The inside of the restaurant was almost empty as usual, making him wonder why such a good restaurant with delicious food would be so empty every day.
As he stepped in, a menu appeared before him:
[Contact in progress]
[.....]
"What fucking contact?"
Before he could react, he began feeling weak. His feet became light, and his upper body very heavy. He struggled to take a step forward, but it was fruitless as he fell to the ground unconscious.
Before losing consciousness, he battled and attempted to stop or turn off whatever was causing his weakness, especially since General Xalvador was due to arrive. He couldn't afford to be weak, let alone absent.
He remembered seeing the Contact Button blinking in the menu before him. "What more does the Mistress want from me?" He cursed, trying to press the button, hoping it would stop the process temporarily, but it was to no avail.
He pressed more and more buttons until the screen before him turned red. "Fuck!!!" He screamed.
As he continued to scream, he became unconscious, and the next moment he was awake. It was as if he had glitched.
Upon opening his eyes, he found himself in a vast, empty place.
He stood up, scanning the area, but found himself surrounded by nothing but blue sand. No mountains or signs of life were in sight.
"Where the hell is this place?" he wondered, his thoughts echoing around him. At first, he thought he might be hallucinating from hitting his head when he fell.
"Have the Mistress made some few adjustments in her domain?"
"Viza? Are you there?" he called out, but received no response. It dawned on him that he was truly alone.
Deciding to explore, he took a cautious step forward. To his surprise, his feet sank into the sand, yet remained visible as if the ground was made of elastic plastic.
With each step, he sank further into the sand, the sensation becoming strangely enjoyable. But as he took his third step, the ground's response changed. It felt as if the sand was trying to push him out.
He quickened his pace, but each step became increasingly difficult. Determined to escape whatever danger lurked, he broke into a run, hoping to find safety in this mysterious place—if there was any to be found.
"Oh, Fuck! Fuck!"
"No, no, no!" he repeated in his mind as he ran, but each thought echoed throughout the place. He realized either he was thinking aloud or the place was somehow connected to his mind.
As he continued running, he noticed the ground beneath him changing from blue to red. "That can't be good," he thought, the words reverberating in the eerily silent landscape.
Frustrated, he turned and attempted to shout, "Who the hell is there?" but his voice failed him. Try as he might, not even a whisper escaped his lips.
Panic set in as he realized he was trapped in a silent world, where only his thoughts echoed back at him. His heart pounded loudly, its rhythm the only sound aside from the muted thud of his footsteps.
"Is this Heaven?" he pondered, his mind racing with questions. "Has another Master or Mistress offered me a new deal?"
"Or perhaps, I fear, Did General Xalvador somehow trapped my soul using the Soul Sword?"
These and many more thoughts ran through his mind.
As he stepped onto the red sand, the ground solidified, and everything returned to normal—except for his inability to speak. But who was there to speak to in this desolate place? Nothing but the echoes of his own thoughts.
As he continued contemplating, he heard his voice speaking from within the corners of the empty place. This time, it wasn't the echo of his thoughts but an actual conversation.
"Yo!"
"Ah, screw it!"
"I'm obsessed with you!"
"I mean it!"
He could hear himself saying, and then a gentle voice began responding—definitely the voice of a female, Keyla to be precise.
"Who are you? Dion?"
He heard her say.
"What is this place?" he wondered aloud.
The voice began emanating from a particular point, a few distances in front of him. A bright light emitted from the convergence point, drawing his attention.
"...But these are something else."
"Come on, just once. You won't regret it."
He could hear his voice and Keyla speaking, when suddenly a third voice interrupted—Chris's voice saying, "Anything for a buddy!"
Even his boss's voice chimed in, "Let Dion lead the rest; he's better than you all!"
"I fucking hate you!" came Raymond's voice, one of his colleagues who had always harbored animosity toward Dion.
The voices were like a reflection of his mind, recounting moments from his life but in the voices of the men he shared those moments with.
He was curious enough; he wanted to see what the light was displaying. He decided to take a few steps closer.
As he began walking, the voices began overlapping and becoming noisy. He could barely recognize his voice or that of Keyla amidst the cacophony.
As he got closer, the light dimmed, and the voices gradually died down. He rushed forward, noticing this change, but it seemed that the phenomenon responded to his proximity—the closer he got, the faster the light disappeared.
Where the light had been, a solid ground now lay.
"What the heck?" he complained, perplexed by the sudden shift.
He trampled heavily upon the ground as if knocking on the door to the light, but there was no response. As he continued hitting his foot against the ground, he heard a voice in the distance, one that sounded somewhat familiar.
The first time it wasn't very clear, but the second time, he recognized it as Viza's voice, saying, [Rebooting in progress].
As he heard those words, his legs began crumbling and disappearing into thin air. "What is happening?" he wondered. Before he knew it, he fell to the ground unconscious once again, unsure of where he would appear next.