Chapter 2
He awoke in bed with the alarm screaming for him to wake up. He quickly checked his arm and saw it look the exact same as it did the night before. "Was that a dream?" he said. He got ready for work and when he went to the living room he saw that there was no box. He checked outside but still, no box. He tried to get his mind off it by putting on some music but it still didn't work. He decided that he would just have to go to work like nothing had ever happened because there was no sign that anything happened. So he left his apartment and went to the bus stop. He always made sure to get there 5 minutes before the bus so that he wouldn't miss it, but also to listen to music there as he enjoyed a nice view of the forest that was to the south side of the city.
As he was waiting, two people arrived, there were two familiar faces, one from his left and one from his right. The one on the left was Ms. Cherry. She was a sweet elderly woman who was always kind and very charming but was always mad with the tenants in the above apartment. Every Christmas she would go to all of the tenants of her floor and give them a bag of about 10 to 15 cookies with a note that read "I pray for you and wish you a Happy New Year!". Everyone loved her and would regularly pay her a visit every once in a while. To his right was a tall man by the name of Mr. Waker. He was always tired as he worked as a Supervising Manager that managed most, if not all of the finances and employees of his floor. Peter and Mr. Waker both worked at the same company, Ouroboros Industries, which was an Engineering and Bioengineering company. Creating some of the best medicine, medical equipment, vehicles, and (for some reason) marketable plushies. Peter actually had one at his apartment, he was given one on his first day at work. The two people stood next to Peter and waited for the bus. "How are you doing today Ms. Cherry?" asked Peter. "Oh, just splendid! I finally got my recliner today! I was wondering if you could help me with getting it set up?" "Yeah sure. I'll come over once I'm done with work," Peter said, still a bit dazed by his dream. "Peter, are you feeling well? You look almost as bad as me." joked Mr. Waker. He normally wouldn't say much in the morning besides the usual "good morning" but he seemed rather concerned this time around. "Don't worry about me. Just a bit sleepy is all. I may have stayed up too late last night reading my book," said Peter. Lying about the dream because he thought "telling people of a dream like that would probably not be a great idea." When the bus finally arrived they got on the bus and went to work.
When Peter arrived at work, it would usually go something like this: First, he would greet the guard at the front desk and show his ID, go up the elevator, then he would arrive on the 23rd floor and get to work but today things went a bit different. He arrived at the front desk and met with the security guard. "Hey Mike, you come'n to the party?" asked Peter, remembering that they were having a 75th anniversary party for the company. It was supposed to be a big deal because it meant that the company would be getting some new editions like a raise in pay, better equipment for work, and expanding the company building. "Yeah, although I might be a bit late since I got to go pick up this girl from floor 14. Are you bringing anybody t— Jesus, man! What the Hell's wrong with you!?" Mike said, horrified at Peter's right arm. It looked as if the jacket that Peter was wearing was smoldering and boiling from beneath, like hot magma cooling to obsidian. "What? Oh, this? I…uh…burned my jacket while ironing my shirt last night! Yeah, don't worry, I already ordered a new one. It should be coming around at lunchtime." said Peter frantically, not even noticing that his jacket was starting to burn away. "Alright, be careful next time. You're the only other guy here that doesn't drive me nuts," said Mike. "Yeah, and you get driven crazy by all the girls here too. Haha" said Peter jokingly. The two of them always poked fun at each other but never meant any of it. They would usually have lunch and talk together since they were fairly good friends. Quickly, Peter got onto the elevator. He tried to subdue the small fire that was increasing on his arm and after a while, he got it under control. "So it is real!" said Peter, finally not feeling like a crazy person. "But what the Hell is happening to my arm?" he thought.
When he finally arrived at the 23rd floor, he quickly went to the bathroom and started to apply cool water from the sink to his arm. It seemed like it was working. His arm was no longer smoldering and it even started to look like his normal arm. When he got out of the bathroom he cautiously set his stuff down in his office. He had his own office as he was one of the head Bioengineers in the new technology that the company was developing. Specifically a new kind of engine and fuel source. The fuel source was easy. In the 20s the U.S military discovered a new kind of material that could be grown almost like potatoes in the New Mexican and Arizona Desert, called Obratride. It looks like a giant emerald shard, about the size of an ear of corn, that when crushed and mixed with trace amounts of honey (yes, I know that doesn't sound real), turned into Obratroil. The second part of the equation was the tricky part. They need it to function at its max capacity because before it was only at about 25% to 30% of what it can actually do as a fuel source. The rest would usually be gone afterward due to the engine and other components of the vehicle spoiling the rest of the Obratroil and turning it into dust.
Peter was one of three head Bioengineers on the project so working on this could lead to a much better future for himself. But he wasn't worried about that, he was more worried about the fact that a rock combined with his arm and the strange ore was nowhere to be seen. He grabbed his phone and was about to dial 911 when a mysterious person, clothed in all black appeared at the door of his office. They wore a large, flat-brimmed fedora and a trench coat. The only color on the person's body was the violent purple scarf around their neck that had the image of roses engraved in it. They held a device up to their mouth that Peter couldn't quite make out, and he spoke in the voice of one of the other Head Bioengineers, a man named Alex Queen. "I know who you are and what you do for a living… and what happened last night." A cold sweat ran down Peter's back. He felt as if there were a million daggers of ice all slowly making their way towards him and he was frozen in time, unable to move. "This is a warning. Do not investigate more about this. If you do, I will come for you, and trust me I do not like to answer questions." the Stranger said, as if they were reaching out and grabbing Peter's heart and threatening to rip it out. Then as silently as they came, they left.