Chapter 3: Chapter 1 – The Arrival

You could say that the process... Felt different than usual. As in, normally it doesn't feel like anything. The way it's supposed to go, you're at point A, and just appear at point B. There's nothing else to it. These things had replaced regular mass transportation before I was even born, and I had never heard of it going wrong like this. It was supposed to be safe. But hey, you can kill yourself by sneezing, too.

This time, there was intense pain. It’s as though my body was on fire while I’m being pushed through a hole that’d fit a toddler. The pain was the worst I’ve ever felt in my life, including the accident! The only positive side was that I could only feel it in my original parts. The memory of this pain is forever burnt into my mind.

At some point I guess I lost consciousness, or whatever it was at that point. Can you really even be conscious while you’re being transferred? Either way, there's no way of knowing how much time went by. Hours? Days? Weeks? I wish I knew.

As I regain consciousness, well, at least I had reappeared somewhere, and the pain was gone. And so, I stand up and dust myself. I’m still in my work outfit, business casual and all that, so I’ll assume I’m still me. Not even mangled or something. My arms and legs feel and look the same as always. Hair, still in a ponytail. The air is thick with dust, though! Thankfully, I still have my mask on. Have to clean the filter later.

Everything’s fine. Must stay focused.

Now, where am I? Pretty sure this isn’t anywhere near home.

Underneath me is a black marble pedestal instead of the sleek, metallic pad I had stood on what felt like just moments before. Still, it vaguely resembled the pads we use for travel. No idea what that means, if anything. At any rate, this one wasn't powered. In fact, as I keep looking around, nothing in my surroundings seem to be electronic.

That’s strange.

Thanks to my augmented eyes, I could see some faded text forming a circle big enough to stand on comfortably in the middle of the pedestal. No idea what it said, though. I hadn't had trouble recognizing text once ever since I got my eye implants. This is... Not great. Even looking at the text feels uncomfortable.

Why had I been transported here?

The building itself looks ancient and is built from white marble. It was like a long, spacious hallway, with the pedestal I was standing on at the back. There are, what my eye augmentations tell me, spider webs hanging in the corners. Can’t say I have ever seen those before. Fallen pillars. The roof has holes in it, and light is coming through them. I squint and... Well, this is bad.  I frown. Apparently, there are UV rays in that light. So, this building is outside. That *definitely* isn't a good sign.

The levels are safe, though. Nothing to worry about? I find it hard to believe, but still feel relief.

As for the building itself, I'm pretty sure marble isn't used a whole lot in modern buildings, but it's not like marble itself is rare. Don't think I've been in a marble structure before, though, ruined as it is. Interesting, even if not really important.

The floor has cracks and holes all over, and I can see grass stubbornly growing from the dirt in them. Would have to be a bit careful walking here. Who knows how brittle the flooring is? Who knows what's under it, too.

But, come to think of it... Could this be some elaborate VR advertisement?

… Probably not. They surely wouldn't be allowed to cause excruciating pain to the target of their ad. The world may be a mess, but at least they try to treat us corporate drones fairly well as long as we don’t rock the boat. This being just in VR would've made things a lot easier, though.

Oh, and that’s also excluding the laws against excessive realism in VR ads, especially without consent. So not only would they be breaking the law with all the pain, but also faking a realistic space! Then there’s the kidnapping and forcing people into a full dive VR environment. They'd get sued to hell and back!

I mean, the government may treat us like dirt in our work life, but as consumers, we have some rights. I bet it’s because even stockholders and CEOs are consumers, and they have more rights than others.

So, what could it be? Had I been whisked away to some part of the world where things weren't as gloomy as where I live? Can't say I’d ever heard of a place like that. Okay, it's possible that the news lie about the extent of the catastrophe, but if that was the case, this place would probably be teeming with security already.

But there is no one here, myself excluded. So that’s probably not the case, either.

On top of that, the feed I usually hear as a kind of white noise is gone. It’s like tinnitus I have had for years had just vanished.

Refreshing.

The less refreshing part is that none of my systems could make any connections and are in offline mode. Okay, back when it was possible, I’d go offline regularly, but that hadn’t been possible for at least half a decade. But all these errors are really annoying.

Okay, turned them off.

You are reading story From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World at novel35.com

The worst part, though, is that my augments are using battery power instead of pure wireless or inductive power. Less than ideal. The batteries will keep me going for a good while, but I definitely will die if I can't find a way to recharge them. I mean, if my limbs run out of power, I’ll be a cripple and that isn’t great, but if my heart runs out…

I close my eyes and rub my temples.

No panic. A shallow breath, and I open my eyes.

Oh, I can see an opening in the other end of the hallway!

I step off the pedestal, and carefully walk towards the opening I just noticed, watching my every step. The old marble cracks under my feet, but I manage keep my balance. Considering the disorientation from this whole experience, this could’ve been considered a bit of a feat if my legs were originals.

Huh. The opening must’ve been a doorway sometime in the past, just that the door had decayed years ago. All that remain are some rusted metal hinges.

As I finally get outside, I carefully take off my mask and put it back in my bag. The filter is a mess, but I should be able to still use it if need be.

I feel the sun on my face for the first time in my life. It causes a slight burning sensation, but my eyes say that this is okay, although prolonged exposure can cause skin cancer. That’s a lot better than what I’ve heard all my life, to be honest.

The air is... Clean? A deep breath. I've never breathed air like this. As I exhale, I can’t help but smile. Never even imagined that I could experience this. Yeah, the environment isn’t going to become this pristine in my lifetime. Have I gone to the past? The future? Or somewhere else entirely? I may have read a few too many trashy fantasy books.

You for sure couldn't recreate this level of realism without some sort of full dive technology in VR. Oh, sure, that is a thing, but I’ve never been too much into it. A bit too escapist to my liking. Not to mention that there’re always issues that make it feel unreal.

Nothing like that here, though.

But, anyway. This town is, for sure, abandoned. I'm on what looks like an overgrown street surrounded by ruined buildings. They have a certain… Old timey look to them. I see some wildlife and my eyes inform me that they're akin to squirrels and hares, but somehow not exactly the same. Never seen either in person before, so I'll just have to take the database's word for it. Birds are singing in the forest around the ruins. They often use bird sounds as ambient background noise to make things feel a bit more alive in the entirely artificial environment of the dome, so even I can tell that much.

Now that I think about it, why would the offline database have information on animals that I’ll never see? I really should’ve checked what kind of garbage data is in there, even if it’s helping right now. I guess it’s like an encyclopedia by default.

… Focus. I keep taking in my surroundings.

It seems like the building I was in is older than the rest. Based on the guesstimates of my augments, the age of the marble structure is in the centuries, while the rest are at most a century or newer. Not really all that important for the time being, but interesting trivia nonetheless.

I guess that means the other buildings were rebuilt overtime while that one wasn’t? And then, whoever lived here, just left? Doesn’t seem likely. Something must’ve happened. Can’t tell from the ruins, though. The damage looks like it’s done by time, not by war.

You know, isn’t it kind of unusual for buildings to just be left to rot on their own?

Come to think of it, I wonder what this new warning is about? Apparently, there’re some unknown particles floating around, but they don’t seem dangerous. They’re everywhere. But they seem to converge around those woodland critters, trees...

And me.

I have no idea what they could be, I’ll have to think about it later. I’ll just acknowledge the warning and filter them out.

As I keep looking at the ruined buildings, I notice something in the corner of my eye. At first, I’m not sure what it is, but then I realize it’s something that’s jutting out from the ground.

Are those… Bones?

You can find story with these keywords: From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World, Read From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World, From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World novel, From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World book, From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World story, From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World full, From a Future Dystopia to a Fantasy World Latest Chapter