Chapter Two — The Walk Home
"Well then… let him come."
Lucien thought, a sharp, feral grin spreading across his face.
A sudden vibration shattered the moment.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
He yelped, instinctively glancing down.
A sleek black band wrapped around his left wrist—one he hadn't even noticed until now. Its surface pulsed faintly with light as it vibrated again.
Lucien exhaled slowly.
"Sigh… just a call," he muttered in relief.
Then he froze.
"Wait… a call?"
His eyes widened as realization dawned.
There was only one person who would call the previous Lucien with that particular alert tone.
And she was—
Gulp.
With hesitant fingers, he tapped the surface of the band.
At once, a translucent projection flickered to life above his wrist.
Beep.
He answered just as a familiar voice burst through, laced with panic.
"Lu! You finally picked up!" a female voice snapped. "Where in the monuments are you? I got home and you're not back yet."
"I—something came up, I was—" Lucien stammered, frantically sifting through his new memories for an excuse.
But he was cut off.
"Something came up…? What something?" Mira shot back, her tone sharp.
"It's a long sto—"
"And you couldn't call to inform me? Maybe leave a message?" she interrupted again.
Lucien opened his mouth, but she didn't give him the chance.
"Where are you? I know you're not still at the academy, so get your ass back home now!"
"I—"
Beep.
The projection vanished as the call abruptly ended.
For several moments, Lucien simply stared at the now-dark surface of the band wrapped around his wrist.
He sighed.
"She didn't even let me speak…"
Shaking his head, he lowered his arm and started walking in the direction his newly inherited memories insisted was home.
As he walked, he muttered under his breath.
"Is this what having a big sister feels like?"
He shook his head and continued on.
⸻
The alley gradually opened into a wider street.
Lucien slowed.
His eyes drifted across the towering structures surrounding him.
Buildings of glass and pale steel rose high into the sky, their surfaces reflecting the fading glow of evening lights. Thin streams of illuminated vehicles glided silently along elevated tracks overhead, while small hovering drones passed between buildings like mechanical fireflies.
Lucien stopped walking.
His breath caught.
His eyes fixed on a massive projection stretching across the side of a nearby building. An abstract face hovered there, its features shifting slowly as if made from liquid light. The eyes closed in a final, deliberate motion before the image shattered into thousands of glowing pixels.
A moment later, the particles reassembled—forming a flawless woman smiling softly as she endorsed a skincare product.
"Beautiful," he murmured.
Eventually, his gaze drifted down—to the people around him.
A man in a tailored suit stood nearby, speaking to a hologram projected from a device a monocle that looked embedded into his skull. Behind him, a briefcase floated obediently through the air, carried along by a small service bot.
Not far away, a group of women clad in sleek combat armor strolled past as if it were an ordinary Tuesday. Each carried an assortment of weapons slung casually across their backs.
And every one of them looked like they had stepped straight off a modeling stage.
'Hunters?' Lucien thought, going off solely by the faint, palpitating presence they radiated.
Suddenly, they all stopped.
One of them broke off from the group, giving the others a casual wave before turning around—and in a couple 'casual' steps, completely disappearing from Lucien's field of vision.
The others followed soon after, leaving Lucien staring after them in stunned silence.
Then something else caught his attention.
Through the transparent walls of a nearby dining establishment, he spotted a dark-skinned man handing his daughter an ice-cream cone—or at least the futuristic equivalent of one.
The little girl giggled as she accepted it, skipping happily toward the door while the man followed behind, laughing at her excitement.
It was an ordinary scene.
Perfectly normal.
Except for one small detail.
The man's left arm was entirely metallic, its sleek alloy surface glinting under the restaurant lights as naturally as if it had always been part of him.
Lucien blinked.
"…Yeah," he murmured quietly.
"This definitely is three thousand years in the future."
As he continued walking, he began carefully sifting through the unfamiliar memories in his mind, wanting to understand them properly rather than relying on the chaotic shuffle he had done earlier.
Fragments surfaced slowly—names, places, routines, faces, habits.
Like pieces of a puzzle rising through dark water.
And the picture they formed shook him to his core.
This world… even if it was still called Earth, could not have been more different from the one he remembered.
Beasts.
Hidden races.
Mutated creatures.
It was as if the entire planet had become a battlefield filled with things capable of killing a human in the blink of an eye.
And the only path to survival—
was Evolution.
Speaking of evolution…
Lucien glanced down at the black band wrapped around his wrist.
With a few light taps, a projection flickered into existence before him.
⸻
Name: Lucien Gray
Age: 19
Academy: Derwin Academy
Year: Final-Year
Rank: 07 / 35
Status: Unevolved
⸻
Lucien stared at the word for several seconds.
Then he frowned slightly.
"…Figures."
He dismissed the projection with a flick of his wrist and resumed walking.
But this time, his eyes had grown noticeably colder.
Because if the memories were correct—
Then tomorrow morning…
He would have to return to Derwin Academy.
And it was certain that a very specific fellow would not be happy to see him.
But—he let out a quiet breath.
"…Let's get today out of the way first."
Lucien's journey home eventually carried him through the lesser districts of the city.
The houses and surrounding infrastructure were older here, their designs noticeably more dated compared to the gleaming towers he had passed earlier. Some even looked slightly decrepit—at least by the standards of this era.
But to Lucien…
Even the worst building here would have been considered divine where—or rather 'when'— he came from.
After several more minutes of walking, he finally spotted his home in this world.
A small mansion—again not by his standards—situated within a neatly arranged estate. Every house in the area looked almost identical, lined up in quiet rows beneath the dim glow of streetlights.
Lucien slowed as he approached.
Then suddenly—
"Shit, I almost forgot."
He froze mid-step.
His gaze had just caught his reflection in the glossy surface of a nearby building.
Blood.
Dried streaks of it covered his clothes and clung to parts of his face.
Lucien grimaced.
Patting himself down did nothing. The blood had already dried into the fabric.
Which meant there was only one option left—he could only hope she didn't see him like this.
At least not until he managed to get inside and wash the blood off.
Lucien took a slow breath and continued toward the entrance. Each step felt louder than the last. The quiet environment did nothing to help his nerves.
Maybe she's still in the shower, he thought. Or asleep.
He reached the front steps and carefully placed a hand on the door panel.
The surface lit up faintly under his palm.
Access granted.
The door slid open with a soft hiss.
Lucien stepped inside as quietly as possible. For a moment, everything was silent.
He exhaled in relief, when suddenly—
"Lucien."
He froze.
That voice came from the living area.
Slowly, very slowly, he turned his head.
Mira sat there with her arms folded. Her eyes moved from his face… to the dried blood covering his clothes.
The silence that followed was far more terrifying than her shouting earlier.
"…Explain."
Lucien swallowed.