Dust

It was overwhelming, as if his mind simply couldn't process what he was seeing. When he saw it he felt the authority, the definite answer that this thing was 'The' and not 'a' Obelisk. He didn't know why he just knew from the depths of his very mind and from every fiber of his being. 

It was massive but massive wasn't even a word that could describe the thing. In fact Connor didn't even know if there was such a word that exists that could encompass what the Obelisk was. It was vibrant and colorful changing second by second to every single possible color on the spectrum of light. Some spots of the Obelisk stayed similar but still changed in more subtle ways, like colored water being dumped into an aquarium just to watch them mix and flow together. 

And despite his distance away from the Obelisk being so far that he still couldn't see the end of the chain he still couldn't see the top of it. It just seemed to go on into the darkness forever.

The space around the Obelisk was just as strange though, there were an uncountable number of chains stretching from what Connor believed to be its base. New chains were made every instant just as specks of dust were pulled towards the tower. Sitting at the base of the Obelisk was a pile of dust that seemed to reach down into the darkness just as far as the Obelisk was tall if not farther. 

Comparing it to something like all the sand in the Sahara desert would be like comparing the ocean to drop of water. Yet the farther down Connor looked the less bright the dust specks became. Looking closer at the base of the Obelisk he could see small bright streams of light diffusing into the lower layers of the base.

And despite the growing lucidity of Connors mind he still could not stop the inevitable pull of the chain towards the obelisk. Any measure of distance was irrelevant in this empty void, there were only two things, Connor, and the obelisk. He grabbed onto the chain and pulled back with all his might though the lack of any surface to push off of should have made it ineffective he could feel the resistance of the chain. 

However the only thing his effort amounted to was a short delay. The chain lit up for a second time and immediately Connor was pulled toward the pile of dust at the base of the Obelisk. it only took a few seconds before he could feel a sense as if he was falling off a building and rapidly going towards the ground.

Without thinking he grabbed onto the chain and laid himself down vertically towards the pile so that his feet would be the first thing to hit. And just in time his body impacted into the pile sending up a cloud of dust as his heels dug into the soft substance.

Expected sounds of bones breaking though never seemed to come. Connors body was completely fine except for the chain still trying to pull him deeper into the dust. All he could do was grab at the ground above him like a man trying to escape quick sand.

A haze was brought over his mind once again as he was brought deep into the dust and hundreds of pairs of black eyes opened around him. He no longer felt the dust, he was simply in an abyss he could feel dark creatures scurrying just outside of his view as if they were crawling on his skin. Combined with the many eyes it was truly a experience of utter horror for any living being.

The eyes and the scurrying monsters slowly formed a contrast of black and white that almost looked like a mouth with bright white teeth. And just as it was formed it began to speak, or something that resembled speech with a guttural sound that drilled into the mind.

[&* ! ^#$&# *#& &$^?] 

"Go ahead and wake up then, you'll be having so much fun soon."

***

Connor jumped up from his sleep disoriented and afraid. Scattered images of things beyond what his mind could comprehend filtered through his mind and were immediately forgotten. Whether it was due to the nature of a dream or his experiences, his brain wanted to forget them as soon as it possibly could.

"That was insane what was all that about? Oh god i still have the image of the Obelisk thing why was is it so detailed i usually don't even have dreams much less something like that." Connor was really very overwhelmed he was breathing heavily and spacing out in bed.

Despite his reluctance he managed to calm down after quite a lot of mental preparation and he got out of bed. He slowly stretched out his body and walked towards the door, the floor was cold as he stepped forward.

'Did mom leave some windows open last night? Fair enough we need to change out the air filter soon anyways.' 

The windows had in fact not been left open last night. 

And as Connor opened the door and saw a vast spanning field of white in front him with snow falling to the ground and piercing chilled winds flowing into his room he closed the door again. 

He walked over the wall punched himself in the face walked back to the door and reopened the door again just to still see the snowy expanse in front of him before beginning to hyperventilate. 

"Oh I'm screwed aren't I? Yep, yeah, pretty much I'm screwed." Mental breakdowns aren't really pretty things especially when they come out of nowhere. 

Crying was an appropriate action in Connors opinion though. and he followed his own opinion a lot for the next 15 minutes before the decreasing temperature of his room snapped him out of his declining mental state and made him actually access his situation.

"Ok this room should have at least decent thermal protection, better than being outside or being in a cave at least. I have drinkable water in this room at least so that's great." He was applauded himself a lot for making it a habit to keep a water crate or two in his room just so he didn't have to go down to the kitchen.

"I pretty much have only snacks here though so I'm going to run out of food fast. My phone doesn't have any service at all either so i cant even tell if I'm close to help or not. Its not like i should trek far into that snowy wilderness though i don't want to end up getting hypothermia."

To remedy his current problem though he pulled out the spare blankets in his drawers and places them in a way to stuff the cracks in the door and placed the surplus on his bed and crawled his way in to bed to stay warm. Honestly he didn't know what he was supposed to do besides this, he was never much of a fan of the wilderness survival content so he wouldn't even be able to survive for long once he left this room.

He had the benefit of a full wardrobe that could at least partially save him from the cold though.

With the immediate concerns lifted though he started to think of what was going on and why this was happening. There was always the possibility that he had gone mentally insane but he dismissed that option because knowing wouldn't help him even if it was true. The only connection he could make was with that weird dream, however he was starting to suspect that it might have been more than just a dream.

From the fragmented memories he could remember he thought of the dust speck and himself being dragged towards the Obelisk. From his innate and natural reaction to escape from the chain even without being fully conscious he knew that the Obelisk probably wasn't something very good for him.

Connor didn't like thinking of the latter half of his experience because it made his skin crawl but he thought that maybe the reason he was here was because he along with that dust speck had been dragged to the Obelisk. Not like that could help him but at least he had a general idea of where he was.

There wasn't much more that he could recall anyways, it was all rather mysterious. 

'Oh well great job Connor you really make such a great detective.'

However when he said his name in his own mind he heard another voice come from every part of the world.

[Welcome!]

[Congratulations on entering the Obelisk your new home.]

[You may choose to participate in the ascension or you may stay on the first floor forever.]

[yes or no]

[24:00:00]