causing my entire body to shake violently.

It was difficult for us to lose him because all the cars had left the overpass by the time we started chasing after him around the entire structure.

This left us with our second-best choice for losing him, pushing him over the overpass, but we weren't the only ones thinking about it.

"Brace yourself," Edward said prior to the duel between two automobiles attempting to push each other down. I was still performing my duty of distracting the murderer by firing.

"Motherfucker's is his car bulletproof."

I was getting annoyed since I was pretty much worthless throughout the hunt.

"Seems like it," Edward said calmly, "I'm going to accelerate up and attempt to disappear into the traffic."

The end of the overpass was there, and in our final attempt to flee the killer, Edward revealed his plans to me.

"What if he's still after us?"

I exclaimed the worst-case scenario: this man is more persistent than a cockroach, having survived even his death in the alleyway.

"I'll then pull over to a quiet spot and blow his brains out myself."

Edward gave a harsh expression, clutched the driving wheel, and accelerated. He didn't bother if he struck a few cars' side mirrors. He gracefully cut around numerous turns and vanished into the traffic.

I hurriedly returned my gaze for a few seconds to the ecstatic throng and numerous automobiles in the vicinity.

"It appears that we lost him" That felt too sudden to be true, but I'll be relieved if we did... "Fuck my life..."

Well, he's back; just when we were getting over losing him, his automobile emerged from the gridlock.

"I suppose it'll take you a little longer to get to the safe place."

Just as Edward was going to turn the car, I noticed another automobile from the right turn crash the killer's car; unlike how we were slamming each other a moment earlier, this one was a direct impact, halting the car for a time.

"It appears someone saved us" "Poor man, he was probably fleeing away from all the commotion" Edward was sorry for the civilian who crashed into the killer's vehicle, but we opted to take advantage of this moment of confusion to get away from them all.

"Shouldn't we save them, who knows what that maniac would do to them?" I am not an extreme altruist, but I was concerned for the poor soul's safety.

"I can't risk the Limo guys finding out where we're hiding."

Edward was serious, and I didn't want to fight with him about it, especially because he was the one who saved my life. He drove away for a while, making sure we were out of the killer's sight.

Edward drove out of town, and after about a half-hour drive, we arrived at the location of their hideout, which was an abandoned factory.

I seldom used to visit this part of town, so my recollection of this factory is foggy; I don't recall it being here, but I kind of also do.

"All right, come with me."

Edward stepped out of the car and led me into the building.

"A difficult one this time, just like you, Ed."

I was welcomed with a comment as soon as I entered the room; the person in issue appeared to be a university student. He had short black hair and a slim physique." "Yeah, whatever. Now, introduce yourselves."

Edward waved at us and slumped in the corner, exhausted.

"By the way, I am Damien."

The university student extended his hand in greeting.

"Hello, I'm Freddy,"

"I'm Noah."

Noah appeared to be the oldest among us, with a thick beard and the build of a guy in his early thirties.

"Hello, my name is Jack."

Another introduction reached my ear, but I didn't see the person physically, I searched around the entire room as his voice only resonated all around it.

"Jack is an artificial intelligence."

Finally, the last unknown individual in the room spoke out.

"My name is Aiden, and it's a pleasure to meet you, Fred."

Aiden appeared to be the same age as Edward, but more intellectual than brawny.

"Can someone just explain everything to me?"

I addressed the elephant in the room, which is this entire scenario and my role in it.

"Regarding the explanation Aiden, he didn't have a QS-Band with him, and it appears he didn't send the SOS."

And they began speaking in their own technical terminology, which will be incredibly difficult for me to understand.

"What exactly did you say?"

His revelation alarmed Noah and Damien, who were ready to attack me at any time.

"Calm down, there's no need to frighten him away."

Among everyone in the room, Aiden appeared to be the most relaxed about the situation; it appears that not having this QS-Band or whatever is a bigger concern than I expected.

"Are you certain he isn't one of them?"

Noah had certain questions that he wanted answered, and one of them was presumably about the organization Limbo.

"His code matched," Edward said sternly, "I suppose it's one of the storm's impacts."

Aiden attempted to calm them down; he appeared to be the leader of this group, and amazingly, they all seemed to trust him. Aiden gave me a slight smile and an aura that made me feel like he was prepared for anything. I suppose that's why everyone appears to trust him, like if he already knew about me.

"Are you certain? This never occurred before."

"The storm is a strange phenomenon in any case, we need to brief him on everything."

Aiden's overly trusting demeanor appeared dubious to me, but it appears like I will finally get all the answers I have been looking for.

"Jack, please grab another QS-Band."

The factory's closed-off conveyor line began to function, and the robotic arm at the back of it retrieved another QS-Band and placed it on the conveyor belt, just as Aiden had requested.

"Here"

Edward tossed it my direction, prompting me to put it on.

"What exactly is this?"

I was skeptical, but I wore it on my wrist nonetheless; it was comparable to wearing a wristwatch, only it was considerably larger and covered a considerable portion of my arm.

"It's a device for sharing information as well as keeping track of all of us."

"How is it different from a cell phone?"

Apart from Aiden, I could see snickers from the rest of the teammates in response to my query; their looks informed me of when they had the same question.

The QS-Band instantly illuminated with the message 'Scan Complete.'

"Jack has been put in your QS-Band; we don't have time to explain how it works, so he will assist you with the intricacies as needed."

"Hello yet again"

The mechanical voice of Jack echoed, but this time it was from my QS-Band.

"So would you mind telling me what's going on?"

I raised the question of the century once more...

"What exactly do you want to know?"

"Who are those people attempting to murder me?"

"They are, as I already stated, from Limbo. We don't know much about them either, but they seem to be after all of us."

Edward responded as though he was sick of saying the same thing again and again.

I wanted to ask whether they had any clue why these individuals from Limbo were attempting to murder them, but based on their responses, I assumed they didn't, so I addressed another topic that had been bothering me.

"Do you know a young man—probably the same age as Damien—who has facial hair and generally covers one of his eyes with his hair?"

They all looked at me with wide eyes filled with amazement, terror, and rage the minute I dropped this description.

"So, you've already encountered him."

The only exception was Aiden, who maintained his cool under pressure.

"Is there...something wrong?"

I was confused by their reactions, so I inquired hesitantly.

"He is the most mysterious of the group; it appears that he is also a member of Limbo, but his intentions are unclear."

"Well, I suppose he rescued me, I was knocked unconscious by him on a train and later on I opened my eyes in my apartment hanging from a noose, with this carved up on my body."

I drew up my T-shirt to show them the scars on my body.

"He doesn't know shit!"

Naoh eventually talked for a few moments. I resolved to tell the truth about everything. There's no use in hiding anything if I don't even know what's going on, let alone why it's going on.

"Freddy..."

Edward gazed at me with the same astonished expression as everyone else, perhaps attempting to explain the situation to me, but...

"Don't you think that would ruin the fun?"

Another voice reverberated in the room, this time a much more human and familiar one. Something so familiar but terrible that it surprised the normally placid Aiden.

Searching for the source of the voice, I saw the same hooded figure standing at the factory's back door, hidden behind the black curtain of machinery.

He took an apprehensive step forward, lowering his hood, and we got a better look at his face. Similar to the incident in the subway, the lights around us began flickering again.

"How...?"

Aiden inquired, surprised.

"The security systems didn't pick him up..."

Jack responded to Aiden, but before he could continue his statement, several machinery in the factory broke open and caught fire.

"I finally got you all."

As though staring down upon his victim, the hooded figure remarked confidently. The rest of them took up their weapons and prepared to battle, but they paused, as if they weren't sure whether they could take him down. They let him walk close to them, as if expecting him to make the first move, but he strolled right past Aiden, who was closest to him, and sat on the chair next to him.

"Do you mind if I attend this briefing?"

He held his arms locked over his chin, jokingly, but it was enough to make us swallow nervously.

After a few seconds of stillness, Noah charged at him with his electric stick, but before the stick could strike him, the hooded guy jumped up to grasp it with one hand as he set it on the table, and in a split second he smashed Noah's head into the stick, penetrating it as his brains flowed out.

"I guess not," he shrugged jokingly as he killed one of them effortlessly, not waiting to witness more of this carnage. I took a step back.

I observed the other freeze for a second before Edward sprung from his frozen state and raced towards the hooded man in rage.

I knew how this was going to end, so instead of watching the slaughter, I turned back to flee. I opened the door through which I had entered to escape to the car, but the scene that met me was the terrace of the thirty-story manufacturing building.

I swear I was on the first floor.

I looked around uneasily before turning around to return since I couldn't see any other way out.

"I suppose that's who you are when things go wrong."

But the same hooded figure was blocking the door. Has he already murdered them all? This question haunted me; it wasn't difficult for him to do so, considering how he murdered Noah in seconds despite him being the most muscular of us all.

"Or, to put it another way, everyone is like you when everything goes wrong."

"What?"

I was too afraid to think straight, let alone focus on his words, but the best way for me to survive here was to keep him talking while I figured a way out from this situation.

"You're quite quick at fleeing; I know for a fact that deep down you realize you'll face the same consequences even after you flee, although a little later, but you don't think twice about it."

He wore a puzzled expression, as if all of this was a game to him.

"What do you want me to do in there, fight a monster like you?"

"I was talking about how you fled from your father."

His attitude was solemn, and I'm not sure what he was trying to convey by suddenly being philosophical as he was about to murder us all.

"What are you up to?"

"Can't a guy ask a reasonable question?"

"How come you're so chatty when you're so willing to kill all of us in there?"

"It was your guy who assaulted me first, and I'm just paying you with some additional time because you led me here to these cockroaches' nest, you know, they're hard to trace."

"Was it you who sent that assassin after me?"

"More or less"

"What the fuck?" I said, enraged with the man who was attempting to take my life for no apparent reason, and fear was clear in my voice.

"What is the point of all of this? What exactly are you doing? What are they up to? Why are you pursuing me?"

I couldn't help but blurt out all the questions I had, the frustration within me bubbled up and this sudden hopeless situation made it burst open.

"For starters, call me Limbo. I'm only trying to stop your pals from cleaning up this mess."

"What mess?"

I had an idea what he was talking about but wanted to double-check.

"You must have seen the oddities going on around you by now."

The first inquiry I wanted to ask was what they are, how they happen, and how anybody can stop them, but my words betrayed my thoughts.

"Why?"

"Because it's beautiful."

He held his hand as though accepting the existing situation. While I was trying to figure out how it could be attractive in any way, Limbo resumed after a few seconds of silence.

"Our true nature has been mitigated from us by the comforts of the world around us, morality and generosity are only luxuries that only come to us when the world allows us to. Strip these humans of these securing structures and see these same civilized people cannibalizing each other"

He stepped closer to me, speaking in the most nihilistic words as if we were having a regular discussion.

"That's why I appreciate you; you're the only man who has embraced his selfish character even inside the confines of your apartment; after all, you're the sort of guy who would abandon his own father."

I swallowed at his final words; I had expected it, but it still hit me hard. The most pressing concern is how he knows about my father. If he likes me, why would he order his subordinate to murder me? What am I supposed to do amid all of this?

"It appears that you are still in denial about your relationship with your father, or that you are attempting to justify it."

He ran forward towards me in a split second and grabbed my head, his hands gripping my head and covering my eyes. I attempted to pull his hands off but couldn't even get him to budge, this was a replay of the subway incident.

"No matter, you'll stop denying it soon" I felt the earth beneath my legs disappear, like if he hoisted me higher, and I knew from experience that I would lose consciousness here since I was unable to do anything.

"Your additional time is over anyhow; now it's time to wake up in reality."