Chapter Text
For the first time in his 21 years, Techno finally felt like things were going well for him. With a nice(ish) house, a fiancé who he loved dearly, and a bit of stability in his finances, things were looking bright for him. He even had a routine he sorta followed! Wake up at some point, have a glass of dollar store coffee while he listens to the radio and cleans his messes from the night before, and go to work before he’s late.
Techno, now, was working at an auto repair shop. Was he particularly good with cars? He couldn’t say himself. But he was comfortable in his work, and it brought in good money. It was a decent enough job for himself and his dearest.
Thursday, July 16th. That date forever sticks with him. While starting his routine, waking up around 9:45 in the morning, the radio was blasting a sort of alarm. He swears to this day that he’s never ran down his stairs as fast as he did that day.
The words coming through the radio were almost incoherent, muffled by the blaring an annoyingly high pitched noise that Techno could only assume was to catch attention.
“It sure did it’s job..” He couldn’t help but think to himself.
He adjusted the volume and stations, trying to find a sweet spot where he could hear the message coming through. It took time, and patience that was thinning from the noise, but after a few minutes a station came through.
“...Accident has happened at a lab located near San Francisco, California. A gas that could be potentially life threatening to humans is surging through the skies as scientists scramble to find a fix to this fatal flaw. Head of the Departmen-”
Techno turned off the radio quickly, leaving the blaring noise and incoherent noises to their business. One thought rushed through his brain.
His fiancé, unnamed for purposes, was a RN at their local hospital. Techno didn’t know, or care at this point, if they had heard the warnings yet. He also knew that they wouldn’t leave that hospital until they knew every patient was safe. So, Techno did what he did best, and he sped to go get them out.
The streets were packed, cars with popped trunks and people crammed into seats that didn’t exist littered the streets. Groups of people in hoodies and tight pants ran between the traffic, hauling bags on their shoulders to get out of the state as fast as they possibly could. The hysteria around…. Techno couldn’t believe it. Neighbors he’s seen as calm, collected people sobbed, inching towards other cars, trying their very hardest to force movement.
Techno stood out like a sore thumb as he moved his car out of the way for whoever wanted to try to navigate this…. Mess. He picked up his phone instead, dialing his fiancé's number. Again, and again, and again. Nothing.
“You’ve got to be fucking me.” He spoke to himself, gripping his phone with a force he didn’t know he had in him. Techno looked around his garage, grabbing a cloth to hold over his mouth and nose when he went outside. Whatever this gas was, it wasn’t one he wanted to try. He decided that running was the better option, even if it was dangerous with whatever was out in the open.
As he navigated through the tightly packed traffic, he saw devastating sights. Whole families, children, pets even, all screaming at each other, trying to communicate, trying to do anything. Techno almost stopped, debating to himself if it was even worth it. If he was risking his life for nothing. Thoughts of his fiancé being out in this rushed through his brain, them huddled with their coworkers, with their patients even. Them suffocating in the hysteria..
The sounds of a loud crash pulled him from the thought. A truck was going at least 50 through this crowd, hitting any car in its way. He could see flames emerging from one of the cars in its path, another completely flattened. Techno thanked himself for deciding to run.
And that he did. He wasn’t quite sure where he was going, and he definitely didn’t have supplies, but he ran. The sides of streets, over cars, through crowds, anything and everything to get out of the area and to the hospital. The small rag was long disregarded, he only saw it as an obstacle. He must’ve ran a marathon and a half, he thought. Adrenaline and the blaring of car alarms kept him going.
Until he saw it.
She couldn’t have been older than 10 years old. Her mother, or who he assumed was her mother, sobbed as the child coughed up anything in her system. Blood spewed out, chunks of god knows what came out and splattered onto the older woman’s face. Techno watched in what he describes today as horror as the color drained from the child’s face and body. She died, in her mother’s arms.
But she didn’t fully die.
The skin around her eyes, her bones, everything seemingly possible sunk in. It stuck to her bones like her blood was superglue. And she only stopped moving momentarily, before her arms flung out erratically. She looked like she was almost seizing, flailing in the other’s arms. The mother jerked herself backwards, half-setting-half-throwing the child on the floor.
The noises were the worst. The mix of the traffic nearby is still alarming, the mother’s fearful shrieks, the child’s painful moaning and incoherent calling. It seemed like she was… decomposing. Rapidly, at a rate Techno- anyone, really- has ever seen before. A small group of people have gathered around them now, all watching in disgust of what was happening to this small girl. The noise of people throwing up, sobbing, whispers of confusion and “We need to get out” surrounded Techno as the girl regained autonomy.
She was crawling, certain joints looking hypermobile, towards the mother. She was backing away, muttering no’s to the creature that once was a small girl.
After that was.. A blur. Nothing registered, besides the blood that consumed the two on the ground, the screams, the shrieks of pain and panic, and the running. So much running.
Techno ran until the soles of his shoes felt wobbly, and he could see the sun going down. There was a small group he ran with for awhile, addressing themselves as Dream and Sapnap. He was thankful to find people who went by equally stupid names as he did. They allowed him to stay with them while it was dark, near a small bonfire with a few others. He kept to himself mostly, worried sick about everything. His fiancé, who he presumed was alive, the child, the way she transformed in front of his eyes within a matter of minutes, the lack of information he has.
The people Dream and Sapnap had led him to were respectful enough. They were all talkative, loud, smiling. He didn’t understand. They handed out warm water bottles and granola bars after the group seemed to settle in, all finding their own crowds, either of friends or newly made. Techno set up against a wall.
A child-like one came up to him. His hair was brown and long, and he seemed…. Bubbly.
“You don’t talk much, huh?” He started out with. Techno noted that he, in fact, was not a child. Just built like one.
He couldn’t help but laugh. “Hah, yeah, not much.”
But, they boy persisted. “I’m Karl.” He introduced. “I don’t know how I ended up here, I- I’m usually in L.A., took a vacation down here a couple days ago. I was- I was supposed to go back today, actually. I just saw the smoke and went towards it, hoping I didn’t die in the process.”
Techno listened to Karl tell what he could only presume was his entire life story, until he heard his question.
“Do you know what this….. Gas is?”
Every hint of happiness drained from his voice when he asked the question, the confident tone turned hesitant.
“I… Don’t.” Techno hushed back. “I saw.. Something earlier. I dunno if it's to do with the gas or if it was just my brain playin’ with me.”
Karl’s eyes widened a bit. “I-I did too! I saw- it was- It-”
“They decomposed, right?” Techno finished.
Karl nodded, smiling almost, as if they'd hit a breakthrough. It was dropped quickly.
Techno shook his head and sighed heavily, muttering a curse under his breath. He took a long drink of his water before saying anything more.
Karl spoke first. “I think I might go tell the other people here. Just so- y'know, they know what to look for?” Techno simply nodded, giving a half smile to send him on his way.
The crowd that gathered around was… interesting to say the least. Dream was everywhere at once, handing out what he had to give and trying his hardest to decompress. There was a tall one sitting alone as well, who brought a mask to cover their mouth. Karl was standing with Sapnap and another one, wearing a beanie. There was only one recognizable girl, talking with Dream as he made his rounds. She seemed kind.
Techno sat unbothered, his head against the bricks and eyes closed, thinking about what Karl said. It wasn’t a coincidence that the girl acted out. It couldn’t be. That gas did something.
This wasn’t what he had in mind for “life threatening”.