It was unnaturally dark outside, as though the moon and street lamps didn't work. The light emitted from them was extremely dim, reducing visibility to a bare minimum. A lone boy was walking on a sidewalk, somewhat disturbed by the unusual state of his environment. Soon, a black figure emerged in his field of view, getting closer and closer with tremendous speed. The boy couldn't discern anything about the figure. It looked like a blur, most likely because of the darkness. Almost instantaneously, the figure passed him and he felt something hit his head.

Michael's eyes snapped open. He was covered in cold sweat, his heart was pounding hard and he felt an acute sense of aching all over his body.

'It was a nightmare. It was not real. It was not real.' He kept saying that to himself in order to calm down. He rarely had nightmares, and when he did, most times something bad was going to happen in the close future. Of course, he just passed those things as coincidences, as he wasn't really a superstitious person. Nightmares were just that; dreams,having no meaning and corellation to anything whatsoever.

Looking at the clock, Michael realised that he had to get ready for school.

'What a shitty way to start my day, huh? Well, it doesn't matter, I can't let a simple nightmare ruin my mood.'

Still disturbed, he went off to school, where he couldn't pay attention to anything. The thought that something bad was approaching was still lingering on his mind, and there was nothing to be done about it. Luckily, it was an easy day, and he didn't need to concentrate that much. Everything was ad usual.

After school was over, Michael had private lessons. He knew that he needed them, as he wasn't an academically gifted kid, and he didn't really complain, even though he basically studied the entire day. After the private lessons ended, he immediately went off, wanting to reach his house as soon as possible, as it was pretty late. It was already dark outside, and Michael had a bad feeling, although he couldn't quite figure out what it was. While on a sidewalk, he saw a person approaching.

'A slightly wobbling walk, a bottle in his hand and unfocused eyes. This person is definitely drunk. I should steer clear of him, but if I cross the street now I may attract his suspicion and make him follow me. Right now, my only choice is to ignore him if he tries anything.' Just as he thought that, Michael heard a voice:

"Oy kid got any money?"

Michael remembered the dream, and began to run. He although he didn't do any sports, he was still in his prime years, so a drunk person with no sense of balance couldn't outrun him. The man, seeming to lose interest, didn't follow him, so Michael arrived home safely. Tired, he wanted to go straight to bed, but he knew that he was supposed to eat something first, so he opened the fridge and took something to eat. In the absence of a phone, which had no battery, the boy was alone with his thoughts. All his life, he followed a schedule, a schedule created by his parents. Or rather, acted like he followed it, as his parents were rarely home and couldn't check on him. His entire life was based on distractions: phone while eating, studying, music while walking, school when supervised, and so on. Rarely where moments like this when he could actually reflect on his life, and what he achieved. And for a good reason: he didn't achieve anything, had nothing to show for, and no passion. No purpose nor motivation to do anything. But it was okay. These thoughts were bound to dissapear as soon as his phone would charge. Tomorrow, everything would be the same. It's the start of a new day, after all. And with a new day come new possibilities, right? As he was about to cut a new piece of bread, Michael used the knife to repeatedly stab himself in the stomach. He didn't really have a reason, he just felt like it. As for everybody, he had intrusive thoughts, but his were way more vivid. He could control them in usual circumstances, but now he was tired and didn't have that much self control.

'It isn't my fault... I'm just tired.'

While thinking that, he lost consciousness and died.

Immediately after, a void surrounded Michael. He couldn't see, feel, hear, touch or smell anything. He was completely deprived of all his senses.

'Is this hell? Did I really end up in hell? Cause this sure doesn't look like heaven.'

Michael wasn't really a religious person, but he believed in the concept of god, heaven and hell, so he naturally assumed that he was in some sort of afterlife.

Suddenly, multiple deafening voices began to manifest in his head.

[POTENTIAL VESSEL DETECTED

CHECKING COMPATIBILITY

1%...

5%...

13%...

28%...

50%...

67%...

89%...

99%...

100%

COMPATIBLE VESSEL DETECTED

TYPE: 𝙊 𝙈 𝙀 𝙂 𝘼]

Michael couldn't understand anything.A sharp pain encompassed his head. It felt like it was about to explode. The voices all relayed the same message, simultaneously.

Some were robotic, some were distorted, high-pitched, low-pitched and some were simply alien, indescribable.Michael was overwhelmed, having no idea what was going on.

[ANALYSING VESSEL PERSONALITY]

[SEARCHING FOR A CORRESPONDING [O M E G A] ABILITY]

ABILITY CHOSEN

BEGINNING SYNCHRONIZATION IN 3... 2.... 1.... 0]

Michael lost consciousness yet again.