Chapter 5
When Peter woke up he was in the middle of a dark street in the city with only a couple of street lamps to illuminate the world. At the very end of the road, he saw a person. It wasn't the stranger from before but they were just as mysterious. "Hey! Who are you? Where am I?" Peter yelled at the mysterious individual. "I don't know!" said the person. Peter was shocked at the response since he thought it was going to be a one-sided conversation. "Do you not have a name?" "I'll think of one later but I'll tell you where we are. We're in your subconscious and I'm that cool-looking rock you gobbled up." said the person. They were starting to take the form of a man around the same height as Peter, but they wore a green leather jacket and some kind of armor or gauntlet on their right arm.
"Wait, are you supposed to be my arm?" said Peter surging with even more questions but before he could say anything more the other person spoke, "I'm your power so I think you're supposed to give me a name." "Uh...… okay?" said Peter with more confusion than before. "Let's go with… uh ...wait what kind of ore are you?" Peter asked, trying to comprehend the situation. "Emerald," said the man who now had a more detailed appearance. He wore a sword on his back and a belt with emerald shards. He had black shaggy hair and a goatee. "How about The Emerald Lord?" said Peter. "Not bad, sure—we'll go with that." said The Emerald Lord. As soon as The Emerald Lord agreed the street lamps went out one by one until the whole world went dark.
Peter awoke on the floor in a daze not fully understanding what just happened. He quickly checked what time it was and saw it was an hour before the bus arrived. He quickly got up to go get ready when a thought appeared in his head. "If you are ever in trouble, say 'Be reborn! Emerald Lord!' and you'll get the help you need." said The Emerald Lord for he was now in his head.
Peter arrived at the company building and said hi to Mike. "So, how was your date with Olivia?" "Dude, really?" "Alright, I'll stop. Are you going to the party today or what?" said Mike. Peter now just remembering that the company anniversary was today said "Probably. I mean hey, food is food." "Food is food," repeated Mike. They both started thinking about all of the good food there would be at the party.
When Peter got to the 23rd floor he went to his office when he overheard a conversation. "Yes, Sir. The plan is going well. The subjects are adapting well with their Gauntlets.". He went towards the sound of the voice to hear more. He didn't dare look around the wall to see who it was but he was finding more answers that he needed. "I think most if not all of them have received their activation command and should be ready for the party." the stranger said. Peter couldn't make out who it was but it was most likely the same stranger from before. "Don't worry they've all been kept in the dark, just as you said. Are you sure you want to do it today? This could look bad for the company. Wait, you finished it? Oh, then this will be just perfect…" After the stranger said this Peter immediately left and went to his office. Now that he knew something was going to happen today he started to look into what he could. He found that the company would be showing off a bunch of new machines and a new line of plushies and in the Email that was sent to everyone he found that if you wanted you needed at least one other person with you. "Well, I can just ask Mike to come with me." Peter thought. "No, you can't. Don't you remember that he was going out with this girl from Floor 14?" said The Emerald Lord. "You can just talk freely in my head?" said Peter, shocked at the fact that he was hearing the guy's voice again. "Yeah, and I can do this!" After he said that, a kind hologram version of him appeared. A green outline of the Emerald Lord appeared leaning on the desk of Peter's office. "Okay. This is not at all intrusive." Peter thought. "You do know I can hear what you're thinking right?" Emerald Lord said. "Also, can we make my name E.L so that it's not a tongue twister every time you talk about me?" "We haven't even told anyone about you." "Yeah but we will probably meet someone else with those kinds of powers when we go to the party. Remember what the stranger said?" E.L reminded Peter. "Yeah but we still need a way of getting into the party. Who should we ask?" "How about Olivia?" E.L said. At the mention of her name, Peter knew what E.L was trying. "Really?" "You got any better ideas?" responded E.L with a grin on his face.
As everyone was getting ready for the party, Peter went over to Olivia's office. "Hey, I wanted to ask if you—" Peter said and then immediately saw that he was just talking to an empty chair. "Hey, big guy she's coming over here, on your left!" E.L said excitedly. "Wait, something's off. She has this kind of aura around her." said E.L. "You sure it's not just you daydreaming over her?" responded Peter with a grin on his face. "Shut up." said E.L. When she finally came to her office Peter asked, "Hey, do you wanna come with me to the party?" "I thought you were going with Mike?" "Nah, he's going with this girl from Floor 14," said Peter. He noticed that she had a kind of questioning face on her. Like she knew that Peter was just trying to use her to get to the party. "Sure, I'll meet you up there at 5," she said.
The party was being held in the banquet and lunch hall. Usually, the banquet hall would be reserved for investors, but because this was such a big party they gave access to everyone to go to the banquet hall to see all of the new machines. The banquet hall and lunch hall were part of the same floor but there was a staircase to go up to the banquet hall. The CEOs and Executive Offices were right above the whole place with only one elevator up to the place, accessible only by a special key card. The whole floor was decorated with all kinds of decorative things. Balloons, statues, flowers, a small orchestra, and even the marketable plushies with the 75th-anniversary logo on them. "Maybe I should get one for Olivia." thought Peter. Peter was wearing a black suit with a blue shirt and green tie. It was the only suit he had but it worked well for the occasion. When Olivia arrived, Peter was in utter shock. She was wearing a ruby red dress with blue earrings. Engraved in a gold lining was a kind of bird, most likely a dove, but Peter didn't know much about birds. "Did I keep you waiting?" she said a bit shyly. "It was worth the wait," he said, not even realizing what he just said. They found a table, sat down, and ordered their food. As they talked, Mike came over with his date, "Hey, I thought you didn't have anyone to go with." "I got lucky." "Yeah, man, you got a whole gold mine," said E.L inside of Peter's head.
As the night went on everyone was told to go upstairs to see the unveiling of the new machines and for a speech from the CEO. All kinds of new things were being shown. New appliances, vehicles, and medicines, you name it. They even had a trailer for the new plushie lineup. When it came time for the CEO to make his speech everyone fell silent and he spoke. The CEO was a tall and broad shouldered man. Like a wall to symbolize the strength of a nation. He had on many different rings, all with different symbols, each for a different country that the company had gone and helped in the past. His beard was the color of snow and his suit mirrored that except for a red tie. Like a bloodstain in the snow. When he spoke it was like you were listening to an old legend being told from a long forgotten era of time. "I thank you all for coming to this party. It is a reminder of our dedication to this company and the further improvement of the world we live in. Here at Ouroboros Industries, we want this cycle of good fortune to last for as many years as possible and to bring that good fortune to as many people as—" but right before the CEO could finish, the whole world went gray and stale. Peter looked around to see what was going on and saw every person there turn into a mannequin with the same clothes and hair they had on before. The lights were sapped of their color and many of the objects like the balloons and plushies, even the vehicles looked like their textures had been stolen. The only person he saw who wasn't affected was Olivia. "What the hell is going on?" She said, frightened by the disappearance of so many people. "I don't know but try staying close—" he said before he turned and saw the Stranger from before in front of him and said, "Hello, again, are you enjoying the festivities?".