************
-Many Hours Earlier
Tap! Tap! Tap! Tap!
The sounds of hastened footsteps reverberated across the vicinity as a man in a red jacket, and silver shirt complimented by a black tie and pants ran through the middle of a massive walkway.
His unfastened upper buttons were proof of rushed preparation.
"Shit, I'm gonna be late again!" I muttered as I made my way toward the entrance of a skyscraper up ahead.
The skyscraper was over two hundred stories tall. A glowing sign that read, "QUAX TECHNOLOGIES" could be spotted high above.
This happened to be my place of work...
My name is Victor West. I am a 19-year-old graduate who studied science and technology at one of the most prestigious universities in the world.
I had always been a whizkid, acing school-related activities, and being one of the best students amongst my peers. I had dreams of becoming one of the greatest tech inventors in the world.
Since this is the year 2277, technology has come a long way, and the world has undergone some of the greatest changes in history during the last two hundred years.
One of our ancestors by the name Urmin Decker worked with three other colleagues to create the first-ever QUAX.
The QUAX was a technological machinery created for teaching purposes at first, but it was later tweaked to increase military prowess and also help them win battles.
Different types were created for different purposes. Some could be used as guards, some as a cook, a teacher, and a weapon...
The Quax organization later branched into different categories where each branch would focus on creating specific types of Quax for different purposes.
The teaching-like QUAX was designed to look like a helmet. Upon wearing this QUAX, it would link with a person's brainwaves, and information would be downloaded directly into their brain. This type of QUAX was used mostly in educational institutions. This was the original reason for creating QUAX.
A weapon-like QUAX was designed to look like a full body armor that could be completely equipped. After being successfully equipped, it would look like a human living within a mechanical-looking robot.
It boosted the physical and destructive prowess of the military of countries under the alliance.
A military QUAX operator had the strength of a hundred men and the firepower of ten tanks.
The other types of QUAXs were also built in specific ways based on their purpose. Amongst all the scientific and technological breakthroughs worldwide in the last one hundred and fifty years, the QUAX happened to be the greatest.
Q - Queen
U - Urmin
A - Aidan
X - Xena
The four involved in its creation went on to become legends in the scientific field.
Well-structured buildings, roads, and vehicles were now a usual sight. Space exploration was now a thing, and the future was looking way brighter than it used to in the past.
'My name must be written in the science history books as well... I'll have to carry on with my invention in secret. I can't let Mr Ba...'
"Victor, you're late again!" Amid my ambitious thoughts, a distasteful voice called out to me.
"Mr Badmus..." I responded before nervously gulping down saliva after spotting the source of the voice.
A bald man with a scar on his left cheek was glaring at me with a menacing expression.
"This is going out of your paycheck," Mr Badmus stated.
"I was in an accident..." I yelled with a look of injustice.
"You've been in an accident four times this week... You must have offended the god of misfortune," Mr Badmus clicked his tongue in ridicule after responding.
"I..."
"I don't wanna hear it, Victor. Come late next time, and we're truly gonna have a problem," Mr Badmus threatened before walking away.
"Yes, sir..." A heavy sigh escaped my lips as I watched him walk towards the elevator.
'How can I tell him my true reason for repeatedly arriving late to work... I'll have to keep that to myself.' I thought before heading towards the elevator.
---
A few minutes later, I arrived at the 85th floor, which was one of the manufacturing floors.
"You came late again," Bolaji was the first to yell out after spotting me.
"Yeah..." I responded with a slightly dispirited tone.
"Hahahaha, Mr Badmus scolded you, right?" Bolaji chuckled intensely after seeing my expression.
"Tch," I responded with a sour expression before moving towards my work post.
"The day you come early in the day gold will rain from the heavens, haha," Bolaji kept laughing at me.
I rolled my eyes at him and raised my middle finger in response. Work had begun for the day, and we had to manufacture the parts used to create battle QUAXs since this entire building was a QUAX technological branch.
-"Did you guys hear about the gases that spread across South Asia from the meteors that drifted past Earth?"
-"I heard there were multiple meteors carrying toxic gas that past the planet, and some of these gases infiltrated different parts of the earth's atmosphere,"
-"They said new energy was found,"
-"I heard it emitted corrupt gas that turned living things into monsters,"
-"Haha Danisha, you heard wrong,"
-"How do we know what's right when they are withholding information?"
While focusing on my work, I could hear the gossiping voices of my colleagues.
'Fools... some of you are gonna be lackeys forever,' I swore within myself, disappointed at the fact that they weren't focused on their jobs.
Bump!
Bolaji lightly bumped his left shoulder into mine to get my attention before speaking.
"Do you think any of them are right?" He questioned.
"How would I know? It is pointless to argue over which rumor is correct until the governments release information on what is happening in the affected locations," I responded while shrugging my shoulders.
"Hmm, you're right. it would be pretty interesting if people were turning to monsters hahaha maybe I will finally be able to use the skills I've learned from watching apocalyptic animes," Bolaji displayed an imaginative expression as he voiced out.
"You watch too much anime, fucking weeb," I stated with a tone of ridicule.
"You watch anime too," Bolaji replied with a tone of ridicule as well.
I should have told Bolaji to be careful of what he wished for because we had no idea what was coming at the time...
We had no idea that being in such a situation was way worse than anything we could ever haved imagined. We were about to realize... reality was a lot more cruel than fantasy.
"Arrrrrghhhhhhh!!!!"
The sound of a sudden scream drew everyone's attention in a particular direction.