[Your Weave is unraveling]
[Welcome back home]
Inside the basement of a shop filled with mechanical wares and devices, oils and gears, a metallic pod beeped repeatedly, causing a red light to fill the room.
"Haaaaa." With a deep breath, a young man within the pod opened his eyes in panic before hurriedly pressing a button to the side.
With that, the pod's doors swung open, allowing the young man to raise his head.
"Fucking hell!!" he shouted, a look of relief painted all over his face.
"Ohh, you're back? That was fast." An older man appeared to the side of the pod with a dirty rag in his hand, looking down at the young man.
He still had an hour left. Normally, Enzo would on average scramble back last minute. It wasn't ideal, but he was used to it. Seeing him come back so fast was out of place…
'Don't tell me he got scared off?' The old man, Noland, frowned. A failed mission was annoying and costly, not to mention a waste of time.
Fortunately, this was not the case, as soon a box-shaped machine behind him also beeped and shone with bright light.
[Weight: 170kg]
The machine displayed, causing Noland to beam. That machine was a teleporter. It only worked for non-living matter and was bound to the Weave pod. It beeping showed that he had brought something with him.
"Wait a minute, 170kg? That's a lot… a whole lot," Noland wondered. However, before he could ask, Enzo got off the Weave pod and walked toward the box and inputted a string of numbers.
[Password correct. Claim your prize.]
The machine resounded before opening up from the middle and descending from the sides.
"Woah!! There are more than 20 Zyrian crystals in there!!" Noland's mouth opened wide, shocked and overwhelmed.
He was expecting to get 1 or 2 from Enzo—20 was far above that. In fact, he was beyond shocked right now, but more than that, he was confused on what to do. It wasn't like these crystals were his.
"Yeah," Enzo nodded. Of course, the bag wasn't the only thing here, but the spectral necklace was gone. Enzo had swiped it before the old man could see.
Such a precious item—he couldn't let him see it.
"Kid, let me pay you in installments for these crystals. It's like 30 days of work—just let me know when you'll be coming by for payments," the old man Noland said with a quiet smile on his face.
Enzo was a kid in the truest sense. Lugging around a bag full of crystals would surely put a rager on his back. Of course, his greed had a part to play in this, but essentially, it was a good deal for him.
"That's fine. Give me the first payment now," Enzo turned to the old man with a calm and unbothered look on his face.
A few minutes later, Enzo's figure left the shop in the dead of night and headed northward.
He didn't have the time to argue or barter with the old man. There was something much more troubling he had to find a solution to.
[You have been infected by Star Dust: Prepare for your first voyage: 2 hours remaining]
[You have been infected by Star Dust: Prepare for your first voyage: 2 hours remaining]
[You have been infected by Star Dust: Prepare for your first voyage: 2 hours remaining]
The AI chip in his head sounded over and over again, causing a wave of stress and anxiety to fill him. He had heard of this only in passing.
He didn't know much about it, but the little he did know scared the shit out of him.
'90% of those affected by Star Dust die in the first 12 hours of infection.'
That was a death sentence, and he did not want to die.
Twenty minutes later, he reached an old, decrepit apartment building on the outskirts of a ruined city.
This was his home.
"Mother, I'm home," Enzo called out, taking off his scarf and jacket in quick succession as he walked into a garage attachment made of wood.
"Ahhhh, Enzo is homeeee!" Out of nowhere, a little boy, no older than 7 years old, rushed out from the corners of the garage and hugged Enzo, nearly blowing him off his feet.
"Roddy, stop. I need to see Mom and Dad," Enzo said as he rubbed the head of the young boy in a playful manner. This was his younger brother.
Although the world seemed to be in shambles, giving birth had become incredibly incentivized by the governments in a bid to revive the planet's once vibrant population.
"Ohhh, she went down to give him medicine," the young boy named Roddy frowned, then pointed at a room shut off from the rest of the house.
They barely saw the old man as he was severely ill. Only their mother took care of him in certain instances, so hearing Enzo ask for their father too sounded strange.
"Don't worry, little man. Next time I'll get you some treats," Enzo smiled bitterly as he patted his brother's ruffled hair.
Knock.
Knock.
"Come in." Soon the sound of knocking resounded from behind a white door, and a feminine voice responded to it.
"Amma…" Enzo walked in and stood before the door, looking into the room and its occupants.
"Enziii… you look troubled. What's wrong?" The lady in the room had freckled reddish hair and several smears of oil on her face—a testament and sign of her hard work.
Ever since he was little, his mother had been a constant presence of warmth to him. She was loving, kind, and beautiful. Unfortunately, times had changed… his father had become sick. Now she looked like this.
"I need to speak to the old man, alone." Enzo's gaze lingered on his mother for a few seconds before turning slowly to the wrinkly body on the bed beside him.
He couldn't in all good conscience explain what was happening to his mother. He knew her—how she would react. The lengths she would go to. He didn't want that. He didn't want to draw her into his mess.
"You…" Enzo's mother was a bit taken aback, but after staring at Enzo for a few seconds, she could only nod and stand up.
The boy needed to speak to his father, not her. She could understand that, at least.