A middle-aged man stood on the rocky ground in a dimly lit cave ready to go back home. It was dark out, it felt darker than usual. Inside he felt that he was not strong enough, but something drove him to still want to fight. He was bleeding, a lot. Ben didn't want it to end this way but his legs kept trembling. This was a nightmare. He looked back at the corpses of his fallen teammates, at least he could see them for one last time. Their leader has failed them, gave them a false sense of victory. But all he could think about was their laughter before the battle had started. Before the memory could finish playing in his head,
He collapsed.
[System booting up]
[System: Notification]
Do you want proceed with life?
Yes or No
It all cut to darkness.
He could hear the birds chirping, they were happier then usual. The morning dew had not yet settled.
"Are you awake, honey?" said a old feminine voice. "Me and your dad..." she didn't finish speaking and started crying.
"Where am I?"
"Your in the hospital, son." said a deeper masculine voice.
"Why can't I see?"
"You were in an accident. Your mother and I thought that you were dead."
"But I don't have parents." He'd only thought this, not questioning their relationship.
He thought that maybe it was a dream, but it felt too real.
The doctor walked into the room, heading toward the crying parents.
"If everything alright here."
"He is awake doctor." said his mother.
"I'll have to do a few checks before we proceed with his rehabilitation."
The doctor grabs his Stethoscope and listened to his heart.
"Mmm... It sounds good."
And then the doctor put a thermometer in his mouth.
"Temperature... normal."
The doctor flashed a light in front of his eyes.
"That's not good. Your irises are not responding to the light."
The doctor raised his hand in front of his face.
"How much fingers am I holding."
"I can't see anything doctor."
"And do you remember your name."
Ben thought for a moment.
"It's Benjamin."
The doctor looked at his parents, "It seems your son is blind and has retrograde amnesia."
"Amnesia?"
"Yes, amnesia. It could mean he's forgotten things from the past. Has he asked who you guys are or..."
"No, he hasn't." said the father.
"He doesn't have any other injuries. He should be good to go in a few days."
"And Quinn, rest up. I'll be back later."
The doctor left the brightly lit room.
"So my name is Quinn."
[5 days later]
Quinn had still not gotten used to not being able to seeing light, color, or anything at all. He didn't know why he was still alive or why as someone else. Too much questions and no-one to answer him. He stumbles over a few boxes in his apartment. His care-taker rushed as she heard him fall.
"This is embarrassing."
She grabbed his hand and helped him up.
"Thanks, Marilyn."
She was about 22, a year older than what he is now. Marilyn needed a job and the slums was the closes to home for her, literally she lived just a few streets from Quinn. Even though they were on the 5 floor the stench still burned their nostrils.
"I need to get out of here."
The system appears again:
[System: Notifications]
Daily Training goal!
[0/100] Push-ups
[0/100] Sit-ups
[0/100] Squats
[0/10 km] Run
He didn't know what the screen was or why he could see it. For a second he thought he was going mad.
"And what if I don't do it?" he responds to the system.
[System: Notifications]
You'll die.
There has to be a reason he could see the system. In the darkness beyond blindness he saw a screen with words on it pop up. He thought that he couldn't see anything, but yet again the glowing blue screen was the only thing he could.
"Okay... I guess." Thinking the system would have answers. "By the way... what are you, who am i and how did all this happen."
Without a solid response the system flashed:
[System: Notifications]
You agreed to play the game.
"Is this some sort of game?"
The system didn't respond this time, only flashing the daily training goal:
[System: Notifications]
Daily Training goal!
[0/100] Push-ups
[0/100] Sit-ups
[0/100] Squats
[0/10 km] Run
"Maybe if I complete the daily training goal it will give me answers."
He was hard for him, because of his blindness. But he still tried. That's all that matter. By the end of the day he reached his goal.
He became better at the training, he hated it but it brought him peace at the end of the day. If he went for a run he would with his care-taker the soccer fields that was available in the slums, it was safer that way. He had no rank and no Seiki power. Quinn sees the system only two times a day now, getting less each day. He thought maybe he is getting closer to his goal.
He realized people of the slums didn't know Phantoms exist, they just thought that it was a bad omen. He realized know like the people of the city as a whole he couldn't see Phantoms either and wouldn't know if they would be attacking him or others. Every time he would go run the shades he wore would always fall off of his head, so he switched to a more unconventional eye-wear option: a blindfold.
[2 weeks later]
[System: Notification]
Level Unlocked:
Sight by Sound
He didn't know what it was so he asked the system.
[System: Notification]
You can now see signatures of sound alerting you of near surrounding.
Before he was finished with his daily training, he heard a scream. It came from somewhere near the soccer field he was running. With every scream a crash. Without hesitation he rushes there, stumbling over everything in his way. The only thing he could see was the signatures of screaming and crashing.
"Wait!" Marilyn stops him.
He stops abruptly before he could fall over more things. He could only see sound bouncing off buildings and the road that's why he got that far.
"I'm impressed." Marilyn said out of breath. "It looks like you got used to the blind thing fast.
Quinn heard another scream but not from a human but from the Phantom itself.
"Are the Night Agents already there?"
While Marilyn helps him, Quinn points to the direction he wants to go.
When he got there he asked here what she sees.
"A fire, a massive one."
That's what normal people see.
So he tells Marilyn to stay outside while he rushes into the building the screaming is coming from.
Marilyn tried to stop him.
He found where the Phantom was.
"Help me, please."
The last scream came from the phantom before he went for an attack. It was like sonar to him, he could see the echos of sound bouncing off objects in that building. It formed a clear path toward the Phantom.
Before he could go for an attack, he felt a hand on his shoulder.
"We'll take it from here." said a young man. "I'm the leader of Team Golden Serpent, A Night Agent."
The leader didn't even fight, he let his teammates exercise the Phantom.
[A few minutes later]
"Impressive team! Who wants a gold star?"
The leader held out his hand. "I'm Silas."
"Oh... Are you blind or..."
"Yes, I'm blind."
"I can sense your Seiki is very powerful. Join our team."
"Why would you let me join your team?"
"I just told you why."
"But why me though?"
While Quinn and Silas go back and forth the rest of Team Golden Serpent head back to the Exorcist van.
[10 minutes later]
Quinn thought it was a good idea to join them, especially because Silas was so adamant for him to join the team. But it was also a way for him make money to get out the slums and hopefully get more answers.