Chapter Text
It's the year 2052, exactly 18 years after the chronorift catastrophe and specifically 2 years since Linkon was ridden with a plague-like virus that spread through the city like wildfire, turning people into husks of themselves under the name of ''Hordes''; possessing no inhibitions, no sense of reasoning and seemingly a loss of all signs of life.
Well, at least that's what I’ve been telling myself to make it easier to put these ''things’’ out of their misery.
The first sightings of these husk-like creatures were exactly 2 years ago, when humans began to exhibit a specific set of symptoms all following each other: hallucinations, followed by an intense fear of water, then a deadly fever, in which the majority would succumb to their illness, only to reanimate once more.
Only this time possessing no sense of reasoning, flesh-eating, ruthless and volatile tendencies.
Most common causes of these symptoms all have a few things in common: either being bitten by a Horde or, better yet, having an exposed injury come in direct contact with substances secreted by Hordes.
At this point in the apocalypse, the government had failed to control the situation, and society had collapsed as a whole. Its every man for themselves.
At the beginning of the fall, Xavier and I, as well as the hunters' association, were tasked with what officials deemed at first to be evolved, quote-on-quote Wanderers. However, the longer we fought, the more we realized these weren't your run-of-the-mill adapting Wanderers. But boy, did we realize too late.
I still remember that day, the day my world crumbled, its image still horrifically vivid. I remember the look in his eyes as the crimson trickled from his arms.
Xavier, my sweet boy, Xavier, he had jumped in to save me at the last minute when we were ambushed during the first fallout, getting bitten in the process.
And at his very final moments with me, he professed his love, remaining strong, still never showing me his pain right until the very end, even when I tearfully begged him not to go. I loved him too, after all.
There was never a burial, never a funeral and barely any time to process his death in the state the world had been becoming.
Yet here I am, 2 years later, sitting by a fire
with that same Xavier, or at least—what seems to be the remnants of him.
24 hours earlier- On the outskirts of an unknown forest
I was running away from a group of Hordes. I had picked up astrange signal in the area, which I wasn't able to decode, so I went to investigate it.
Maybe it could've been other survivors, maybe it could've been a transmission from outer space or better yet, the location of the remnants of a radio station that still might have some resources. So with the last foolish bit of hope I had left in me, I followed.
I slung my hunter's gun into its holster and proceeded to throw a smoke bomb into the crowd of Hordes, trying to disorient them as I changed the trajectory of my path. The lead I was picking up on was finicky, leading me straight into the woods and at times made it feel as if I was going in circles.
I looked up at the sky, trying to use the stars to orient me, before I came to realize what forest I was in.
The No-Hunt zone N.42
That was all I needed for my search to become easier. The more I ran, the more these frequencies became louder and louder, and so did my hope. I was sure of it, I was sure of what I'd meet if I followed this path, I knew what would be there, but at the same time, I still wished I was wrong.
Once there, I couldn’t help but fall to my knees to catch my breath, a rush of nostalgia and bittersweet feelings overcoming me.
It was Traceback II.
This devoid of life spaceship remained strong and untouched after all these years. No Hordes in sight.
This area was so well preserved, it felt as if I was back in 2048.
''Hey there, old friend’’ I say, resting my hand upon the shell of its mechanisms, only to be met with the feeling of its cold metallic surface.
I remember when Xavier led me here, when I found him in his Slepen pod after he had overused his Evol and hid it from me. I couldn't help but laugh bitterly. Even until the end, he tried to remain strong, never showing his struggles. Oh Xavier..
Xavier, a person whom I tried to suppress from my thoughts, my feelings and my memories with him; Memories powerful enough to plunge me into deep and uncontrollable sadness.
When I initially lost Xavier, I had been so overwhelmed with grief that I felt ill. For a week, I was convinced that I'd soon turn into one of them. The emotions i felt were visceral; it felt like being put through a constant loop of gut-punching, spine-chilling torture, falling asleep thinking my dreams were reality, only to then wake up, wishing I never opened my eyes in the first place.
At the time, I couldn't possibly bear to continue after our parting, but if I stopped and gave up now, that would’ve made Xavier's death pointless. And I know he would've had hope in me to live on. And that I will. Even if it came with the cost of having to suppress him to try to make it easier. It was selfish, I know, but what else could I do?
Xavier was a topic that still isn't easy to talk about, which is funny, since there isn't anyone to talk about it to.
The air around Traceback II was still. I was so glad no Horde could ever wander this deep to ruin this place. It was so well preserved, it felt as if it were the first time I saw it, when things were normal.
I pressed my forehead over the ship, closing my eyes, my maladaptive daydreaming kicking in. If I could think hard enough, maybe It would be as if he were still here.
The air was still, and the forest was quiet, a comfortable quiet. It was as if it was a sign that this place was allowing me to grieve, to cry and to breathe compared to the chaotic outside world. It felt like I was in Xavier's world. Our world.
And that's when I heard it, when I started hearing faint pulsations. In a rhythm similar to a heart. At first, I thought it was mine, either that or that the tinnitus I had developed was playing a sick joke on me, but alas, it wasn't.
So I followed its tail, wandering deeper into Traceback II’s ship.
A sign, it was a sign. It wasn't the same frequencies my radio had picked up, but it was still a sign.
Maybe it was Jeremiah or maybe a backtracker, or maybe even.., oh, how I hope it was Xavier.
And there lay in front of me: a Slepen Pod.
A faint pulsation of light pulsated from its side, like a button signalling the end of containment. For how long has this thing been emitting such noises? Well, for however long it ran, it must have been recently, since no one has found it yet. That was good.
I began to feel the ridge of its shell, looking for a plug, a cord, or anything to seize the pulsing. I never knew how to work this thing; it's Philosian tech.
And just then, before my hand, I felt a slightly elevated spot at the very bottom of it, so naturally I pressed it.
Upon pressing the button, immense fog started to overflow out of its containment.
What did I just do? I would've been screwed back then if I ended up breaking Xavier's and Jeremiah's advanced techy stuff.
I backed away, skeptical of the amount of steam being emitted. Just then, the latch at the front sprang open, momentarily causing me to jump aback. And through the fog, slowly, something emerged.
After shielding my eyes from the blinding light it produced, I focused once more, and the sight before me had chills run down my spine. There it stood, he was.
Exactly how I remembered; every minute detail that I could have possibly remembered him by; all there.
He stood up slowly from the pod. Was it really him?
I reached out to see his face, my beloved starlight. Could it really be you? Was he still alive? Did his Slepen Pod reverse the effects? I thought, only to be met with a face devoid of any emotion.
My heart dropped to my stomach, my breath seemingly being stolen away from me as I watched in horror.
His eyes, the blue eyes I once cherished so, were trapped behind a white glaze, his azure eyes being robbed, now replaced with grey scleras.
This isn't my Xavier.
I fell back, backing away in terror at its domineering stature that was slowly approaching me.
I assessed my situation, pulling out my tranq gun, not to kill him, of course not, how could I, it's only to paralyze him. Maybe then I could win myself time to flee from this nightmare.
But I just couldnt.
He slowly approached me, my body, overrdien with fear, stood there frozen, letting him creep up to me. Maybe it's best this way, i wouldnt imagine a better way to die; at the hands of my beloved. So instead of fighting back, I watched as my body let itself drop the tranq gun in my hands, as I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for the kill.
1..
2...
But he didn't bite me,
Infact he did not even touch me.
When I opened my eyes, I was met with Xavier, sitting obediently in front of me, criss-cross apple sauce.
Although Hordes are devoid of life, this horde before me seemed to have maintained some form of reasoning. It's as if Xavier was still there, but he isn't. Because It isn't him. It's a Horde, who just looks like him.
And that's how I ended up in this situation. Back at my own base, sitting around a fire with Xavier, or what seems to be Xavier.