Chapter Text
~Location~
Outside World
~~~~~~~
He hadn't planned on being out here for long.
He had initially just flown out to the site to perform a routine check-up on the containment procedures of an anomaly. After making sure everything was still in place and operating smoothly, he had left the site to head back to Site-01. But then he had received a call from the Japanese region of the Foundation. An anomaly that required his unique expertise. He would have said no, but the person who asked... just so happened to be a friend of his, someone he owed a favor to. And as much as he might not have liked it, he never skirted around fulfilling a favor. Promises, debts, and favors- you just didn't mess around with those, you didn't. That should be common sense.
So, after notifying the rest of the Council- and by that he meant he notified Six. Six would tell the others. Probably- that he might not be there for the next Council meeting- not like it was important, anyways, they'd probably just be discussing yet another way to try and kill 682... seriously, had that ever ended well? For the life of him, he could not remember a time it had- he was on a flight to Japan.
A commercial flight would have taken hours. However, the private jet that had been built and designed by the Foundation specifically for the Overseers, commissioned by Ol' Admin and Fitted with sleek, top-of-the-line tech and cutting-edge models? It took only one. If nothing else, you had to appreciate the Foundations focus on efficiency above most other things. Though... he could probably think of a few GOI's and/or POI's who wouldn't appreciate it as much as he did. Ah well, can't win 'em all, now can you? No use tryin' to make everyone happy, cause then no one'll be.
After making his way to Japanese Site-67, he walked through the halls, the researchers, doctors, even the guards scurrying away and trying to get out of his line of sight. He didn't blame them. He was an Overseer, after all. Still, it was hard to hide his smirk.
After doing his part in getting information from the anomaly- it wasn't that hard, to be honest, a few basic- basic to him, at least- psychological tricks were all it took for them to break- he spent the rest of the day in the site, relaxing and probably overextending his boundaries just a bit- but who was gonna tell him off for that? Certainly not anyone at the site. Who would have the guts to stand up to an O5?
The next day, he took his leave, deciding to take the long way back to the pick-up location in order to enjoy the views, the scenery of Japan. By "long way", he meant he was leaping across rooftops, enjoying the thrill and the feeling of the wind against his skin. What did it matter if maybe one or two people saw him? No one would believe them if they talked about it, hell, they might not even believe their own eyes!
As he got near the pick-up location, something odd happened that made him freeze up instinctually, skin standing up, eyes darting around. His senses were honed, pushed to their limits. And he had quite a few implantations done, to ensure his safety as an O5.
Something was wrong. He didn't know what, he didn't know why, but he could tell something was wrong. The air pressure was off, temperature, too. The wind, had it... stopped? Or was he imagining that? No, no, he wasn't imagining it. What was going on-
"What?"
The air shifted suddenly, trying to fill a void- a gap- in space. Before he could register that particular fact though, he had already fallen into the rift in space that had opened up beneath him, closing a moment later, leaving no trace he had ever been there.
~~~~~~~
… He wasn’t sure…
How long he had been falling.
He wasn’t sure if he was even “falling” at all. For all the knew, he might just be floating in place. There was no real sensation here. Wherever “here” was. No temperature, no wind, no sight- just black. Black, inky nothingness. Darker than darker.
…He was rambling to himself. There was nobody to listen. He didn’t even hear himself, but he was certain that he was speaking out loud. So, then again, maybe there was noise in this place, but his hearing had been… for lack of a better term, disabled.
He couldn’t even tell when he blinked. It was just as dark as everything else when his eyes were closed. See? Blink, open eyes, same thing! blink, open eyes, same thing! … blink… open eyes… same damn thing… blink… open eyes… and it’s the same dam- wait a fucking minute?
The all-consuming darkness had vanished, replaced instead with a violet and maroon backdrop all around him, painted with what at first glance looked like oddly shaped stars due to how small they were and how many of them they were, but upon a closer look… he realized with a chill that they were eyes. And… they were all staring at him, too. He didn’t know how he knew that, he just… he felt like they were. A feeling in the back of his mind that wouldn’t go away.
The deafening silence had been replaced with an incessant humming noise, persistent and ringing in his ears. It reminded him of the buzzing that fluorescent lights made.
With something besides darkness to look at, he could tell that yes, he actually was falling. Hm. How long would he fall, then? Endlessly? Well, that would just be boring. Bottomless pits were so old-school. He liked classics, but even to him, they were an overdone trope. After you see about ten anomalous holes, you’ve seen ‘em all. Literal holes in the wall, hole to other dimensions, 1mm hole that goes straight through the entire earth from one end to another… after a while, holes just got so boring.
And falling endlessly was such a boring way to go, too! He wanted to go down in a blaze of glory and action, be remembered by everyone! They would all speak his name in whispered hushes, with tones of reverence and awe!
…Eh. This was still fine though, he supposed. There were worse fates. He would know. He had seen quite a few people experience them. Plenty of people could attest to the fact that there were far worse fates than falling infinitely. For example, there was-
…?
Was that… light? It looked like it was coming from… below him?
Twisting his body mid-”air”, he was able to see that…
Oh. Yeah, he was falling. For real, this time. Right towards a hole. That… led to the ground.
...Oh, that was gonna hurt like hell, wasn’t it?
FFFFfffffffffuuuuck.
CRASH!
He landed head-first on the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust at the spot of impact. Any normal person would have had their skull cracked open, but he at reinforced his body at the last second- thank god, it would have been such a bother to reform his entire head and probably spine.
Coughing up dirt, he pushed himself up onto his feet, his head whipping around as he heard a scream, only to be met by the sight of two kids pointing at him with terrified looks on their faces.
"A Yokai! A Yokai! I told you!" They shouted to themselves as they ran off.
"Wha- hey, I'm not- sigh... why do I even bother?" He muttered to himself as he dusted off, trying to get a bearing of his surroundings. Where... was he? This wasn't Japan, that much was obvious... and... there were no buildings? No infrastructure at all... looked like one of the small pockets of nature you'd find where humanity hadn't ruined. It would be sort of nice, if it wasn't a place he was obviously wary of, seeing as it might be dangerous. He'd had too many close calls with sentient pieces of land before to trust any kind of nature at first glance.
"Where... the hell am I?" He asked himself, receiving (obviously) no answer. Then he noticed it: The air was... different. Not worse, nor better, just... different, from how it normally was in the world. It didn't buzz or hum the same way, if that made sense. Which, to anybody except him, it probably didn't. Having a Third Eye like his allowed him to essentially 'read' the energy of his surroundings. And the energy felt different here. More ancient, more mystical. And it clung to everything. Which meant this place... either was completely isolated from everywhere on Earth, having not been discovered by even the Foundation- doubtful, they had almost the entire planet covered, even Antarctica- or this was an entirely different dimension. Now, against all odds, the latter possibility was actually more likely than the former.
A pocket dimension, then? It wasn't like this realms energy was completely separated from Earth, there were like... little strand thingys that had the same energy as Earth, like...
Oh. That made more sense. Like he was wasn't the first one to be brought to this world. Were outsiders brought into this place regularly? ...Was that the source of all the mysterious disappearances the Japanese branch had reported? The ones where it seemed like people had just vanished off the earth without a single trace left behind? It was... certainly a possibility.
Seeing no other option, he reached into his bag- he had no clue how it had stayed strapped onto him during that whole ordeal- and pulled out his communicator. This baby could reach any Foundation site on earth. At any range, as long as you remained on earth. So, this would be how he confirmed if he was still in his dimension or not.
Flicking it on, he spoke into it. "Hello? Anyone there? This is O5-11, reporting from... Gods know where. Uhh, code word: Fallen Star. Does... anybody hear me? Or am I just talking to myself?"
...Nothing. Nothing but static. He waited hopefully for minutes, but still, he got nothing back.
Damn it. Fuck. Fuck! He was trapped in a foreign dimension, no idea where he was, and he had no communication with the Foundation.
...Welp. When in Rome, do what the Romans did, right? Was that... was that the right phrase? Screw it, he was making it the right phrase.
He'd explore, map out and catalogue this whole place. And he'd leave a lasting impression on it while he did it.
He figured that going the way those kids had run would be a pretty good bet for finding civilization. Not that he'd be able to go in there looking like his normal appearance though, judging by those kids reactions... well, it would be easy enough to craft up a human disguise.
"Well then, let's get going."
Sure enough, after just a few minutes of walking, he happened across what looked like a village. It had pretty big walls surrounding it from every side, and... yeah, whatever this world was, it definitely wasn't modern. It looked sort of like some of the buildings he'd seen depictions of from Feudal Japan... was that the time period this place was living in? Well, wouldn't be the first time a pocket dimension operated on different rules of time from the normal world, so he wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
The Cursed Energy that emanated from within those walls was so... abundant. He'd only seen CE this abundant in places where there were a lot of people packed together.
Odd, but... maybe this was just the only human civilization here? He wasn't sure why they'd do that, unless... they were trying to keep themselves protected from some sort of threat?
What had those kids called him earlier? A... Yokai? Weren't those... evil spirits from Japanese mythology? All the evidence supported it... the architecture resembling that of Feudal Japan, the lack of modernity, and then that piece of the puzzle... it all fell into place. Ah. This place was inhabited by those "Yokai", weren't they? But the question was... were they actually people-eaters, or what?
Well, he'd learn nothing by just standing around, would he? Wait- right, first he'd need a disguise. His bones and muscles tore apart and reformed, flesh shifting around until his visage was that of an average human male... Now, there was just one problem.
There were... guards, situated out at the main entrance of the village. And... he didn't know the culture or the customs of this place. He didn't know anything. That was a problem, because what if he said the wrong thing?
No, better to not risk it... besides, his way of getting inside would be more exciting.
"Well then, let's do this..." He muttered to himself. He circled around to the side of the walls, and after making sure there was nobody looking, took a few steps back to do a running start, channeling more muscle mass into his legs specifically and leaping up onto the top of the wall, quickly jumping down onto the other side, landing in an alley.
"Huh. That was... easier than I thought it'd be." Peeking out the alley, he took note of the traditional Japanese clothes most people were wearing. Stuff like Kimonos and other Japanese... things. He didn't- he didn't know they were called. Not a clue.
Still, he copied it, forming a Kimono. There. Now he blended in. He looked like another part of the crowd, forgettable. Most people loathed it, but being forgettable could be a very useful trait when you put it to good use. All you had to know was how to do so. Figure out how people think, and you can figure out how they forget.
Slipping into the crowd, he began to float along with the mass of people, his eyes flittering about, taking note of anything and everything. Shops, buildings, people... anything around him, absorbing that information like a sponge as he began drawing out a mental map of the places he was going.
A few minutes passed by with him just slipping through the crowd, taking in every little thing indiscriminately. This was an opportunity, an opportunity to explore, to learn! This was new! This was refreshing! Not the same-old boring, cyclical routines he always had to perform! It wasn't dull like his usual life was, lacking any of the excitement he sought, no! This was exciting, because it was brand new to him. New faces, new names, new places, so much to see and learn, and he couldn't wait.
Knowing he needed money, he decided on a new objective after a few minutes of walking: Stealing!
It wasn't like anyone was gonna miss just a bit of cash from their pockets, right? Besides, it was good to help the poor... which, he supposed, he technically was now, considering he had none of the currency this place used. Which, from what he had gathered, was Yen.
Slipping by people, he picked quite a few pockets, ending up with a sizable bounty by the time he had finished his little collection scheme.
But then... he may have gotten just a bit too greedy...
Slipping past a couple, he had been counting up everything he had "earned", when suddenly he felt like somebody was... staring at him. Turning around, he was greeted to the sight of a silver-haired lady in a blue dress with a hat that looked sort of like a building? But what really caught his attention is that she was tall, like... a good head taller than the other people.
Yeah, and she was staring right at him through the crowd, with narrowed eyes that seemed to see righttt through him. He had done this song and dance enough times before to understand that he was busted. Before he could start looking for a way out, she began to head towards him, the crowd parting instinctively for her.
OH SHIT DANGER DANGER BAD-!
"Shit-!" He cursed under his breath, turning around and making a break for it, not caring about the people he bumped into or knocked over. Wasn't like they couldn't get back up to their feet, right?
Looking back, he saw she was hot on his tail- both as a result of her longer legs carrying her, and because this damned crowd was slowing him down!- Then, he saw it, his saving grace: An alleyway entrance.
Slipping around the corner, he scurried off into a set of tight alleys. It was cramped, but shrinking his form came naturally to him, so it was fine.
Emerging out onto another road, he breathed out a sigh of relief as he tried to catch his breath, figuring that he was home free.
"Hah... hah... woo! Another win for me..." He murmured victoriously to himself, taking a step back to assess his surroundings. He figured he'd probably need to lay low for a little while now after that little situation. "Ah... what a shame. Not even a day in this place and already I'm getting into trouble... I really never learn, do I?" He scolded himself, only to be interrupted by the grumbling of his stomach. Ah... right, when was the last time he had eaten? It had to have at least been a full day... he was hungry. There was definitely food being sold in the village, so he'd just go get some of that. Shifting his human disguises facial features subtly so he wouldn't be recognized, he set off.
~O~O~O~
After a few minutes of walking around, he had come across a stand selling Dango and bought some of it. Right now, he was enjoying the sweet treat, keeping his head low as he walked through the village so to avoid drawing any unnecessary attention onto himself. You'd have thought that thought that being at such a high position as an Overseer for a large chunk of his life would have caused him to stand tall instinctually, but it was actually the opposite: Blending into crowds came naturally to him.
Lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't realized how late it had gotten until he noticed that the bustling noise of the people had almost entirely vanished, replaced with a lonely silence. Looking up from where he had sat down at some point, he saw the street abandoned for the most part, with the exception of a few late stragglers who were only now getting to their homes. Looking up, he could see the moon rising up on the horizon. And... he could see a whole lot more, too.
His eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and a feeling he couldn't exactly name- joy? Close, but... not quite. Awe, perhaps- as he saw the full moon painted upon the sky, framed by stars that were... so clear. So easy to make out. So bright and beautiful. He'd never seen such a clear sky in... centuries, is what it must've been. He'd seen the night sky depicted in paintings, hung up as photos taken by cameras, all trying to capture its magnificence, but none of them could quite do it for him. It had always been one of his desires to see the night sky again, without anything blocking it up. The stars... they were so pretty. And the moon, too... so visible, so clear. This place... it didn't have the smog and smoke the modern world did. There was no light pollution clogging up the sky, keeping back the beauty behind it. In this strange world, that smokescreen had been peeled away, and...
It was so beautiful. He couldn't recall the last time he'd seen something this pretty before. The people of this world were probably used to it, they didn't see it as anything special- you never know what you really have until you lose it, was that how the saying went? That described it well- just seeing it as another ordinary part of life. But to him? To that small child that still rested behind walls upon walls put up around himself, hidden by insanity? It was beautiful, each star a spark in the night sky that only served to further ignite the childlike excitement inside him.
"Hahah... the stars... they're... so pretty..." He whispered to himself, reaching up towards the night sky above him. Closing his eyes, he did his best to capture this memory in his head, never wanting to forget it.
Maybe... Just maybe...
This world wouldn't be so bad after all.