Capítulo 1: Do you Accept?
´Why does something like this have to happen to me? This shitty life...´
Those were the last little tidbits of electrical signals that ran wild in Zach's mind. Just right before his brain was pierced through by a metal rod.
Many may ask what happened to result in such a situation. But there was a very simple answer to that.
Someone decided to blow himself up in the name of his so-called god and Zach was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.
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Turning back the time a little bit shows our protagonist just entering a very crowded shopping mall.
It was decorated with a lot of stuff that always symbolized the current time of the year- it was near Christmas Eve. The time of happiness. Especially for the toy industries if he had to add a comment.
Zach, like a lot of others, was in a hurry to still get something as a present for his loved ones.
Sadly luck was not on his side and everything he had noted down in his phone was already sold out.
So he had no other choice but to sit down and sigh in disappointment.
"What is wrong, young man?", asked an old grey-haired man that sat right beside him on the same resting bench.
Zach glanced over to the man and smiled wryly. "Christmas..." His answer was short and precise.
"Not finding a present, are we?" The old man chuckled a little bit and guessed pretty easy what was the lads problem.
"Yes, now I am just thinking about some excuse how I messed this up. Maybe I can find something good as a consolation."
"I know about a good little shop at the end of the second floor. Maybe you could find something there?"
"Sorry if I am rude but I am not searching for antics or the likes..."
The old man chuckled again "Do I look like I am from the stone age? Of course, it is an electronics shop."
Zach just smiled. "Fine. I will give it a try if I have the time. My little break is over now as well. So I have ti go." He looked at his wristwatch and stood up. Then with a genuine smile he looked over to the old man. "Thanks for the little chat. Merry Christmas to you."
The old man looked up and smiled back. "Don't worry about that. Merry Christmas to you as well. Hope you find something."
After that little random meeting, Zach went ahead and hunted through all the relevant shops once more and ended up at the one the old man gave him as a special hint of his.
´Hmm, the exterior is really shabby. Is this really a shop?´ His impression of the shop was not the greatest.
But with those thoughts, he went inside and looked around.
And Zach was instantly flabbergasted. There were many Computer, Tablets, Smartphones and various other things in the shop.
´Jackpot.´
Zach smiled and looked around. After a short rundown he actually found all the items he was searching for and went ahead to buy them.
While he did that, something actually caught his attention. It was a stand with old-looking stuffin it.
And a specific item was especially to his liking. It was a pendant that shone in chromatic silver and inside was a blue display that showed a picture of a person.
It had a Cyberpunk feel to it with the style it portrayed the picture inside. It was mainly shown with only one spectrum of color. That being different shades of blue. As if it was a holographic picture.
"How much for this? And can I change the picture inside?" Zach asked the shopowner about the item and its price since it had no tag on it.
"50 and yes." The shop owner answered after looking at the item.
Zach his eyebrow twitched slightly after hearing the price. That was expensive. But after looking at it a little bit more he brought it anyway.
He even put it on immediately and hid it underneath his hoodie.
After finishing his little shopping he wanted to leave the mall and was already on the escalator to the first floor.
But just about that time, he heard some noise that sounded like something exploded. Suddenly a lot of people started screaming around himself and running away from the exit.
With that, a lot of other explosions happened and the ground started to shake a little bit from it.
´Don't tell me!?´ Zach became a little bit panicky because of this sudden shock and hid behind a pillar to calm down and look around. He could see shocked pale faces everywhere. Everyone was scared and tried to hide or flee. Wither to hide somewhere else or try to get out.
But the second option seemed to be a fatal mistake because everyone that ran to the exits was now mowed down by Automatic Rifles by some masked guys.
Zach only had a short glimpse at them but could see that they were strapped with explosives around their bodies as well. So he quickly figured out what was going on.
´Fuck!!´ Zach screamed internally and dropped everything he had and started running to a location that was safer in his opinion. All the while he kept watching that he didn't get spotted.
The location he ended up was a shop for clothing. There he hid behind the many lines of presented clothes and tried to keep hidden.
His heartbeat increased drastically and was like a drum. Every single sound could be heard. He could hear the pitiful screams of the people together with the many shots fired by the automated guns from the terrorists.
At some point, he even saw through the display windows how a woman was gunned down right in front of the shop. The Terrorists didn't even stop and just came over and took a glimpse inside the shop to kill any survivor inside.
Luckily Zach outmaneuvered them with his good sneaking skills and the help of the many rows of clothes. He even managed to sneak out of the shop when they were still inside it.
When he was out of the shop and back in the mall he could see someone familiar slowly walking along the wall.
Taking a closer look he saw that it was the old man he met earlier. He was hunched and was holding his stomach that seemed to bleed. By the looks, he seemed to have been hit by a bullet.
Gritting his teeth and remembering the kindness this man showed him he tried to get to him and help. But just at the moment he nearly reached the man, his luck ran out. He got spotted by one terrorist.
This person wanted to shoot him but was interrupted by other gunshots nearby and someone yelling something unclear in another language. By the looks, the special forces were already in action and clearing the mall out.
Since these guys didn't take hostages and just killed everyone there was no need to follow protocol and a clean sweep of the mall was initiated.
But that was too late for Zach. The terrorist that spotted him immediately looked at him and activated his bombs.
Out of reflex Zach pushed the old man to the ground in hopes to save him. That may have worked but for him, it was definitely already too late.
With that explosion going off a lot of chunks from the nearby pillars and other stuff flew around. The shockwave flushed him into the wall that was behind him and a metal rod pierced his head cleanly the next second. With that, he was just nailed to the wall and we come back to the beginning.
His blood just flowed along the metal rod and trickled down to the ground. Zach was still alive for a very short moment until his life flashed in front of his mental eyes and ended at the same moment in time that he was at right now. At that point, he drew his last breath and the sign of life left his body.
´Why did something like that happen to me? This shitty life...Those fucking bastards. I would gladly strangle them if I ever had the chance...´
Hatred engulfed his very soul at that moment and he started to blame those terrorist and a lot of other things.
"You seem to be filled with wrath and hatred, young soul."
"Of course. Those assholes killed me! How can I not be mad!?" Zach his thoughts came out as a voice. it answered that sudden voice for its silly and dumb question.
"Have you ever seen their point of view?"
"I don't need to. Those guys are just psychopaths following something they can't even see."
"And you think you would act differently?"
"Of course."
"Alright, I will...play a game with you. If you survive it long enough and still got the same clear answer you gave me just now. I will give you another chance to rewrite your story. If you lose, then just accept your death. You may also just as well accept your death right this instant as well. It is up to you."
"A game? What game?"
"I will bring you into certain...scenarios. And it is up to you to solve them. But there will be rules for you to follow."
"I am all ears."
"First, you should always act villainous. Don't bother acting heroic. No one demands it. Second, you may not save lives. No matter who it is. If they are destined to die, they die. On the other hand, feel free to take lives as you like. Third, you will be judged at the end of every mission. If you fail to follow the first two rules, the game ends immediately. So try to be mindful."
"Wait, are you telling me I should become like the terrorists that killed me? So I can and see their point? Are you actually the devil!?"
"Am I asking that? I just want to play a game. It is up to you to accept." The voice just ignored his question.
"...That sounds crappy. Would I not die as soon as I start that game?"
"Oh, you actually whine about something as that? Where did your confidence go?"
"Well, I can't do much with just thoughts, right?"
The mysterious voice stayed silent.
"Alright, I accept. I will just get it over with. If I get such a chance, then I will use it. I would be a dumb brick if I didn't."
"I wonder about that...Right, you will get a little villain bonus for every mission. After all, villains always get that bonus, no? Just like those guys in the mall with the guns?"
Those last words made Zach angry again. So this voice actually now compared him to those fuckheads. And it was aiming to anger him. He could hear its snickering undertone.
"Let's start then. Your first mission is a little bit on the easier part. Let´s just hope you liked those electronics of yours good enough to know about this world. Or should I say game?"
Zach was a little bit surprised and would frown now if he could. Those words had a weird familiar underlying meaning. But suddenly Zach received a splitting headache and groaned in pain.
That abruptly woke him up in a jolt as if he was having a nightmare. His breathing was quicker and his heartbeat was racing somewhat. At first, he was confused where he was but slowly he could discern his surroundings. He sat inside a car while someone was driving it. So he slowly started relaxed a bit.
Zach his sudden jolt was noticed by the driver and he glanced over to him.
"Are you awake now? Got a sweet dream there? At least you got some really good timing. We are finally here." Those words were said by a caucasian male with somewhat neck long brown hair. His upper lip mustache showed his amusement about Zach having a nightmare.
Zach looked at him and somehow some information started to sicker into his mind. Then his head started aching once more and he grimaced a little bit.
"Just a bad dream. This headache is also killing me." He answered calmly while rubbing his glabella. Shortly after he opened the door of the car that had now stopped and was parked.
"Then let's hope that the headache doesn't get worse. Today is the day you take over for me. Remember that. Don't embarrass me.", answered the caucasian while also leaving the car.
Zach was looking towards a large building that had some old fashioned metal gates in front and a rather short fence surrounding it. There was also a logo on top of its main gates. Zach clearly remembered it now. And that was not from the information that the mysterious being put inside his head but from the memories of his old life.
´Fucking hell.´ he thought.
"Did you hear me?", asked the guy once more.
"Yeah, yeah. I heard you clear and loud, Enrico. No embarrassment for the Captain.", answered Zach after picking up his military duff bag out of the trunk and throwing it over his shoulder.
"Didn't sound like you did." snorted the guy called Enrico and they walked towards the gate after that exchange.
When they reached the gate and went through it Zach looked upwards and remained still for a moment.
"Are you that impressed by our building?", asked Enrico after noticing Zach´s slight stupor.
Zach shifted his focus back at his fellow mate. "I didn't think our department was an old ass clocktower. Or is this some kind of museum?"
"Hey now. It has its charms, alright?", rebuked Enrico.
"I guess it does."
"Alright, let's go. We are short on time I think.", said Enrico while looking at his wristwatch. And with that said, both of them started to enter the building.
On their way through the little yard that connected the gate and the actual door of the building, they saw some other people leaving at the same moment. And those figures were somewhat in a hurry.
Not completely surprising considering that they probably had a mission and were on their way out fulfilling their duty.
Zach still got a quick glance at the name of the place outside before he closed the doors behind himself and disappeared inside the building.
RPD. Raccoon City Police Department.
Hell would break loose here very soon. And he would very likely help out that it became worse.
That is some shitty first mission he received. He felt somewhat conflicted about this now. He didn't really think he would be revived with just a snap of one's finger, to say the least.
PENSAMENTOS DOS CRIADORES 
Soulcrystal
Soulcrystal Author here :)
What do you think about this idea? Is it okay or not? Somehow I lately only write about stuff that I feel writing about
And clearly, I kinda want to write about darker stuff. I hope I will learn a lot while doing so.
As always, hope you enjoyed.
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