The lock clicked shut behind Merline.
Finally home from work.
He inhaled deeply, allowing the familiar temperature and scent to calm him down. A wave of exhaustion washed over him, reminding him that the stress from dinner with his parents two nights ago still lingered.
Not to mention, Mr. Henderson was particularly bent out of shape today.
He grumbled as he kicked off his shoes and thought about enduring another day of various pressures at the office the next day. Even though Henderson's demands seemed completely unreasonable at times, and it was exhausting, he refused to let it beat him down.
Bending down, Merline grabbed his shoes before moving to the closet and setting them on the rack. He hung his work bag on its hook and noted that the leather was looking to be at the end of its life expectancy. Each scuff was like a battle scar from the daily grind.
Merline chuckled at the thought, thinking that the scars looked cool and that he preferred the worn look.
Stripping down quickly, he walked through the closet and into the bathroom, the cool tiles urging him to jump in the shower. He hopped in the shower and let the water wash away the tension and frustrations of the day. As he liked to do on particularly frustrating days, he stayed in the shower longer than necessary.
Stepping out of the shower, he put on some comfy clothes and lit a candle. These were the familiar comforts he craved. No more starched collars or restrictive slacks. Just him, his space, and several hours of free time to do whatever he wanted.
Grabbing the dirty clothes, Merline dumped them in the laundry basket and walked back into the living room. He ruffled his shaggy brown hair, ensuring it wouldn't dry in some crazy way.
"Hey Siri, turn on my Upbeat Playlist," he called out as he crossed the open space toward the kitchen.
It's definitely a night for simple comforts.
He grabbed a pack of instant noodles from the pantry. The sound of crinkling plastic was drowned out by the AJR song coming over the TV speakers.
A few minutes later, he carefully navigated back to his desk, cradling the steaming bowl of noodles. Merline set the bowl down, mindful of the keyboard and various knickknacks arranged on the desk's surface.
Unlike the one at work, the desk at his apartment was his sanctuary. There, he could lose himself for hours, pouring his heart onto paper or losing his worries in the games on his PC.
Despite his excitement for free time and the hobbies that could fill it, exhaustion tugged at his bones. Once the bowl was settled and he was sure there was no chance of spilling it on the keyboard, Merline promptly flopped face-down onto his bed. The crisp, clean scent of sheets helped him to relax for a moment.
I'm clean, and my space is clean. I have money in my bank account, friends, and free time. I'm fine. Everything is fine.
With a sigh, Merline rolled over onto his back and propped his feet on the desk chair while digging his phone out of his sweatpants pocket. Seeking a distraction, he scrolled through social media. The glow of the screen lit up his face as he got swept into the never-ending feed of posts and stories. He saw snippets of lives carefully curated and presented for him to see. He felt a twinge of envy even though he knew half of what he saw was fake.
Before he fully lost himself to doom-scrolling, the scent of noodles pulled him back to the present—a reminder that, for now, this was his favorite place to be.
As he ate, he heard a chime from his phone and glanced at the screen.
Mark: Dude, where are you? The new season patch just dropped. Get on!
He groaned, pushed himself up in the chair, and grabbed his headphones. As he put them on, the world shrank and the music from the living room faded out.
His computer hummed, and the screens lit up his face. Just a few clicks later, he was in the lobby.
"All right, all right, I'm here," he said, slurping the last of his noodles. "What's up? New dungeon look tough?"
Mark laughed, his mic coming through crystal clear. "Brutal, apparently. Giant spiders, exploding mushrooms, the works."
"Bring on the spiders," Merline said. "Been waiting for the new season for weeks, man. Oh hey, did you get a chance to check out that character design I sent you?"
"The fire mage? Yeah, man. Sick concept. The flames look awesome. Your digital skills have really taken off since school."
"Thanks," Merline said with pride. "The hardest part was how the flames changed the lighting in the drawing. I really wanted to make it pop."
They played for a while, working their way through the challenging new season of their favorite game.
Merline started feeling bored and wondered if he should hop off when Mark seemed to catch his mood.
"How was it at the office today? I'm so glad they sent me on this business trip."
"Same old, same old," Merline groaned. "Henderson really pisses me off sometimes, though. The Pearson project is just a shitshow, I swear."
"Speaking of shitshow," Mark said. "Did you see the news on The Nexus Hub today? More Rift stuff and it was pretty big. The video caused a huge stir and then was taken down, but the moderators say it wasn't them."
"Oh really? What was the video? I caught the tail end of a report the other night at my parent's place, but it was about some new government initiative program."
"Dude, they're saying these 'Awakened' are people who literally have powers from the Rifts. Like actual superpowers. Telekinesis, energy blasts, the whole nine yards."
"Well, that's not really new; we've been hearing about that stuff for a few weeks."
"Yeah, but…" Mark paused dramatically, "Someone posted a video on The Nexus Hub of them using magic."
"Seriously?" Merline asked, his voice rising. "And they took it down?"
"Dead serious. But once something's on the internet, it's never really gone. Check your messages."
Merline's phone buzzed, and he opened his messages to see a video file.
"You saved it?"
"Well, someone else did. But I found it pretty quick after I saw that the post was taken down. I didn't want to let it slip by! Come on, watch it before I have to go."
When Merline opened it, three figures were clearly visible in what looked like an abandoned quarry. Dust and scrub brush surrounded them.
Maybe somewhere out West?
One of the boys glanced at the camera, and Merline noted that they looked like teenagers.
"Bruh, you recording yet?"
A thumbs-up appeared in view from the cameraman.
The boy in the center laughed a bit nervously. He held out his right hand and grasped the wrist with his left as if to steady himself.
"Firebolt!"
For a moment, nothing happened. A pinpoint of light bloomed in the air in front of the boy's palm. It grew rapidly into a blinding white sphere, and then it stretched, morphing into a fiery red dart of energy.
Merline's held his breath and he leaned forward in his chair.
Merline heard a hissing sound through the audio, like air escaping a tire. The air around the boy's hand shimmered. Then, his clothes and hair fluttered as if caught by a gust of wind. Without further warning, the red bolt streaked past the gray surroundings of the quarry.
There was a beat of silence before a distant crack echoed through the speakers. As the projectile slammed into the far wall, it erupted into a shower of sparks and dust, leaving a clear scorch mark on the flat stone.
The camera began to shake violently as the boys exploded into cheers and excited chatter. Merline could barely make out their words as they called out over one another. The video ended abruptly, leaving him staring at the last frame, his heart in his throat.
Fuck.
Magic. Real magic. Not illusions or digital editing, but raw magical power.
Even after seeing it, the thought felt insane.
The implications weighed heavily on him, and he wondered if he could ever be part of something like this.
Yeah, right. My superpower would be turning into a doormat or something lame like that.
"Mark," he managed to say after a few long moments of silence. "What—what was that?"
"Told ya!" Mark said, the excitement in his voice clear. "They're calling them 'Awakened,' and those powers that they use are called 'skills.' Apparently, some people can just… do that now. Like, we're really in some sort of fantasy world."
Mark needed to go, and Merline barely registered his parting words. Something about needing to meet a client tomorrow and that he'd be back next week. Merline's mind was still stuck on the video as he replayed it, watching it in slower motion as he scrubbed through the video with the bar at the bottom. The way the light gathered in the boy's hand, the hiss of energy, the sheer force of the impact—it all just seemed so impossible, yet there it was: real video proof.
He leaned back, his chair creaking in protest, and ran his hands through his hair.
Excitement bubbled up in his chest, and his interest was piqued. He moved the now-empty bowl of noodles to the side of his desk and opened a new browser tab.
The Nexus Hub website was easy to navigate, but as the night went on, he realized the forums lacked concrete information. Most of what was on the site seemed to be speculation or second-hand reporting. There were a lot of reposts from other more established news sites. The site's purpose was to compile all of the information related to Rifts.
Is someone intentionally filtering the articles or posts? Why would they even do that?
Merline felt his curiosity pulling him down the rabbit hole. He clicked into any interesting threads, stubbornly pursuing every piece of information he could. He was eager to escape the monotony of his everyday life, even if it was only for a moment.