All for Naught :: Closed
There’s a drop in his gut--a feeling that wedged its way inside and urged the merchant to sit down. Hands placed upon his knees, fingers scrunch into the fabric of his pants and he feels out of breath.
It feels like something was literally ripped from inside of him--yet it felt all too freeing. No longer burdened with a weight to bear. There’s something disconcerting about all of this. His business here will have to be done with for now. It should be safe enough to return now, he thinks. But if this feeling is any foreshadowing to what he was to learn, he thinks this might have all been for naught.
A gateway into the Nothingness is made; a simple oval-shaped portal way that he steps into and it closes behind him. The Nothingness here is... silent. Something is wrong.
A quick peek into each Zone tells him not much has really changed. Everything is still purified, but everything is so silent. Had it really been this quiet before he left? It’s been too long to tell. And while he distinctly remembers their file being cold to the touch, there is simply no temperature to feel at all now. Something has indeed changed.
All of his searching grew more frantic as he reached the Room. Of course, his Batter was almost-always located there. He rarely left, that he distinctly remembers Zach had left him with no way out the last he left. Didn’t want him running off again.
But nothing is there. There’s no sign of a struggle, no old blood to mar the pristine floors as it had been. Everything was so white, stripped and bare.
Zacharie is aware of a certain relationship with Joel. It’s the only place he can care to go out of his way to look for him. But simply walking their own file, he feels no presence of his Batter anywhere. No key or sign to tell him where he had gone. What exactly was this feeling that felt so hollow inside of himself?
Code has been tampered.
He returns to their Nothingness, only to step through another doorway into a separate file’s Nothingess. This one has an odd tune to it--distorted and unfamiliar. It wasn’t like this the last time he visited either. This file felt strange as well. He felt... unwelcomed.
There was no sign of anyone in particular as he wandered the Zones through Lukas’ file. He didn’t see Joel. He didn’t see Lukas. He didn’t even see the arrogant Merchant who occupied this file as well. Where were they?