I was lost in a crowd of people. I couldn't see Aliana or Ethan. The guy who took me was some derpy dude, but I didn't sense any malice. He must've been intoxicated.
(Is this what Ethan was talking about?)
I hope they find me soon.
(I hate this.)
***
"Shit!!"
"Alicia!!"
(We gotta get her!)
"Damnit, out of the way!"
I pushed people aside, but they wouldn't move. Like ghosts, I couldn't affect them. Aliana and I had to weave through the crowd. I bumped into people, ducked under arms, and jumped over feet and legs. I had to keep an eye on Aliana and make sure I didn't lose her too.
"Ethan!"
I felt a firm grip on my forearm and flinched, but calmed myself. It was only Aliana.
"Hold on!!"
Like sailors in a turbulent ocean, we fought against the tide and made headway. I could barely see, but I saw Alicia's blue shirt.
"Hello, excuse me, fuck off!"
I collided against a group of people and they budged. I had less than a meter of room, but I propelled myself forward and tugged Aliana with me. We were finally closer, and I saw Alicia trying to escape as well.
"Alicia!!"
"Over here!!"
We cried for her name and she saw us. Sadly, the guy who kidnapped Alicia wouldn't let her go.
"Eeeyyyy, why not dance with me? Am I that booooring?"
The guy placed his hand on the small of Alicia's back, and held her hand as if slow dancing. For some reason, rage filled my heart.
"I'm sorry, I don't want to dance," Alicia said, trying to defuse the situation.
The guy frowned as if the words didn't make sense. Was he that stoned?
We finally arrived, and I hafta say, Aliana looked pissed. Her expression told me she wanted to snap the guy's spine. I wanted to stab him too, but we couldn't make a scene. Not yet, anyway. I approached the guy, ripped Alicia from his grasp, and proceeded to sock him in the stomach.
"Gwah!!"
He crumbled onto the ground, but I grabbed his arms and pulled him up. If this guy fell onto the floor, he would get trampled by the other party-goers. Murder wasn't my highest priority right now.
"Hey, man, what's your deal?"
My mind was reeling for an excuse. What could I say?
"Uh... dude. You broke the rules."
"What rules?"
The guy was taller than me (everyone is), but his face was quizzical. Could I actually get away with this? I reached into the recesses of my mind and recalled the comedy show known as "How I Met Your Mother."
"Dude, you broke the Bro Code."
"What? I did?"
I gently steered this stranger to a table and sat him down.
"Yeah, you broke an important rule. A bro never hits on another bro's girlfriend."
The guy began shaking his head "no," as if traumatized.
"Oh god, what did I do? What'll happen?"
"Well, you kinda broke the Bro Code. You might not qualify as a bro anymore."
[Constellation "Egyptian Thought" is interested in the Bro Code.]
[Constellation "Abyssal Black Flame Dragon" is laughing.]
"What? Am I no longer a bro? Am I a girl now?"
After saying that nonsensical thing, the dude began crying. Yep, he was high as a kite.
"Hey, dude, just - uh, drink away your troubles."
I grabbed a cup filled with suspicious liquid and gave it to him. Maybe if he got drunk or high enough, he'd forget us. I was about to leave him but felt guilty.
(Shit.)
The guy was still reeling from shock, so I tried to comfort him.
"Nah, you won't turn into a girl. Just don't grab random people and make them dance with you."
"Is that another Bro Code rule?"
(No, that's basic decency.)
"Here, eat this."
I slipped a pill into his mouth. If it worked properly, the pill would release drug-diffusing chemicals in his bloodstream, consuming any opioid-like substance in his system.
(Let's hope he's not a prick when he's lucid.)
I walked back to Alicia and Aliana and said, "Let's go."
We escaped this area and entered the next hallway. It was bad as before, maybe worse. Kids were lying down with dilated eyes and limp bodies.
(Looks like they're abusing the hard shit.)
I tried to walk past swiftly, but my foot skidded against a crunchy powder.
-!Krik!-
I looked down and saw my sneaker scrapping against a crystalline substance.
(Wait a minute.)
With a gloved hand, I reached for the ground and picked up a crystal. It was a rosy red with sharp edges.
(My god. I remember now.)
Once you increase your stats to a certain point, Earth by-products won't affect your physiology as much. This logic applied to alcohol, drugs, etc. So, how were these kids high? It's an easy answer: they were using substances from another world.
(Specifically, they're using Specter Stones.)
I shuddered. The Specter Stone is an item that makes the consumer a vaporous apparition, making the person momentarily impervious to damage. Sadly, ingesting the stone triggers the user's trauma and leads to insanity. You'd need strong mental skills or the help of another person. I remembered George's trauma. I missed him.
(I wonder if he's okay.)
"Ethan!" Alicia shout-whispered. "What is that?"
(How do I explain this concisely?)
"This is a Specter Stone. It creates the Illusionary Prison, which traps the consumer in their greatest trauma. Although," I looked at the kids lying prone, "it seems they reversed the stone's polarity and lessened its extent."
"What does that mean?"
"It means this: instead of showing the consumer's greatest trauma," I bent down and looked at a teenager's face, "it shows their greatest pleasure."
[Constellation "Egyptian Thought" is intrigued by this.]
[Constellation "Saviour of Corruption" is interested in this corruption.]
[Constellation "General-Slayer" is shaking their head.]
I stood up and confidently said, "Their expressions' are empty because they're not here. Their minds are elsewhere."
"Okay," Aliana said, "basically, they're on an LSD trip?"
"Yeah, but not exactly. If these kids used Specter Stones, it means it's hyper-realistic."
(What should we call this status effect?)
"I'd call it the Illusionary Pleasure."
"Okay, yay, you named something. Cool. Let's get out of here."
Aliana was about to walk past me, but I stopped her.
"Let me take the lead."
(We need to find Marcus, quick.)
Was Max here too? I hoped she wasn't. If Emily Pearson took Max, she'd be safe from here. God-loving freaks would surround her, but it'd be better than here. We walked to another hallway and saw a classroom filled with people. I quickly looked inside but felt sickened.
[Constellation "General-Slayer" is disgusted.]
In one classroom, there was an orgy commencing.
Alicia and Aliana were about to look in, but I stopped them.
"Don't look. Come on."
As we walked away, I began to think. Orgies? Drugs? Losing yourself in a false reality? I chuckled to myself. Maybe it was a scoff.
(These are normal things.)
They are not normal in the acceptable sense. They're normal in the sense that they happen. Escapism is common in a socially detached world, especially if society is cruel. If people are not using their screens, they are indulging in different vices. Sex, money, drugs, etc. These are detrimental factors of modern society, and they existed before the Fall. What about now? In a time when humans were decimated, world order was destroyed, and a new system was introduced, how would the majority cope?
(It's an easy answer. They'll use escapism.)
Some people can't handle the cruel world. They'll seek comfort. Sadly, people will go too far.
(In the end, am I better than these people?)
As we passed more hallways and classrooms, I saw sinful sights. I do not indulge like them, but I escaped this unforgiving world in my own way. I reached into my pocket and gripped my smartphone.
(I need to stop thinking so deeply.)
Obscene noises permeated the hallway. The music shifted from loud pop songs to slow beats, creating a different atmosphere.
I looked back and saw Alicia shudder from the discomfort. Aliana was trying to appear aloof and collected.
(I probably look detached.)
Should I activate Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint? If I could read thoughts, maybe I could pinpoint Marcus's.
(Although, I might read some... undesirables.)
"Ah, fuck it."
"Wha?"
"You two, I'm about to do something. Just stand still."
[You have activated "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint" Lv. 3!]
I began reading some stray thoughts, and I wished I didn't.
["Aaahh!~!"]
["Yes!"]
["Oh God, more!!"]
["It was so quick..."]
(Fuck, I hate this, I hate this, I hate this-)
So many stray thoughts entered my view, displaying sentences I do not wish to see. One of the worst feelings in the world is reading something you don't want.
Like a swimmer fighting against the current, I fought against the invasive thoughts. I imagined, thought of, and painted him within my inner eye.
(Marcus. Where are you?) I thought to myself.
["E-ethan?"]
An errant thought entered my view - it was so small, so fleeting. How?
"Marcus!!"
I followed it until it became bigger. The thought was silent text, but it morphed into a voice.
["Ethan? I thought I heard him."]
["It's nothing, Marcus. Pay attention to me. Drink this too."]
I shuddered as I ran. I knew that dialogue. It was in a chapter of ASS called "Nefarious Vice." One person spoke it, an utter sinner.
(Alexa Demin.)
I ran through the hallways, Alicia and Aliana trailing behind. I might've trampled the arms and legs of some teenagers, but I couldn't care less. There was only one person I wanted to save. Everyone else... everyone else was garbage to me.
(Where is he?!)
"Marcus!! Marcus!!"
My shouting flew into the dark hallways, but they were consumed like birds in a tiger's mouth. As if mocking me, I saw the following text.
["Here, Marcus, drink this!"]
["Wait, no, I don't want i-"]
(No!! Don't drink it!)
["Ethan? Eeeethaa--"]
The voice began to slur, and became incoherent.
[U se he at vi sion.]
(That's right!! My stigma!)
[Stigma "Flames of Muspellheim" has been activated!]
I mastered the power of fire and sensed the heat surrounding me. I saw so many bodies in infrared, but I searched for one lifeform - a tall, lanky young man who was 6 feet tall.
(There!!)
After turning my head like a lighthouse, I saw an infrared shape that matched Marcus's build.
"Come on! Follow me!"
I also saw the infrared shape of a bitch.