Bo, now a few inches taller, was sitting down on the metallic floor, leaning against the metallic wall behind him. He was deep in thought.
All of a sudden, something abruptly touched his leg, waking him from his thoughts.
Bo looked up and saw a scared kid falling. After falling down, the boy used his arms and quickly got up, and ran towards a middle-aged woman who was walking away from him.
"Hey!" Bo shouted towards the woman, "Wait!"
The place was deafening, as there were many people there, so the woman didn't hear Bo.
The boy managed to catch up, though, and continued walking behind her.
Bo looked down again.
They were all going through this. The siren influenced everyone in one way or another, even if it saved their lives.
It all started with the voice. They all remembered it like it happened mere seconds ago, even if it happened exactly two years ago. Today was Bo's birthday after all.
"The path of life," Bo said cynically. "What life is this?"
The memory of the voice was much more vivid than any other memory that Bo had, as if the memory had imprinted itself in his brain.
The moment the Eyes vanished, the vision became black.
It began to slowly change color to white, until the vision was as bright as a white sun.
Then, everyone heard a voice.
The voice was deep, and it exuded authority.
These were the lines that the Life Church inserted into its prayers every day.
"Your protector forsakes you.
Death comes, but Life watches.
Desire the Path of Life for salvation.
Otherwise, demise will come."
Something moved to his right.
As he looked to his right, he saw a little girl sleeping.
'Damn,' Bo thought, 'I forgot she's sleeping.' He then patted her on the head cautiously.
Bo was currently babysitting his little sister. His parents were out working when the siren happened, so he had to take her to the shelter by himself.
It was nerve wracking.
Whenever there was a siren, people had to run as fast as they possibly could into a shelter. Most people went to the Shared Shelter. A vast underground structure located below the ground that had entrances in every neighborhood.
There were private shelters for rich individuals and families, but Bo didn't know much about that.
Whether you were rich or poor, if you didn't manage to get into a shelter in time, you were probably going to "vanish" as most people called it. There were some that survived, if living in a mental hospital was called surviving.
"Good morning," an assertive yet feminine voice was heard in the background. Bo immediately looked up. From the ceiling of the huge metallic shelter were hanging many televisions, and one was right in front of him as if he had sat there on purpose.
"It's 3:34 Monday. Today there was another siren event in the southern part of North America, th.."
On screen, a pretty middle aged woman wearing a black dress talked as the anchor. This was An, the usual anchor that covered this kind of breaking news.
"The event is still ongoing, but we have contacted the Organization and they assured us that everything is in order."
The screen changed and showed four rectangle shaped images with names beneath them.
Bo immediately recognized three of them and one of them in particular.
"We have it on good authority that those are the Heroes that are fighting for us today," the screen zoomed in on the leftmost picture.
"Novice Speed," a skinny yet tall looking guy was shown. He wore a black running suit that encased his whole body, and even his eyes weren't visible. "The fastest human on earth."
The screen transitioned to the right into another picture.
"Novice Love." A beautiful woman was shown, the most beautiful woman Bo had seen. Her hair was blonde and her eyes were blue. She wore a beautiful red dress. "She's as mysterious as her powers. Being able to heal makes her consequential in our fight against them."
She had a beautiful smile and looked directly at the camera. Every man was attracted to her. It was just uncontrollable.
Suddenly, Bo's face contorted into an angry one.
'What fight?! Who are they? Why won't you tell us, damn it!'
Nobody knew who the heroes were fighting, only that they were fighting something.
The screen transitions again.
"Novice Memory." An old woman with short white hair was shown. Her hair was white, and her face had a sleepy look. Strangely, she was sitting in a wheelchair. "The newest of the bunch. It is said that she has much potential."
'Huh, how can she even fight?' Bo thought 'Maybe she's really good with long ranged weapons.'
The screen transitioned again, one last time.
"And the novice we all love. Novice Greatness." A tall and handsome man was shown. He had dark hair, green eyes, and a serious face. "One of the most powerful fighters in the world, saving our lives again and again. He's the leader of the group as usual."
Bo was familiar with all of the fighters except Memory. He was a fan of all the fighters.
Novice Speed. The fastest human in history. The one who gets on the scene first, and the one who saves innocent residents who don't make it on time to the shelter.
Novice Love. Except for her healing powers, her other powers were a secret. 'But they have to be powerful if she's in Cal's group.'
And Novice Greatness, 'the greatest human on earth,' Bo thought while smirking.
Greatness was none other than Cal, his own brother.
'How times have changed.'
It all happened after the Eyes.
Everybody got some kind of a screen that showed information about them. It was named the "The Blessing of the Eyes" after the news called it that, but most people just called it the Status Screen.
The only way to make it appear was to say the word "status" out loud.
The Status Screen was the first sign that reality had truly changed, because each person got a status screen of their own, and only they could see it.
Most people, like Bo, had the same kind of text on this screen. It felt empty and unfinished, as if something was missing.
"Status," Bo uttered quietly.
A hazy gray screen was shown.
Bo sighed and read it out of boredom.
The screen was read in a different way that was hard to describe, like a combination of remembering and imagining. It felt like he was using his mind to its extent when reading it. Sometimes reading it too many times made him tired and created a headache.
And so, Bo imagined.
--------------------------
Name: Unbestowed
Path: Pathless
--------------------------
Some people got their Status Screen changed immediately after the Eyes, as if they were made to be chosen, and they got recruited the minute the Organization formed.
Some got their change a bit later, like his brother.
Nobody knew what the change really meant or how it happened, but Bo was one of the few people in the world who knew.
They got powers. Superpowers!
He talked to his brother whenever he was free, so he knew some secrets that most people didn't, but Bo knew that his brother kept many secrets. "It's for your own good," he said.
'I wish I were like him. Maybe if I were a better person, maybe if I desired more.'
The Organization censors all information about this stuff. They censor everything, as well as who the fighters are fighting, how, and where.
For example, after you choose the path of life, there is another category named Desire, which was Greatness for his brother. There were also attributes that meant powers from what Bo understood.
You may also receive a cool name that most people wanted, but there weren't many Named Ones.
Bo dreamed of the day he got to choose the path, but up until now, the day never came.
The reason why everyone wanted a name was that everyone forgot their own and others' birth names. The only thing that was left was nicknames. They also couldn't create names for other people for some reason, as if everyone had a mental block.
His brother didn't get a cool name, but the most powerful fighters did.
"...reaking news," Bo heard and looked back up at the television screen, "One of the fighters in the battle today was badly injured."
Bo got nervous. Which of the fighters got injured? Was it his brother?
"... it's a bad situation for the group. Each group is built strategically, and when one of the fighters goes down, it weakens them. Of course, they are ready for such situations. Let's hope our heroes succeed." Then the anchor put her index finger on her ear, and her eyes shook a bit.
"It is now confirmed that the fighter who got injured is Novice Greate…"
Bo's heart jumped immediately, 'Shit, not again! Why can't I be there to help him!'
Unlike the heroes from the web novels Bo read before the Eyes, heroes could get hurt. Cal's bravery was probably part of why he managed to get the Greatness hero nickname.
"The fight is getting worse. Love is treating Greatness, but Memory and Speed are getting tired. If the organization won't supply reinforcement, they might need to retreat."
'Retreat?' he thought. That rarely happened. The last time it happened, Novice Strength, one of the strongest humans to ever exist, was killed.
'Shit. Cal, you have to survive, like you always do.'
"The fighters are getting ready for a retreat. It seems like th.."
The anchor stopped, put a finger on her ear, her eyes opened, and she smiled before quickly changing her expression to a serious and a bit angry one, but if you looked carefully, it seemed fake.
"A vigilante has joined the fight. It is unclear which one, but this doesn't change the situation. It can always be that they will help the other side."
'A vigilante?'
Vigilantes weren't usual fighters. They weren't accepted into the Organization and were hated by many people.
That was because they didn't follow the path of life.