Prologue

They say the end is never the end… that it's a new beginning.

I have operated on that thought process for the past 7 years.

7 years.

Yes, it's been that long since I was thrown into this shitty world with a single hope that there's heaven after this hell.

If I were asked what a real-life dystopia looks like, I would wear my mask, open the tightly sealed windowpanes, and show the place I call my neighborhood. The scenery of 22nd century Neo Japan fits the bill for a real-life dystopia perfectly. It is almost a picture-perfect dystopia.

The constant dark grey sky, the atmosphere filled with a layer of chemical-induced smog and other toxins and pollutants that can kill you if you breathe them without a filter or mask, dull buildings illuminated with neon lights, and the roads littered with death, decay, and hopelessness. 

This is the kind of world I woke up in one day.

Indeed, I am not a denizen of this world. Or rather, I wasn't. After 7 long years, I have more or less become one of the people of this world, even if there's a hidden fire that still burns in my chest, my only hope, that separates me from the hopeless people of this place who have given up and accepted their ill fates.

I was a simple human from the 21st century Earth who lived his days in peace and quiet, indulging in entertainment and acts of self-gratification— with the occasional sprinkles of mild suffering. I wasn't even a Japanese.

But one fateful day—or do I call it one accursed day, because it would also fit the bill quite well—I closed my eyes and didn't wake up in my home, in my body, or even in my world.

I had been whiskered away from my home and reality and thrown into this futuristic land filled with death, decay, and depravity.

But wait. This isn't the story of my suffering in a dystopian future of Earth. Well, not exactly. For the suffering is merely the prologue of this story.

Still, living in this harsh world has been… rough, to say the least.

No, that is indeed an enormous understatement.

Only the fact that I have a vague knowledge of this world—that this is merely the prelude before the real story begins; a harsh final test before I am led to the utopia that awaits me— is why I have survived in this dying hellhole for so long.

-x-

I unlocked the door by pressing a simple key on a glass panel filled with scratches from prolonged usage. As I entered my apartment, the lights in the hallway turned on immediately as they detected my presence.

Ah, technology. The one good thing this hellish world has… even with all the dark things associated with it.

I was so tired from work that I didn't have the energy to physically switch on the lights. So, it was one of the boons in this era that I didn't have to do that.

With the door locked and my dirty old shoes and gas mask placed on the small shelf near the door, I headed straight to the bathroom.

I need a hot bath. Screw the water and electricity bill this month. I won't be paying it anyway.

The fatigue I had been building from all the overtime I'd been doing these past few months was taking its toll on my body, apparent from the fact that I'd lost 10 KGs (about 22 pounds) in the past month alone, sending me definitively into the 'highly malnourished' category.

Not that I had the will remaining to care for such trifling matters anymore. But it was annoying to deal with the effects it caused which included occasional fainting, constant muscle pain, shitty metabolism, and lastly, my deteriorating mental health and emotional well-being.

It took some effort to give verbal instructions to the automatic water heater connected to my home AI, but in a mere 15 minutes the small bathtub—one of the few luxuries in this dingy apartment room I lived in—was prepared and I was ready to enter.

Not bothering with the long-lived Japanese traditions that stated that I must wash my body first before entering the warm bath, I simply sat inside, allowing my body some much-needed rest and relief.

"Ugh… fuck."

A subconscious groan, filled with a mixture of pleasure and pain in unequal parts, leaked through my lips as I felt the warm water soothing my tensed and beaten skinny body.

I ducked down further, letting my entire body sink in until I was neck-deep in the warm water. There wasn't enough space to fully stretch my legs, which would have been much welcomed right now, but even then, this was doing a fantastic job at relaxing my body and healing my damaged soul.

I closed my eyes and let my body and mind recover as my tired mind slowly calmed down the train of thoughts enough to allow me to doze in the water for a little while.

.

When I woke up, the water was already cold, and my body parts were starting to show signs of wrinkling.

With a somewhat tired and annoyed grunt, I left the tub and began drying as I idly watched the dirty water funneling down the drain.

On a small counter nearby where the mirror was situated, I glanced at my smartphone, finding 2 new messages. I ignored them. 

Even though smartphones were not exactly popular nowadays, thanks to the nano implants that allow oneself to have a mini supercomputer inside their brain, I could never really move past these things. I was too used to them so I bought one of the few models that were still in production. It was quite cheap, all things considered. However, I had gotten quite a few remarks on my 'traditional' choices from my colleagues due to that. Not that I cared.

I looked up in the mirror and saw my own reflection.

A pale, skinny man with twigs for appendages and a long sunken face. The unkempt short black hair, a pathetic stubble for a beard, and dull dark brown eyes that looked utterly sleep-deprived gave off a rather sad impression of my being and didn't do my already plain looks any good.

Ignoring all that, I turned my head a little sideways and brought the towel to my temple, cleaning around the implant I've had for nearly half a dozen years now.

Good thing they made these things able to withstand being in the water. I didn't want to imagine what would happen if it was short-circuited. It would likely fry my brain and nervous system. Not that such cases were common, but it had certainly happened over the years. However, these implants had been around for decades now and were more or less perfected for daily use. They were robust enough to shake off most accidents and rarely, if ever, malfunctioned. That's how much care was put into them.

*Grrrraaaw*

I held my empty stomach which seemed to be demanding food. I had skipped lunch today due to stomach ache and lack of time.

Ah, I should make something to eat. Since it's today, I think I will splurge on myself and cook an actual proper meal.

Today was an ordinary day by most accounts. There was nothing special about it.

For me, however, it was very special. Because today was the last day I had to suffer.

I was going to die today. 

.

.

.

In a sense, at least.

-x-