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ONE: POIИT IИSEЯТION

YOU MIGHT remember me. If you don't, that's fine. I don't give a shit anyway, I want to tell you about myself. I'm Kellin. The Kellin. Yep. I am the only survivor of the Dunkletalor incident. The only one. Of course, if you read my book, the best book in the world, A Void Within, of course, you’d know that. But that's a whole different story. If you haven't read my book, here's what happened at Dunkletalor: I took a job - as an arrogant, defiant young man at Dunkletalor, a job at an observatorium in the middle of nowhere, Switzerland, owned by a corporate failure called ASO that was run by a batshit crazy, power hungry dipshit named Bao. Long story short - we were a bunch of sacrifices for a demon called the FurFur. I had help from some alien girls - that I most DEFINITELY signed an agreement to NOT talk about them - and I survived. The only survivor. Pretty cool, right? Read my book.

Well, I won't be shy to admit I'm no spring chicken anymore. I'm 36 now, and I have two kids, a wife, and a dog. NO, I am not telling you who my wife is - that's for you to speculate. When I sued ASO for the destruction of so many people's lives I won 26.8 million dollars from the lawsuit. That's enough to build a city! Oh, the ideas of what I was going to do with that money - besides getting laid - which was 100% free, by the way; I could do anything. But did you seriously think I would stop doing what I love? And make some extra money on the side?

Well, the NASA building I worked at burned down, and will take the rest of the summer to rebuild to at least a little bit of functionality. It was perfect! I got to spend time with my wife and my kids, and my dog. You know what? Since I'm away from the house, I get to say whatever I please. I told M- er - my WIFE I didn't want that dog. She got it anyway! You can't help but love the little shit regardless. Kids are like that too, she told me. And then as soon as I knew it I was running a nursery in my home. Those kids are my pride and joy, though, and I couldn't live a day if anything happened to them. Well, funds ran short and I had to find a job. A summer job. So I looked online, and there it was. The only thing that tore me apart was the fact I wouldn't be allowed to leave until I completed my entire job. Now, you might be wondering - Kel, why the fuck do you keep getting in predicaments like this? Because I'm a dipshit. No, I'm kidding. It was either rot in a Firewatch tower for two months or work at a BP gas station that probably has illegal smuggled products stocked in the back. I folded. I love nature, and you should too. That's a threat.

So here I am, sweating buckets in this tiny ass firewatch tower. All I have to keep me a little company is a radio and some music recorded on cassettes. Not particularly my jam, but I could get into some Russian heavy metal. Seriously, who was the last person living here? It certainly beats the Alpha root base though. Actually, nevermind, the base had air conditioning. My job was - well, you be the smarter person here. I'm writing another book, since I pretty much have nothing to do. I'll call it……From. Every few minutes I look up from my notebook to assure the forest is smoke free and fire free. I figure maybe later at sunset I'll walk down to the river to cool off. I was past the point of initial boredom. The firewatch tower was pretty homey, as long as it's not a million degrees inside. It has a nice bed, tons of stocked canned goods imported from America, and a whole box of books I was stoked to read. The more I stay here, the more similarities I draw to Dunkletalor. It's really strange how similar they are. 

“Now, a word from our sponsors!” I turned off the radio real fast. I'll just turn it back on later. I thought. I ruffled my black unkempt hair like my wife does and re-adjusted my big glasses. The UV index must've been through the roof today - the glare on my glasses was crazy. It was already around noon, and it felt like the day escaped my grasp despite elongated days and shortened nights. Maybe I'll make my way down to the river now. As you probably guessed - a firewatch tower doesn't come built in with a shower or a bathroom. Sure, there's an outhouse - but I'm not just going to stay dirty all the time. You know what they say - a shower a day keeps the ringworm away. No one says that. 

I huff and grab up my gear to drag down to the river. It was like those good old times at Dunkletalor, except there isn't an evil pit at the bottom of the lake. Seriously, what the FUCK was that thing?! But I digress. I lock up the firewatch tower before heading down to the river. It isn’t a huge hike, but it takes maybe a good ten minutes or so. The forest is untamed and absolutely beautiful. The thicket is much too thick to deviate from the marked trails, so it isn't difficult in any sense to navigate. I'm an amazing navigator anyway. I'm good at a lot - so remember that when you're gushing over my new book, because you will be. Customer satisfaction guaranteed. All is well when I see the river. I didn't have a care in the world what happened to my expensive gear when I dropped it on the rocky shore. I dashed for the water - and I was hurting my feet on the rocks because I didn't bring my boots like an idiot. When I step into the water, I instantly cool off. I need the icy coolness. I can still feel the water softly trickling against my fingers, the current desperately trying to steal them away. And you might've guessed it; I still have this prosthetic. The FurFur had taken my left arm at Dunkletalor, and Argemia had gifted me a new one. It's enervating to have to keep it a secret from everyone, even my wife. But I wouldn't do anything to hurt the Arirals, and you should be the bigger person too. 

Damn, I should've brought my radio! I did all that hard work to hike here and set up - and forgot my radio. Just my luck, huh? 

I sit for a few hours more, until the sun goes down. I grab everything and struggle back up to the firewatch tower. The river was SUPPOSED to clean me off, but I suppose ticks have a good grasp. It hurt like hell to pull them off my legs - since they were BIG ticks. Lyme disease was not on my summer checklist, no sir. I wanted to go down in the trees and have a campfire, but I suppose the furnace in here will have to do. I have my whole night planned out: Roast food over the furnace fire, make dessert, and drink myself silly. It was nice to have all this free time on my hands - but I miss my wife and kids. It sucks that she has to handle those two monsters on her own. They’re four and six, a girl and a boy, so you can imagine how difficult it is. But the cool thing was; There was a banjo left in the firewatch tower! And with all this time on my hands I could learn to play. I could write a song for my wife - I think she’d like that. So I shut off all the lights in the tower and sat by the furnace with some liquid gold with the heavens gleaming above. I can’t remember a single night I didn’t see the stars. That’s the only reason I would usually stay up - other than to fu- Haha, you don’t need to know that, you nosy bastard! I take a deep breath in and enjoy the space. I was thankful for it. Now, before I explain this oddity to you, just know the tower comes equipped with a radio. A handheld one, if that clears up any confusion. 

“Hello? H-Hello?” I was disturbed from my nirvana. I look curiously over at the desk I kept the radio on.

“This is Garry. I - um - this is another transmission. We’re looking for a man named Kellin.” My eyes grew wide after hearing this.

“This is a call for help. Please, Kellin, if you’re out there, respond.” I scramble to my feet to investigate the strange transmission. I freeze with my hand hovering above the radio.

Should I respond? Is it worth it? Someone was in trouble - but I didn't know how much trouble I would get myself in. I am paralyzed where I stand. I take a deep breath in, and snatch up the radio.

“This is Kellin. I copy.”

“I’m here.”