THIRTEEN HOURS BEFORE CONTACT… MONTH 2, DAY 12, YEAR 2143 A.D.

  IN AN EXTREMELY ISOLATED UNIVERSE, FAR REMOVED FROM THE ONES LIKE OUR OWN

  A voice whispered in my ear.

  “It’s time to wake up,” it whispered again, prompting me to open my eyes.

  I was met with a dark scene of pine needles laid on the ground. Just thirty centimeters away from me was a hand, my hand to be more specific. I gently tapped my left index finger on the ground, my entire hand tensing up with the movement. The air was bitter like I was home, but I knew just by the way that the needles flared at the tips that this wasn’t where I was from.

  "Where am I?" My throat croaked, giving tense pain with every movement.

  To say that I was confused with what was going on was an understatement. I could feel warmth caked onto my skin, however quickly it was fading away. As I looked down, I quickly discovered why there was warmth, as a maroon liquid was caking my skin, and a strange, fantasy-style outfit on top. It was reminiscent of beginners having just been transported to a different world, but that wasn't my utmost concern. I grabbed the bottom of my red-and-blood-stained shirt, coming to find that the supposed holes that were bleeding and dried weren't there anymore. They were almost scarless, leaving only little dots of scar tissue.

  I don't remember dying like that, I thought to myself. The last thing I remember seeing, aside from a face with blue eyes and long brown hair, was a simple flash, brighter than the sun. Then, decimation.

  I lifted myself from the cold, pine-needle ridden ground, and found myself staring into a dark forest. The outlines of trees were barely visible among slow moving white flakes. Snow? I questioned inside my head, following the path of one of the snowflakes. When I turned around to try and find its origin, be it a cloud of a snow-capped mountain peak, I was met with a completely different sight.

  Artificial lights as far as the eye could see were immediately burned into my retinas. Reds, greens, yellows, purples, blues, oranges; every possible color that could exist from artificial neon lighting was here in full view. The black dots moving around like ants seemed to be vehicles, even aerial ones too. The smaller dots seemed to be people, but even they blended with the light as they moved between, behind, and past each other.

  All these visuals stacking up created a city of dangerous proportions. Everything was designed to be painful, stressful, but more evocative than anything I had ever seen before. That was assuming I could remember such things, as my memory had faded for however long I was dormant for.

  One thing still bothered me however, and it’s why I woke up here. But just a moment later, I heard something that I thought would give me some insight into my current situation. A voice that was staticy, glitchy, and direct.

  “Z-Z-Z-Zenith, Citiz-zen ID Number: seven-eight-four-three-ni-nine-five-four-fi-fi-five, if you are conscious, please assume a fetal position-ition. An Officer will arrive at your location in three minutes.”

  Out of nowhere, a timer appeared on the right side of my vision. It started at 180, then ticked to 179, then 178.

  “There is a warr-rrent for your arrest for murder. Please comply in the face of law enforcement.”

  This was all too much information to take it at once. In the top-left, something called a “bio-monitor” had stated that my most recent dosage of morphine was over 30 seconds ago. This likely meant it had only been half a minute before I was being flooded with information. And an unfamiliar name… “Zenith,” I thought about the name, letting it bounce around in my head before I heard a voice similar to the first one that I had heard.

  “You’re running out of time, go.” It was telling me to run, but I wasn’t sure what I was going to do, where I was going to go.

  “Into the forest!”

  “Are you sure?” I asked the voice.

  “Yes! Before they get you!”

  The forest it was, becoming my new path as I shoved my foot into the ground, then pushed myself forward.

  The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

  My lungs began to burn as the timer ticked past 60. Only a little bit more time before my life would cease to exist once more, or at least that’s what I thought had happened. Before I woke up on the edge of this forest, everything was pitch black. Only faint golden lights and voices could be heard, unable to be understood and processed at any reasonable pace. I didn't have any feeling, didn't feel like I had a body. I don't think I did, until now.

  As the numbers ticked past ten, I could feel my blood pressure rising. The white flakes were whizzing past my vision at what I thought was an unbelievable speed, but was closer to something like eleven miles-an-hour. But this pressure felt real and intense. This wasn't a false reality like portions of my brain were hoping it to be, it was real and true. I just had to keep running, evading the law enforcement that were headed towards my position, unless this was all a scare tactic.

  But soon my vision went black, a cold sensation fell around my body. Something plugged my ears as my eyes remained halfway shut. What caused this? I think I had fallen into a hole, and was now floating down a river.

  I don't know where I am anymore.

  I hope I wake up.

  MONTH 2, DAY 13

  11:43

  As Hana walked out of the restaurant with her food in hand, she checked her messages with only a thought command one more time, just to confirm what she had seen. As people drifted by her vision, she stared at the image of the man laying on one of their beds. He appeared to be an adult in his mid-to-early twenties, that same scar she had seen on herself and Oyogu hundreds of times before lay upon his neck like the rest of the Othersiders. Hanadea Vostrovna Kani's purple iridescent eyes couldn't believe what she was seeing. She couldn't understand through her stoicism why he was here with the rest of humans that came to this world so late after The Final War, an event she had indirectly caused the finality of.

  The sushi was beginning to get rotten, even just minutes out of the kitchen. Not everything in this world is the same as their previous one. It was normal for food to go bad faster. Apples looked strange and misshapen at times, but a perfect harvest was not uncommon in this world. Most other fruits and veggies looked different yet the same as their othersided counterparts. There were evergreens everywhere outside of the city of Vladsvink; a paradise for Outsiders in hiding. If they had started in Eden, they wouldn't be breathing.

  As Hana began to walk back to her apartment building, she noticed the clouds overhead becoming darker by the minute. If she didn't get home at a quicker pace than she is now, she would be caught in a midst of acid rain. Unfortunately for her, she didn't pack an acid-resistant umbrella, so sprinting home was her only option.

  She found the nearest alleyway in the direction she was headed and quickly slipped herself into the narrow gap, getting a spec of dirt on her skirt. The sound of air being cut by flying cars quickly faded away as she rounded a corner and was deeper into the alleyway network. As she jogged past a cat in the way, she heard a gentle, "mrow," followed by gentle steps to chase after her. When she looked back, she was surprised to find a tortoiseshell cat following her. An animal had never chased her before, they usually ran away.

  "Do not follow me," she demanded in her native language, continuing to walk through the alley.

  "Stop where you are and head back, it's dangerous to follow me."

  "Meow?", the feline replied.

  "You need to understand. I am not a safe person."

  "Meow."

  However much she demanded though, the cat continued to follow, enticed by a new human.

  As Hana exits the narrow alleyways, she can see that people have already pulled out their umbrellas. The rain was nearing, the smell of sulfur that came with the acid rain was becoming ever more prevalent, and footsteps were getting louder as pedestrians moved to cover early on.

  Acid resistant umbrellas were never particularly affordable. Sure, one could eventually buy one through hard enough work. However, it was often easier to share the large area of the umbrella with a trusted roommate or neighbor. This forced manufacturers of these umbrellas to make smaller ones, slowly miniaturizing the design into a portable unit on the back of one's outfit, and sprouted out automatically once rain was nearing.

  Hana's jacket unfortunately did not have such amenities. This meant she would have to suffer in the painful rain if she did not get home in time. And even worse; the food would be spoiled. With all this in mind, she glanced around for openings to reach the apartment building she needed to get to on the other side of the large open walkway. After just three seconds of processing, she was on the move.

  With rather loose timing, she cut through the crowds with meter long steps that were more akin to leaps. Everything was thinning as the rain came closer with each second, which meant Hana needed to go faster. She made her way onto a raised crosswalk in record time, sprinting by dozens of people to get to the other side of the arched walkway. Once she had made it, she didn't bother with taking the stairs back down. She quickly stepped from the concrete below her to the faded railing, then leaped for a pole that was as close to the building as possible.

  Her leap was not unassisted. She had replacement 'SNaPBaCK' (Synaptic Neuro-Polymeric Ballistic Combat Kinetics) Tendons replaced throughout both her legs, which allowed her to flick her limbs with an extreme speed.

  As her body flew through the air, a few people down on the ground looked at her with admiration.

  "Look, mom! The girl can fly!" A young kid yelled out.

  "Hey, get down from there!"

  Hana looked down at them for just a moment before her body collided with the street pole and she slid down. As she made contact with the pavement, she looked at those around her, giving her looks of both admiration and confusion.

  "Do not tell me how to live my life." Was all she said before she turned around and made her way inside.

  Chapter 1 has been presented by…

  SNaPBaCK

  Don't just run; fly.