"Ah, what a mess!" A young man exclaimed as he sat on an exquisite bench. Dark circles covered his eyes as he stared at the park in front of him.
Inside the park, he could see quite a lot of children playing. Living their childhood like bliss. As if nothing was ever wrong. Every now and then, the rich people living in this part of the city stole glances at him with weird and somewhat distorted expressions; their disdain was clear-cut.
Asher, in his torn clothes that smelled horrible while also being severely pale and skinny, really made him look out of place here. After all, living in the outer districts was no joke.
"What am I even doing here?" Asher said in exasperation as he stood up and started to stroll towards the police station.
The walls of the police station were crafted with silverish metal plates. Even the gate, which was open, also was made of reinforced metal. Making it very hard to break through. Almost as tough as a fortress.
As he entered, the first thing that came into view was a policeman along with some other people whom Asher didn't really know, nor did he care. They weren't wearing the uniform, atleast.
The policeman's face immediately broke into a frown, with visible disdain reeking through his eyes. That's how those in the outer districts were treated. Nothing special for Asher.
"Any problems?" The policeman said while maintaining the same expression, unsurprisingly.
Asher looked around curiously; his eyes gleamed as he looked at the furnishly designed interior of the facility. The spruce colors of the wall, along with the floor engrossed by a brown carpet with the firepit on the side, made it a cozy and warm facility. Completely opposite to what it looked outside.
"It would be better if you bothered to reply, kid." The policeman exclaimed with a loud voice before coughing twice.
Asher then scratched his head and closed his eyes as if trying to remember something.
"Uhh, well, uhh," Asher muttered as if trying to remember something.
Suddenly, he made an expression as he remembered the words.
"As said by the announcement on 2025 on the Solar Calender. I am here to give myself to the security due to me having caught the curse of fermentation."
Instantly, the policeman's face paled as he looked at Asher with extreme caution.
"When did you start showing the symptoms?" The policeman said with a piercing gaze of cautiousness.
Asher shrugged.
"A couple of weeks?"
The officer became visibly paler than before. With a practiced hurried motion, he immediately pressed the button on his terminal and shouted.
"Attention Hawks! We have an infected here! I repeat, WE HAVE AN INFECTED HERE!"
—---
Half a century ago, the world was peaceful. Every single person was having the most blissful life they could have expected. This was because the planet was recovering from World War 3.
However, out somewhere in the Universe. Millions of lightyears away. Something emerged from the Void. Especially from the Great Nothingness.
Countless creatures came out, as large as stars, while some were bigger than galaxies. The entirety of Existence seemed to be wiped out until the hidden civilisations came out.
Humans were not the only race in this universe. For many millennia, humans theorised that they might be the only intelligent species in all of existence. However, should that be the case. The entirety of existence would've been wiped out on that very day.
Yet, many civilisations came out. So advanced that humanity looked like cavemen to them. However, those civilisations had some things humanity was never really introduced to.
'Essence'
A form of energy that only existed should diversity exist, which can be manipulated to do almost anything.
As such, as the other civilisations fought, the monsters dwelled in the depths of the Abyss. Humanity adapted to this energy and became powerful. And then, humanity advanced like never before. Massacring many monsters like nothing.
Yet they kept coming.
However, as humanity adapted to 'Essence'. Many problems also arose in the meantime.
Chaotic fermentation. A disease in which the Essence inside someone becomes chaotic. Resulting in the death of the given individual. However, should one adapt to this disease, one would become immensely powerful. But the problem here is that when someone dies, the given individual goes through a genetic mutation, resulting in that person becoming a monster, just like those that came out from the void.
The rich families and even the middle-class families have their children get this disease. Since this disease is based on the willpower and mental health of the person. A person with a good past is much more likely to survive. Along with enough nutrition, survival is basically guaranteed.
However, in the case of Asher, he never really had any sort of childhood. His mental health is also not the best. Eating rats and rotten vegetables doesn't increase life expectancy and mental health, now does it? So basically, this was a death sentence for Asher instead of an opportunity.
—----
A few minutes later, Asher was yawning while several officers were busy putting him in restraints. Soon, he was fastened to a metallic chair that looked like a torture device. The room they were situated in right now was the basement of the police station. Here, the walls were back to reinforced plates, unlike the interior from before.
However, Asher could not care much about that particularly. He just realised how much he wanted to sleep at the moment.
Soon, the vault door opened as another officer entered the room. The officer had brown and grey hair and looked in his middle ages. He had a seasoned face and stern eyes, looking as if he had seen many terrible things in life.
"What's your name?"
Asher blinked twice and replied with a yawn.
"Asher Ashborne"
The policeman raised one of his eyebrows.
"That's a unique name."
Asher shrugged and then added:
"What's so unique about it? I atleast have a name. Back in my place, you don't even get names that often."
The policeman panted.
"Want me to contact your family?"
Asher, with another deep yawn, shook his head.
"Don't bother, no one's alive."
The policeman suddenly had a dark look on his face, but then it instantly turned into a grim expression.
"Since we don't have much time. Let's begin with the important information. The moment you go asleep in approximately five minutes. You will be in an illusionary world. In that world, you have to stay alive as long as possible. Because in the meantime, your body will try to adapt to the chaotic essence inside of you. Also-"
Before the policeman could finish, Asher's eyes closed…
He had gone asleep.