SPL Chapter 2 Heading Out

  The bck band instantly tightened around his skin the moment it was pced upon it, with various information appearing within his retinas. He ignored all of it in favor of pulling on the handle of the drawer beneath the machine, inside of which only a single item was situated, one which caused a slight palpitation to his heartbeat.

  He plopped down on the side of his unmade bed and picked up that single item, which was a book, a tome that was heavy and rge. It had a faded yellow color and creases upon its hard cover, serving as a testament to its advanced age. In this day and age, paperbacks were rare, with most of the existing ones in museums, preservation libraries, and the rich with a penchant for collection.

  A heavy breath left his nostrils as he beheld his most treasured possession. His fingers traced the rough texture of the hard front cover, then onto the letters making up the title, and finally, the etching made from woven golden threads, in the image of a Sun.

  THE LEGEND OF MUSANA.

  That was the title etched right above the woven sun. The title had also been woven from golden colored threads. Within this book that was written in such an outndish way, the secrets of Spirit Lords had been hidden. It was one of the reasons that he had had a hard time getting his hands on it. Those in authority didn't want more people to awaken. Those who knew, knew. Those who didn't... Let's just say that they stayed in their own world.

  With deliberately slowed movements, he opened to the first page, with the single sentence printed on the white paper eliciting a jump in his heartbeat, which afterwards accelerated.

  (Legends are made, not born.)

  This phrase had kept him going ever since he had first walked into that company 8 years ago, fresh off graduation. It was what had motivated him to keep saving his stash of money even though there had been many temptations. He could have left these destitute apartments. He could have gone for a vacation atleast once. He could have hopped onto the dating scene and bagged himself a woman. Though, that would have been limited to his colleagues, as he knew no one outside of that circle. His cssmates... Those had most probably even forgotten about his existence.

  He could have given up his goal because of the many temptations and setbacks, yet, the daily routine of gazing upon this single line of words had made his mind firmer than most.

  With a powerful glow radiating from his eyes, surrounded by dark circles, he closed the book and pced it back into the drawer. He stood up and gazed at the unmade bed with flickering eyes, his thoughts inscrutable. Ultimately, a sigh escaped his lips before he removed the bnket, dropping it onto the floor, and started making his bed. It seems that the internal responsibility war had been worn by a faction.

  A few minutes ter, he was out the door with an empty stomach. Though, atleast he would manage to grab the cafeteria breakfast.

  Upon turning round after making sure that the software driven lock had worked this time, a gring red light filled his vision, spilling from the massive dy across, ying upon a bed of nothingness, draped in a strapped red gown with a long slit that reached all the way to her waist, in a posture that made certain to expose her creamy white thighs while leaving the area in the to the imagination. His expression didn't change at the hologram. It had been his companion for countless years to the point that he had gotten used to it. Those captivating crystalline ruby pupils and the long dark hair had long lost their pce in his fantasies.

  Moving his gaze below, he could see a man in disheveled clothing getting out of the building across the street above which, the holographic dy perched. There were many that would think of the red light businesses as their first pces to get rid of their pent up stress, but he wasn't among them.

  He walked closer to the balcony, gazing down at the nearly empty streets with a dull gaze while he waited. Within his retinas, there was still about a minute before the ptform could become operational.

  His gaze moved towards the sky, where endless darkness greeted him, with nothing like stars in the sky, instead, a gleaming dark metallic body. Another sigh escaped his lips, coupled with a shake of his head. How he longed to once again gaze upon the stars, the sun, and the moon. That thing above should have been capable of moving yet it had decided to stay in the north. There were many bare pieces of nd outside the urban areas where it could float, not to mention Lake Victoria in the south, yet it just had to stay above this pce!

  Hot breath left his lips, faintly visible in the chilly morning air. A deep breath was taken to clear away the thoughts that were threatening to ruin his barely held together resolve.

  His ears twitched as a sound made by a sliding door entered his ears, attracting his attention towards the left side behind him, where a figure, cd in a long dark overcoat and a pair of mittens walked out of the apartment next to his. After making certain that her lock had also been engaged, she moved to join him.

  "Morning, Mr. Eric!"

  "Morning, Ms. Eve"

  Eve was a woman with fair skin as opposed to his chocote colored one. She had a head of long green hair and soft green eyes that were simultaneously both sharp and soft.

  After that greeting, no one said anything to each other as they waited. It was the norm here. Everyone was so stressed by life that they didn't have the time to engage in small talk. Eric's gaze traveled back down into the street, where a bunch of white colrs like himself were making their way towards their respective work pces.

  Something descended from above, stopping just at level with the balcony they were standing on. It was a white ptform, four square meters in size, with railings on the side, serving as handholds, yet at the same time as defence against falling. The paint on the railings had become worn, especially the pces were human hands had touched. The balcony railing slid to the side at this juncture, allowing Eric to take a step onto the ptform, followed by Eve. If this area hadn't been almost abandoned by the authorities, the ndlord here would have been sent to prison a long time ago. After all, how could a building ck even the most basic of stairs in case of an emergency?

  'Hopefully, after today, I could be leaving this pce.' thought Eric as the ptform descended down below.

  When they alighted onto the ground, the device floated back up while a vehicle appeared, stopping just beside the street. It was a levitating taxi.

  "Do you sleep, old Jon?"

  Eric walked away from that conversation between Eve and her driver, missing the subsequent developments. Yet, barely five steps ahead, something in his vision brought a wide grin onto his face and an excited gleam into his eyes.

  "Mutty boy, It seems like today isn't a good day for you, is it?" he mumbled as he walked towards the figure that had elicited such a reaction out of him. It was a small white dog, with its fur interspersed with light blue and pink spots of irregur size. The spots weren't a result of a dye, instead being a result of the owner jumping onto the genetic alteration fad a few years back.

  The mutt had been in the middle of raising its hind leg onto the wall, about to blissfully release the contents of its bdder, yet looking at him, it had frozen in pce. Chuckles escaped his lips as he gazed at its odd posture before bending his knees and trying to leap at it, upon which the dog turned around, running off in fear.

  "Today, I win. It seems like it will be a good day." He moved along, humming a happy tune.

  A few minutes ter, he found himself before the majesty of the building within which his workpce was housed. It wasn't tall, just five stories short, owing to the rule pced by those above because of the metallic superstructure above them. But it was massive, occupying dozens of acres of nd.