2 What’s with this sassy… lost orb?
In a vast expanse, the sky was a canvas of clouds, their golden hues shimmering under the gentle touch of the rising sun. A solitary figure, their silhouette stark against the light, stood in contemplation. But the dreamlike beauty of this scene was soon marred by the encroaching darkness as if the twilight of this world had begun. A creeping mist, the color of aquamarine, unfurled like a veil over the landscape; its glow slowly encroached on the figure. The change displaced the air, blowing the figure's messy ashen hair away from his face, adding to the ethereal atmosphere.
The man, his heart heavy with resignation, let out a deep sigh as the sudden shift in scenery shattered his tranquility. He cast one final, longing gaze at the golden sun, now setting as if it were its last dawn.
"There goes my heaven," #0016 remarked, his supposed afterlife interrupted. "I don't suppose I get some kind of compensation for my lost peace." Surrounded by the empty black void that replaced his fantastic view, he turned to confront the intruder who had disrupted this idyllic paradise.
Upon turning around, #0016 only saw more empty space. "Wha..? Man, I swear I thought somebody would come behind me or something. This felt like such an anime moment…" Then suddenly, the space in front of him started to flicker before a bright glowing light proceeded to flash bang the man, blinding him. "AHHHHHHH! My fucking eyes" He moved to blink a few times. " Wait, I'm fine? HA!"
"Welcome, human."
#0016 felt a chill in his spine and immediately turned around to face the source of the sound behind him. A giant glowing blue sphere stood before him with rings orbiting it like a planet that seemed to be radiating a strange blue mist.
"What the FUCK!" Screamed #0016 as he immediately backpedaled away from the giant floating ball. "What the hell are you?! And where the hell am I?!"
"Irrelevant," the voice said in an almost monotone fashion, sounding like a choir of voices overlapping each other as it teleported in front of the man. "You have been selected."
"Selected?... Wait, what do you mean irrelevant? I think this is a pretty important question, no?" #0016's voice, initially tinged with fear, slowly descended into confusion.
"You are dead," the orb said matter-of-factly, ignoring #0016 questions.
"No shit, I'm dead; I just got vored by a gigantic murder wolf," #0016 said while deadpanning.
"Your timeline has ended, and humanity as a whole has gone extinct. You were never supposed to exist." The orb said while it seemed to be almost vibrating as its unsettling voice filled the space. "The time you are from is an error and has been purged accordingly."
'What is this talking orb talking about? Purged??? That's crazy, no, that's insane. The whole world? Timeline? But wait, that wolf did seem to be doing a lot of damage…'
"Correct," The orb stated. "Your whole timeline was culled as a result of one of Gaia's beasts."
"Wait, you can hear me?!" #0016 widened his eyes in realization.
"It was released upon the world and fulfilled its one true purpose; to destroy humanity," The orb stated once again, ignoring the man. "This cannot happen again."
"Again? But you just said the world got destroyed. How is it back again?"
"Like I said, human, it was just one timeline. However, this cannot happen again, as humanity must survive," the orb reiterated.
[POV: #0016]
Raising my eyebrows in apprehension as the idea that some big magic orb was telling me the world had ended was only the second weirdest thing to happen to me in recent memory. The first obviously was the giant white blur of death that bisected me. I proceeded to ponder as I glanced at the orb floating in front of me. "And what do you want with me?" I said incredulously. " I can't see why some big magic mumbo jumbo orb needs me for something. Especially from someone who doesn't even remember their own name."
"Your body," it stated plainly without missing a beat.
"Excuse me?"
"You possess a unique existence that will be very helpful," the orb said as if that explained the whole situation perfectly.
Looking at the orb, I realized that regardless of how this would go, I was at the mercy of whatever this thing was. I was alone in an empty space with nothing around me and no knowledge of who I was, to boot.
Sighing, I look back towards the floating globe knockoff with my eyebrows raised. "So what makes me so special? In detail, please?"
After a few seconds, the orb suddenly started speaking. "Genesis Reset," it stated as its tone shifted as if annoyed. "It is your origin, as those magi would call it. Genesis Reset is a beneficial origin that makes you the most suitable for this task."
My eyes widened as I felt I heard some pretty important information from this ball: "Genesis? Like in the bible? And what is this about magi? Are you telling me there's magic in the world?" 'If this was true, that's huge! Imagine being able to fire fireballs like some kind of wizard!'
"Are you neglecting the world-ending magical beast, or did your death make you braindead?" the orb said, briefly shifting to a red color. "Yes, there is magic. In fact, your very captors were human magi who wanted to harness your origin for themselves."
[A/N: I know, technically, Alaya is supposed to be more robotic, but I thought it would be more interesting to give it more personality. A being who is the unconsciousness of humanity and is a driving factor of their survival who is just fed up with them being dumb but still takes care of them. Like an overworked babysitter dealing with a population of dumbasses who are all on a path to destroy themselves]
This got my attention, and I immediately snapped my head to look directly at the orb. My adrenaline raged as my breathing hitched. "So, are you saying that those…MASKED BASTARDS ARE THE ONES…the ones who…"
"Yes"
"ARRRG FUCK! So my body was the whole reason that I went through that hell?" My fists clenched at realizing the cause of my torment, my nails digging into my palm. But wait… there was something that stood out to me; it said something about my so-called origin. This thing that's so special and all, that it led me to be larping as a vegetable for who knows how long.
"So this genesis whatsit"
"Reset" the orb interrupted
"Right… "Reset" anyway, what is so special about this? Why was it such a big deal that not only you but those bastards want me?"
The orb silently floated there for a second before I almost heard something akin to a sigh before a screen window popped into my vision. It took me another second to glance at it before registering the situation's absurdity and looking back at the orb. "Did you…Did you just give me a Wikipedia article?" I asked, baffled at the laziness of the orb
"No. I just put the description into text so your dog food brain can understand, and I don't have to repeat myself. It is something I often do for those dogs who I send out for errands."
'Ok… so this is some kind of summary of my "Origin?" 'Whatever that means,' I say, looking at the floating blue window in front of me.
[Genesis Reset]
[This mystical origin grants the wielder the profound ability to reset the state of beings, objects, or events to their foundational beginnings. It is not merely an act of healing or repair but a profound return to the very genesis of existence. Holders of this power can undo alterations, corruptions, or deviations from the intended course of fate, effectively setting the universe's clock to moments of pure potential and original intent. This power can be both a blessing and a burden, as it requires discernment to understand what truly needs to be restored and the potential consequences of reversing time's flow or altering the course of natural events.]
"This is a lot to take in…" I say while glancing back and forth between the text and the impatient orb. "There seem to be a lot of things here that are words, but I don't get what they really mean."
"It appears I was wrong in my assessment." the orb stated as its blue light flickered. "You are not dog food, but dirt."
"HEY! You big… Bakugan? I am MUCH better than dirt, thank you very much." This damn orb, as soon as I get outta here…
"You won't be able to do a thing."
"..."
Right, the orb can hear me…Greaaaat…
"Ok you big orb, what do you need from me, because clearly it's not for my fantastic personality," I stated, clearly done with this discussion.
"I need you to fix the timelines before they diverge," the orb said as the rings started to shift. "What I need from you is to go back in time and prevent the key moment of divergence from happening that results in these divergent timelines. An anomaly in the timeline prevents proper human history from occurring as intended."
"What do I get from this then? This is clearly a huge task," I stated, as I was definitely not looking forward to this volunteer work being thrown at me.
"A second chance. A life not wasted in a magus's basement being taken apart every day. If you can finish all the tasks I give you, you may live a life as a proper human in proper human history."
"A better life, huh?..." I thought about everything I could do and the implications behind a restart. "Very well, but what can I possibly do? I am just one guy, and this seems like a big deal if this whole conversation is anything to go by."
The orb proceeded to tremble as if it was frustrated but relieved at the same time. " You have everything you need; however, I can offer some assistance due to your evident incompetence." It then started to glow brightly before knowledge began to seep into my brain like a sponge. " I have given you the knowledge necessary to summon a heroic spirit from the throne of heroes to help you in your venture. Ensure that this servant is summoned when you reach the location."
I just stood there, feeling the influx of information into my head. 'Fuck, this hurts, it feels like someone just poured gallons of ice water into my brain from my ear?!' I started to shiver as the knowledge flowed into my mind, new concepts and methods appearing as if I had always known these things.
'I know I just got brain beamed this knowledge, but seriously? I can use magic? And bring some old fogey back from the dead to help me? This is awesome!' I look at my hands in awe as I think about the possibilities behind using such magic like some sort of wizard.
I look back at the orb to see its reaction, but it remains unfazed as if it were looking at an annoying kid. "I have only given you enough to summon assistance for this mission, nothing more. Due to your meager knowledge and mana, I will cover the upkeep costs. "
'Well, I'll need a new name, and as cool as #0016 is, I can't keep that for the life of me. Considering how Bible-esque my origin sounds, how about the name Adam? Adam, that sounds like a solid name. Man, I'm a genius.'
"Are you done?" The orb exclaims, "Are your mad ramblings done? You aren't even worthy of being one of my dogs, but your body is just too useful. I wouldn't normally do this as I have alternatives; however, none of my dogs have the same characteristics that you have."
Scratching the back of my head, I decided to see if I could get anything else from it. "Ehe, but you need me, right? Don't be so cruel… Honestly, I'm fine staying here in this cloudy void area. If you really want me to succeed, I will need something else to really help me accomplish this mission you are giving me. After all, I'm just a normal guy who has no idea about this magic stuff."
The orb just floated there. Unmoving besides the occasional sway as the blueish mist seeped around my surroundings. "Uh hello???..." I may have gone too far with my demands. Wait, it can hear my thoughts, right? 'Um, mindreading orb thing, hello? Can u answer?' I tried to appeal to the orb through my mind for about 5 minutes before it suddenly started to shift.
"Granted." Before, blue string-like tentacles lashed out from the orb and went directly into my eyes.
"AHHHHHHH!"
My eyes burned. My eyes burned. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts. It hurts.
I couldn't see anything as the strings went into my skull. It felt like what could be hours as I felt it change one of my fundamental senses, and the pain felt like molten iron was being poured into my eye sockets. I don't know which was worse, my prison or this, but whatever this is, it better be worth it.
Soon, the pain faded as the strings started leaving my eyes. I blinked a few times before looking around. 'What did that orb do to me?' Everything still looked the same as I kept blinking the lingering phantom pain away.
"Your cries of pain are annoying. I did what you requested." The orb said plainly. "Now to send you on your mission…"
The moment I heard that, I felt a chill as I realized I had no idea what I was supposed to be doing. In desperation, I pleaded with the orb, "PLEASE WAIT! What is my mission?! What do I even need to do?"
The orb paused for a second, and then another window popped into my vision, and my heart sank. "There you are now informed, Goodbye."
"Wait, WHAT? Did you actually just send me a genuine Wikipedia article??? WTF???" As I began to fade away I could not tell whether this orb actually wanted me to complete this mission or not. Only one thought remained as I was suddenly spirited away to whatever this anomaly was.
'Why did it show me a Wikipedia Article about Pompeii?'
