Waking up from his slumber, Trout didn't feel the pain inside his body anymore, as if it has been been taken away.
His hand reached down to the handkerchiefs inside of his pocket, his finger curved around the pocket and gripped it slightly. He dropped his hand down and stood up from the chair, looking around didn't hurt his neck anymore, he could feel a refreshing flow inside of his body, despite it still feeling a bit wrong.
Trout's hand moved up to massage his head, but got stopped by the headwear. He sighed and shook his head, clearing his vision.
Sal was sitting across the room on the counter, observing every movement.
"Hm.. interesting morning ritual, you didn't do it last time, so I guess your muscles are adapting and your reflexes are coming back."
Sal said.
Trout looked to Sal. Trout's helmet's light shifted to a hint of yellow.
"Aren't you... watching me a little too closely? what are you-"
Trout said, but got cut off by Sal.
"Come here, we've got something to discuss. You left something untouched so let's take a look at it together..."
Trout freezes upon hearing that, his fingers tapping on his lap.
He stood up and walked towards Sal from across the room. Each step was quicker than the last, his hastened step caught in the observation of Sal.
Sal raised his eyebrows then scoffed and looked back down the counter.
He sat at the counter of the library while Trout stood behind him. Sal raised his hand up and tapped on the small box on the counter. Trout looked down to the box.
"Of right...I left it there, my bad..."
Trout said, his hand leaned out to grab the box, but Sal poked his wrist with his fingers.
"Halt, the thing I discovered is the reason why I called you over. While filing something, I couldn't help but notice the little pocket watch inside that. You have any idea how good that craftsmanship is?"
Sal said, he stood up and lent his chair to Trout.
Trout sat down the chair, his vision locked to the chair, his hand leaned out again and picked the pocket watch up from the box. His breathing deepened.
Trout coughed, his breathing steadied again, his helmet only shifted to blue for a moment before going back to white, Trout looked down at the pocket watch inside his palm. The little pocket watch looked luxurious, the edge of the clockwise was decorated by sharpness and crystal like texture. The watch was barely running, the glass was broken and the hands were ticking in place.
Sal stood behind Trout and rested his hand on the back of the chair Trout was sitting in. He licked his lip and walked to the kitchen in the back.
"I'm brewing some coffee, I just conceived yet another recipe. Maybe stay there and analyze the pocket watch until I'm back."
Sal said and got out of the scene while Trout was sitting there.
Trout sat there and stared blankly at the watch. He could feel a distorted feeling when he was looking at it. Trout put the pocket watch down on the table and began thinking.
"Sal said this has a good craftsmanship... Could I sell it for money and cut my debt?"
Trout muttered, he quickly shook his head.
"No, I have to keep it to find out who I was, my past ...But how am I going to pay my debt then..."
He picked the pocket watch up, he held it close to his face and observed it closely.
Behind the watch was a styled J carved slightly into the golden case covering the back. Trout put the pocket watch down the table, muttering.
"Are those items really mine? What if I'm mistaken, or what if I was a thief?"
Trout whispered to himself.
"If you were a thief then your reflexes and the way you talk wouldn't match. About if it's yours or not, not really sure tho."
A voice called from behind. Sal stepped back into the main hall, holding two cups of coffee. He put the cups down on the table then looked at Trout.
"May I hold the watch for a while?"
Trout nodded, his attention was focused on the coffee for a moment, but quickly went back at Sal.
Sal handed his palm out, the moment his fingers touched the curves of the pocket watch, his hand flinched as he pulled it back.
"Ow!"
Sal grunted.
"What was that? felt like someone pierced a nail into my finger tip."
Sal took off the glove from his right hand, but there was no wound, he squinted his eyes for a little moment,then scoffed and put the glove back on.
Trout looked at the cup of coffee that was emitting steam from the heat, his helmet flashed with green then changed back to white. He reached past the cup to the pocket watch, picking it up again.
"So.... it's really mine?"
Trout tilted his head to the side, the helmet's light changed to yellow.
"Nice point Sherlock. This hurts like hell."
Sal grunted, he waved his hand a little and looked back at the coffee cup of his own, he picked it up and started sipping.
Trout was still examining the pocket watch, his finger followed the curves on the watch.
The pocket watch suddenly ticked.
The world became twisted.
Noises disappeared and his vision cracked. He could see multiple "Trouts" sitting on the table and observing the watch.
His vision distorted. Gears started to spin in his head, pain rushed all over his body. It felt as if he was being stabbed, cut or torn apart violently then reset back to an anchor.
The world shattered like broken glass under his vision over and over again. The urge to vomit pushed itself up back to reality. His helmet glitched with purple and sharp red. He vomited down on the desk, but his empty stomach had nothing to throw out, leaving a sour taste inside of his mouth.
Sal stood beside him, eyes looking down at Trout.
"That's not very nice."
Sal said, he raised his hand up to take another sip of the coffee. The moment the coffee entered his mouth, Sal's eyes squint. He put the cup down to the deck and his face showed a pensive look.
"That's strange..."
Sal said, he picked up Trout's cup while Trout was still panting on the chair. Sal hovered his hand over the cup for a little, then he quickly put the cup down. His hand reached for the pocket watch but his finger twitched back against the watch. Sal scoffed and pulled his hand back.
Trout recovered from his stagger. He collecting his breath, He took the pocket watch and put it in the box, sealing it off. Trout looked at Sal and shook his head.
Sal nodded and pushed the coffee cup over.
Trout took the cup and drank it all in one go. He froze, putting the cup down. His helmet flashes green and yellow.
"It's cold? Wasn't it steaming hot earlier?"
Trout asked.
"Who knows. Your little device did some trick to my coffee and it's not as tasty as before."
Sal grunted. He picked up both of the cups and went back to the kitchen.
Trout sat there with confusion, his fingers tapping on his lap a little. He stood up and walked around the library to process his brain.
Trout decided to go to the bookshelves, walking through them and feeling the scent of books and paper relaxed his mind. He stumbled across a book with a shining cover, his helmet showed a hint of yellow as he reached out to touch the book.
The moment he touched the book, electric shock went through his body, his hand spasmed. He knelt down to one knee and gasped for air.
Gears began to spin in his head as his vision distorted again. The feelings didn't last long as his body froze and suddenly went calm.
Trout looked at his finger that was twitching moments ago which has now become easier to control. His helmet blinked with gray and yellow then shone back to white. He stood up and grabbed a nearby book then walked out of the corner.
The book felt heavy in his hand, the texture was harsh and could be felt through his gloves. He pressed the cover slightly. Going back to the hall, Trout sat down at the reading table and put the book on the table.
A water pouring sound could be heard from the kitchen. Trout layed his back on the chair. He opened his book as the chair leaned backwards before going stable with the back hooking the table. The book was titled 'sovereign of secrecy'.
Pages flipped as the images and words amazed Trout. Details about mysteries of the world that stayed hidden for a few decades were highlighted and theories written out and discussed.
A tap on Trout's shoulder. He turned back to see Sal standing behind him. Sal's focus fell onto the book for a moment then back to Trout.
"Theory books aren't good for learning information you know."
Sal stilled his body and looked at the book again, he shook his head.
"Kline Moriarty's book? Gotta be kidding me... Just read it but consider selective information, that man just went around and asked everyone about everything then wrote it down."
Sal said. He scoffed and tapped on Trout's helmet.
"You can bring the book with you, however you're going to your first solo mission... and no, the sewer surveillance doesn't count."
Trout closed the book, he raised one finger up before Sal cut in.
"Be quick with it, you are leaving this instant."
Sal dragged Trout up from the chair and guided him towards the door of the library.
"Take the route to the bus station we went to last time. The rest of the explanations will be told by the bus driver."
Trout titled his head. He didn't react fast enough and now he was standing In front of the library's door. He gripped the book that he didn't get the chance to put down which was now laying in his chest. Trout shook his head and walked out of the door.
"Wait! There's more."
Sal said, he dragged Trout back before Trout could take another step out of the library.
The two came face-to-face in a short distance. Sal held a finger up.
"First off, if someone around you reacts to something, even a disadvantageous situation be sure to react. Do the same as them, stop being stiff like a camera."
Sal said, he held up another finger.
"Secondly, avoid doing extra work. You're assigned to investigate the site and kill the 'lurker' if possible. Don't do extra"
Sal said, then he pushed Trout of the door.
Trout fell to the ground but Sal already shut the door.
"Why was he in a hurry? What is a bloody 'lurker'"
Trout mumbled, his helmet turned grey. He walked forwards, reminiscing of his memories through the streets.
The path was empty, stores closed and streetlights flickered. Some that were still flickering the last time he passed through were now shut down completely. His footsteps echoed through the streets. A figure could be spotted in the distance.
A bystander walked past him, they were covering their mouths and moved with quick steps. The two didn't react to each other and passed by.
Trout arrived at the bench with the working light. Yet the light wasn't working properly anymore, it was now flickering like the others. He looked up to the light then shook his head, continuing his walk. The rest of the path was rather empty. Barely anyone walking in these hours.
Trout arrived at the bus station, the bus hasn't arrived yet. He sat down at the stop and opened the book he was holding.
Pages flipped again. His reading speed slowed down as if he is... enjoying the book.
The night stayed quiet for the man finding passion, not because it cared but only because it has always been.
Wind blew through the streets, dust scrolled up from the group but got pushed down by the worse atmosphere of the higher altitude air.
The pages flew to the wind and opened to a section.
"Scorned and lurkers, monsters or invaders?"
The title of the section caught Trout's attention, he didn't flip back to where he was reading but focused on the page.
"Scorned and lurkers, monster or invaders?
- 28 years ago, the world shone upon darkness and darkened in bright daylight. Lights flashes across the sky and the atmosphere distorted, killing the air. No one knew what it was.
But we do have theories that it was a major experiment of a corporation or a grand fight of tools. Many people went missing soon after the event.
- After that, 'scorned' and 'lurkers' started to appear with the disappearing of both animals and people. Theories state that:
+ It may have been an experiment of the Srabnit corporation on their evolution and bio weapons.
+ It is a result of a mastermind behind the missing people.
+ (My personal favorite) It is monster that broke in from the outside of the wall covering our land. They may have found a way to lurk in during 'the sky distortion' event.
- Scorned are filtered by types based on their behavior and named after affinities (gloomborn, wrathborn, envyborn, ...). No one knew why they have specific reactions or such behavior and we have yet to find a solid theory about it.
+ Some scorned have been recorded with abnormal behavior and couldn't be listed or filtered into any categories. These are extremely dangerous and can only be taken down by a pack of grade 3 or above tools.
- Lurkers seems to be a weaker version of scorned. They do not have specific behavior and act on pure instinct like animals. They seems to have less aggression towards humans but are really violent towards specific individuals. We have yet to gather a few solid theories about their origin.
+ They could be results of a wide range monster experiment. Similar to the scorned theory but this is yet more believable based off their animal-like behavior.
+ They could also have sneaked into from the wall following scorned from the wall theory, yet this is the theory with the highest possibility, since the evolution and similarities of them compared to animals could be the result of evolution from a harsh survival environment from the outside world.
..."
The sound of the bus braking broke the reading moment.
Trout looked up, his hand closed the book and he sat up from the stop, walking towards the bus.
The bus remained still, he tapped on the doors.
"Where's Sal?"
A voice called out from the bus, Trout tried to look inside the bus but the shattered glass blocked his vision.
"Sal is having his rest at the library."
Trout said, mumbling could be heard from outside.
After a while, the doors creaked open. The bus driver was sitting at the driving seat, one of his hands was on the wheel while the other dropped down at rest. They stared at Trout for a moment.
"Where are you going."
The bus driver said. Trout froze his footsteps while getting inside the bus.
"I... don't know..."
Trout replied, the bus driver frowned with annoyance.
Just as the man was about to kick Trout down the bus, a notification sound echoed inside the bus. The bus driver reached inside his pocket and pulled out a device that looks like a tablet, similar to Sal's.
As he read the mail, Trout silently took a step towards the doors and out of the bus.
"Stay there."
The bus driver said, he clicked a button underneath the wheels and the doors slammed shut with haste. Trout looked back and his helmet flashed with yellow.
"Fucking hell!"
The bus driver yelled, trying to cover the light from Trout's helmet with his hands.
"That's fucking annoying, just get to the back and we'll move."
Trout looked away and his helmet changed back to white, he took the book to the backseat and sat down.
The bus driver in the front took a deep breath, he pushed the pedal and the bus vibrated slightly as it started to move forward, galloping on towards an adventure or heading straight towards the end.