This story is set in an alternate universe to my main worldbuilding. I’d personally say these specific chapters are really badly written but that’s my own opinion.
Anomalous Instigation
Part 0, Chapter 0.
Prologue.
Many tales of heroes have passed by through the ages, their battle to win a perfect world.
The little-known fact is that the world is not like that. Perfection isn’t something earnt by hard work. Perfection is merely a false lie, one instigated by those seeking freedom from guilt and doubt.
In this tale, if peace is ever settled, so be it.
The peace won’t last for long.
Part 0, Chapter 1.
Glitch.
In the cold continent of Imeron, the rich country of Aspua and the city of Silence, glowing with its towers so tall, each window a small beacon in the dark night, stood a person.
This person was Akos Frost. Akos Frost was one thing, an Anomaly. You could mean that in both a figurative and a literal way, as Akos Frost was cursed. Akos Frost was cursed to be non-human, someone different. As Akos Frost was an Anomaly.
His eyes were silver, with a slight hint of the sort of blue seen through the clouds on an early morning. His hair was long and white, cold as ice. He was tall and pale, and his clothes were ragged; a black colour all over, which stood out in the bright light of the Fifth District of Silence.
Over the buildings, he could see the Wall in its state of disrepair, the medieval architecture stood out like an orchard in the Fields of Death, the spires juxtaposing the rectangular boxes of the city.
The small alleyway between shops indeed was dark, but at least it was a quicker way home, the high rooftops glancing down at him, their tiles judgement.
Akos smiled. He knew what their plan was, and a glow appeared in his eyes.
“This is the Interests Control Executive! Stand down now and surrender” a voice shouted, around a dozen armed people leapt from the rooftops, rifles pointed into Akos’s heart.
Part 0, Chapter 2.
Page.
The pen gently scratched the paper, leaving dark lines of ink trailing over the page.
Riku sighed and took another scrap of paper from the ever-smaller pile that they had collected over the last few weeks. The room was dark, the only light either filtered in through the half-blocked decrepit windows or from the dying candle on the desk. Chairs were scattered around, and a bookcase with a couple of dusty books was lying at an angle, leaning on the wall for support. On the only upright chair, with thin creaking legs sat Riku. Similar to others Riku was an Anomaly, different from normal, stronger than normal. The dark energy within them was what they are. They were the dark energy.
It was overwhelming.
A knock on the door later and Riku stood up, ducking so as to not hit their head on the low ceiling. A glance through a gap in the wall signalled Riku’s fear, below there were 12 armed soldiers in heavy metal armour.
Panic.
Riku scrambled over a pile of broken furniture and through the back window, onto the rooftops with their cracked slate, slipping under the rushed feet of the Anomaly. A shout from the soldiers signalled their realisation, and soon bullets were flying, all of them missing or suddenly glancing off Riku’s back when they should have pierced skin and spelt death. The soldiers were on the rooftops, they somehow had leapt up from the ground below and were now chasing Riku.
One soldier was engulfed in dark energy, falling down to the ground unconscious.
A second soldier fell. A third collapsed.
Anger filled up Riku’s heart as their arm faded into shadows, a wave of energy ripped through the soldier’s ranks and sliced tiles clean off the roofs of the dilapidated houses.
They jumped down into the busy street below, hoping to hide amongst the crowds stirred by the fight.
Riku felt every heartbeat, every breath. The slow wind whistled through the abandoned building they were in. It looked like a small warehouse, but the door was splintered and some of the ceiling had collapsed. The government had no care for the Seventh District of Silence and Riku doubted that I.C.E had any care for this specific abandoned building, yet still, they felt uneasy as if someone was watching them hide, laughing in Riku’s own naivety.
Nowhere in the Seventh District is safe, so why am I putting my trust into an abandoned warehouse which might collapse on top of me at any second? They thought to themselves.
A shout rang out, nothing unusual for this place. Then a gunshot. Then a scream.
A sudden burst of adrenaline pushed Riku towards the doorway, out onto the street. From a nearby house leapt a hulking figure of metal, armour gleaming in the shine of the moonlight, Riku turned, glanced at the figure of the Silent Wall and the skyscrapers above, and then all went black.
Part 0, Chapter 3.
The Interests Control Executive
It was dark. Akos knew more than that of course, but that doesn’t change the pitch-black nature of the room he was in. There was a smell similar to the one of a cold, damp morning but Akos paid no attention. The Interests Control Executive had brought him exactly where he wanted to be, in the place which gave him the most control and influence.
Deep within the mountains north of Silence lay the operations base for the most feared governmental organisation in the country, possibly even the world.
I.C.E: The Interests Control Executive, an elite organisation dedicated to one thing and one thing only. Hunting down and either killing or controlling Anomalies.
The thought was pathetic, like most people, I.C.E underestimated what being an Anomaly means, it doesn’t mean to be cursed, it means to be wholly and unquestionably superior to humans, and for such a strong class of Anomaly, Akos was by no means an exception to this rule. He had planned out this exchange for years, just in case they ever managed to track him down, yet something felt off… I.C.E wasn’t evil, it was immoral, but it still eliminated great dangers from the world. Humanity wasn’t to blame for his treatment either.
Akos didn’t like how some Anomalies felt as if they could subjugate humans to their will, indeed, he accepted that he would always be one of the strongest people in the room, yet never wanted to be treated any differently from humans. No worse and no better.
Very few Anomalies thought this way, most wanted I.C.E to fall and their supposedly destined power for themselves. But increasingly, many of these unusual and cursed beings would have agreed with Akos.
A knock on the wall, a turn of a key.
“Against the wall now!” came the shout from a guard. They entered the room, armour shining, gun drawn. Behind him, there were more guards ready to shoot. Akos calmly let them slip handcuffs onto his wrists and smiled.
“Frostmetal correct?” Akos glanced at the guard, who stayed silent. “An interesting material indeed, created when metal, titanium usually, is frozen in ice, and that ice absorbs light energy over hundreds of years”
The guard continued to stay silent. “I’ve always wondered how someone figured that out”
“MOVE!” The guard shouted and shoved Akos into the corridor.
After walking through many halls, Akos ended up in a large atrium. Although the 12 armed guards were supposed to be the people guiding him, Akos ended up guiding them into the room instead. The large hall contained a few marble pillars, and ten separate doorways leading into 10 separate corridors. Near the largest door stood a moustached man wearing a blue uniform with intricate golden patterns near the base of the sleeves, one of which had a navy blue armband on. His hair was thin, grey and wiry and on his face were numerous scars. His right hand was mostly intact, with no visible injury but a few scratches, whilst his left hand was missing two fingers. In terms of eyes, the man’s were golden, like an autumn sunrise, yet his stare was cold and hard, reflecting many battles the man had fought. On the head of this man, there was a navy blue cap. It had a generally round shape but a square brim that stuck out like the bill of a duck, and embroidered onto it, clearly by the hand of a skilled craftsperson, was a four-pointed pale blue star, with the tips a gleaming purple.
Across the atrium in a crowd of guards stood someone else, with eyes a dark forest green, hair of a dark black. Their face was cold and hollow as if they hadn’t slept for days, with a scar covering the left side, however, their hands were young and smooth, with ink on their fingertips. The figure’s arms were covered by torn dirty sleeves, they could barely stand and bruises could be seen on their legs. Frostmetal handcuffs and chains restrained their movement, locking them in the purgatory of the Interests Control Executive, a dark reality that Anomalies had to face.
“Riku how are you doing?” Akos shouted, to the discomfort of his metallic guardians.
“Akos? Why are you here?” Riku questioned.
“Same reason as you, I expect” Akos answered, and his frostmetal handcuffs fell to the floor, melted by some force.
A few of the guards raised their rifles but the moustached man shook his head, and they lowered the barrels of their guns. Akos walked over to Riku.
“I think the deranged prisoner look suits you.” He laughed.
“Always the humorous one aren’t you Akos…” Riku replied sarcastically.
The chains and handcuffs surrounding Riku melted as well. The moustached man said something indiscernible to a guard, and the two dozen metallic soldiers moved on, pushing Akos and Riku with them.
They were pushed through the largest doorway and down a corridor lined with tapestries and paintings, golden light from an unseen source filtered in through the skylights, even if beyond the glass panels above, only a dark void could be seen. Riku decided to refer to them as “void-lights,” the name seemed to be perfect for the mysteriously uneasy light sources shining down onto their heads. The corridor was the very definition of unsettling, and even the floor seemed to be a pulse with a dark resentment. Eventually, the group came across a semi-circled hall with a mass of large, intricate doors. Eighteen doors were bronze, six were silver, and the largest one was a giant, detailed, golden door. Riku had no doubt that the door was plated with actual gold, the great corridors felt so different - so different from the Seventh District or even the Fifth District - money seemed to be in abundance here.
The guards lead them through one of the bronze doors, and all twenty-four of them lined up against the wall. Inside the room was a small bronze staircase that led up to somewhere out of sight. From where Riku and Akos stood, they could see more of the void-lights and the peaks of bookshelves, filled to the brim with leather-bound books. Without any other choice, they walked up the staircase into a large office, in the centre, there was a carved wooden desk plated with shining metallic patterns of leaves. On the desk were stacks of paper, strewn across in an untidy fashion. The bookshelves stretched all the way to the ceiling where the void-lights were, the uneasy golden shine appearing from the nothingness.
Sitting at the desk, with a straight back and serious face, was a woman. She was wearing a similar uniform to the moustached man, the sleeves were less decorated, and she was wearing a badge with the four-pointed blue star instead of a hat. Over her heart, there were 2 golden medals, each carved with a crest of some variety, and on her head, she wore rounded glasses with silver rims, which contrasted her brown hair and warm eyes. A plaque on her desk stated her name as “Commander Iridia Stone.”
She motioned for the pair to sit down which they did.
“Greetings. I am Commander Iridia Stone of the Anomaly Protection Division, more commonly known as the Invisible Bodyguards” she said in a calm voice
“I know your name, there is no need for the introduction,” Riku replied coldly.
“I apologise for the cold welcome, Captain Alfred is strict with this process.” The woman continued to stay calm, even after Riku’s comment.
“Pleased to make your acquaintance, I am Akos…” Akos was interrupted suddenly.
“G1-S5-505173 and E1-S7-784354… two very interesting Anomalies.”
“You can call me Akos. Akos Frost.” Akos said.
“And I’m Riku Takatoki!” Riku stuttered.
“Well then. Riku, Akos, I assume you know why you are here”
The commander shifted in her chair uncomfortably and stood up. She walked over to the staircase and dismissed the soldiers with a flick of her hand.
“The deal is simple. You both will accept being monitored and tracked by a group of I.C.E soldiers, and other than that we leave you alone.” Iridia looked sad, but quickly her manner grew serious.
“Seems unfair if you ask me. Why don’t I make you a deal.” Riku’s voice was filled with anger and regret as they stood up and faced the woman. Their arm was fading into shadows, slowly disappearing in rage. The commander looked panicked and reached for a small black button on the wall labelled ‘Error’
Akos grabbed Riku’s still corporeal arm and pulled them back.
“Riku what are you doing? You’ll get us killed!” Akos shouted.
A silver revolver appeared in Iridia’s hand.
Everyone froze.
Eternities seemed to pass in seconds. The void-lights above seemed to dim. Akos estimated they had five seconds before Iridia would make a move, whether that be to shoot or not, he didn’t know.
Riku sat down, their arm returning to normal.
“Well then… I’ll get the paperwork.” The commander’s voice was unstable.
“Are there any alternatives to this… deal?” Akos questioned in his usually calm manner.
“I think you know the alternatives and we would rather not discuss that now would we” The commander was surprisingly cold, which surprised Riku.
She got two documents from the endless pile and pushed them in front of the pair. Riku scanned through and signed the page with clear annoyance at the whole ordeal. Akos read through carefully and reluctantly signed.
“Great… I will send that over to the analyst division” An assistant walked into the room, summoned by some hidden button or switch that Commander Stone must have pressed, she took the papers from Iridia and left through the bronze door as quickly as she originally came.
“In the meantime, I may as well give you some tips. Whatever you do, stay away from Division 1 and Division 6, they wear black and white armbands respectively, no matter the uniform. Division 2 - my Division - wears blue armbands, they will be monitoring you and protecting you from external threats. Division 3 wears light blue armbands, they should have nothing to do with you. Division 4 are the analysts with purple armbands and Division 5 are our foot guards, they have red armbands. If you ever need help, know that both myself and Captain Alfred will try our hardest to help you.”
Soon afterwards the assistant returned with more paperwork and handed the pile to Iridia, who glanced at it and smiled.
“So Akos… registered Anomaly code G1-S5-505173. You have been identified with a danger rating of 8.4, 3, D.”
“Does… that number mean anything? Akos said.
“Nothing to worry about, 8.4 is something about your risk due to strength, 3 is something about your risk due to personality and D just means you haven’t killed us yet.” Iridia laughed. “And Riku; registered Anomaly code E1-S7-784353, danger rating 9.3, 4, C, clearly your demonstration earlier didn’t help the ratings.”
Riku shifted in their seat nervously, unsure of what to do.
“Well then, I guess you can see yourself out,” Iridia sighed as Akos and Riku stood up and walked towards the bronze door. “Oh, and be wary of the eternally locked doors”
Into the large semi-circled hall the pair walked, past the moustached man from earlier. They heard Iridia say “Oh Captain, pleased to see you,” before entering the large corridor, the void-lights ever watching. As Riku arrived at the large atrium, it occurred to them how similar the rounded room looked from all perspectives, each door identical apart from the larger one they just exited through, the pillars evenly spaced.
“Which door do you think the exit is?” Riku questioned, looking around. A man with a white armband exited the nearest door, closing it behind them. They were wearing a hood so their features were hidden from view, but walked with a menacing stride.
“Possibly this one?” Riku walked over to the door and turned the handle.
It was locked.
