《Anno Novo》 Raging Storm She heave a heavy breathe, she sweats profusely as she run for her life, trying to escape the pursuer meant to kill her. Her name is Aleia, and her current condition is worse than a living cattle. Dressed in a now dirtied one piece dress, she didn''t mind the dirt splashing to her clothes as the wet ground suck her feet within the forest of Neverend. What she only thinks is one thing---live. Her family was setup, assassinated, destroyed. That''s the reason of her cheeks constantly drenching in tears merge with her blood and sweats. Aleia bear anger, fear, and regret. She nor her family didn''t do anything wrong, so why? Even her innocent little sister who only shows smile that can never be tainted lost its brightness the moment she was pierced. Why? Too many questions left unanswered, yet she felt the desire to seek it. She boils of revenge, she calls for help. She did everything, and yet... "East." Suddenly, a hope came. A direction, given by the unknown voice echoed in her ears. She turn her head, see if her pursuer was trying to trick her but she seems to be too far away to be in rage of their illusion magic. Nodding herself weakly, she decided to follow the word without second thought. She head east after seeing a clear path, pass through a shallow river, and continue her escape. Minutes, if not, more have passed and there she was met by a large wall of mountain that stands with dignity amidst the raging storm. She raise her head and find it intimidating, however, she have no more time to even fear the unknown, thus she continue her venture. The next thing she encounter upon continuing her travel is a cave. "Enter." Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author''s preferred platform and support their work! Unlike before, this time, Aleia hesitated... Seeing the exposed cave would only make the pursuer capture her. "I-I can''t..." "Enter." "N-no... Someone''s... Someone''s chasing me..." "Don''t worry... Enter." Aleia sigh in acceptance. At this rate, she will be caught... But there''s something telling her to trust the voice within her head. Thus, she entered, albeit cautiously. She walk slowly within the cave, turning her head around, trying to find a possible hiding spot in case she''s found by her pursuer. Knowing she is now temporary safe, she take a sigh of relief. Now that she has left the storm, she was able to give herself a nice and slow breathe while trying to calm her body from the adrenaline rush just now. However, deep within the cave, there''s a sudden noise that echoes throughout the shelter. Then, a light shine in front of her where a silhouette of a human appear. When Aleia saw this, she kneel immediately, looked at the figure in disbelief, and clasp her hands altogether. "P-please... Save me..." Misunderstanding something, Aleia gave the deity a prayer. Asking to be saved from the fate she now holds. And the moment the cold breeze from outside enter the cave, blowing her skin, causing her to shiver, a two metallic object suddenly appear in haste from the light... Barely visible to her eyes. "I told you not to worry, didn''t I?" Then, a loud continuous explosion resound from outside despite the noise of the raindrops. Aleia tried to turn her head out of curiosity, however, before she could, a warm yet restraining feeling spread in her head. There she noticed that the figure---no, the man have arrived in front of him and stopped her from discovering the event that transpired just now. "You shall rest, you have exhaust yourself and drain your energy." With that unfamiliar, yet reassuring word and warm that spread from her head, she quickly lost consciousness fully trusting the man she had never known. ----- [Target Neutralized] [Searching for possible threat] "Unnecessary, return to your station." [Understood] Coldness, a simple term that can describe the crimson eye of the man who currently stood almost 2 meters in height. He look down to the ground where a lady was lying, seemingly tired from the death chase she just experience. He pity her, thus he helped. But he didn''t exactly knew that the lady he save would be this beautiful. Silver hair, blue oceanic eyes, heart shaped face. Her body is slender, her chest is so-so. However, what stand out the most is her pointy ears and meek, adorable personality she just showed him. Once again, he knelt while thinking of such adorable expression of her while begging to be saved. He pat her silver, silky hair and comb it using his finger. "What a beautiful creature you are." The man then move both of his hand and carry the lady, after confirming that the situation is now under control, he left the cave as if nothing happened, and enter his secret shelter which only he knows. Eternal Sleep For a thousand years of technological advancement and prosperity brought by the emperor of earth, Luigi was among the people who benefitted of it all. He was nothing but a scumbag, who laze around, fool around, that even his father, who pride him as his only son, lost all hope. He even always came late on his curfew, either beaten up or handcuffed by the police. His sister even got a lot of trouble due to the connection between them. She always get called for the dean''s office, and sometimes even threatened to be expelled if they don''t take action against her brother. It all happen simply because of that incident that led to one another. If not for that, then her brother wouldn''t have change for the worst. Still, things cannot be taken back now. Thus, they are to endure the troublesome kid that grew out of anger. But it all change once again when the Emperor called upon those who have potential to become one of the people who will contribute to the breakthrough of the human civilization. And unexpectedly, the one who was hated the most by his surrounding, was the one chosen by the emperor himself. At first, Luigi frown from this unprecedented situation... It is the greatest honor of someone to be able to be called upon by the emperor, and yet his expression says otherwise. But he can do nothing against it, for it is the calling of opportunity. There came the invention of immortality... Or what other calls--- Eternal Life. It was the best, yet the worst invention made by humanity of all. They didn''t know what the side effect would be, they only know that it will benefit humanity. And that''s where they are wrong. In the process of their creation against the natural order of the universe, the Gods were enraged, the universe itself oppose. A universal scale storm entered the galaxy, destroying by either merging or separating all entity from other universe. This includes the stars, planets, and even the race that live within it. No one was able to predict such occurrence, for they only know that it can never happen. It was against the law of physics after all. If you come across this story on Amazon, it''s taken without permission from the author. Report it. And that mistake of a belief result to the mass extinction of humanity... A death of a super advance civilization. ----- Fast forward a millions of years to the future after the storm. Beneath the rocky mountain that stood still, taller than the everest, is a metallic cube structure that barely hold itself. Within it, there lies a single chamber where a human sleep in his eternal slumber. It''s a man. And around it is a busy floating objects they call an AI, working hard to function the barely functional system of the shelter. Soon, while in the middle of a busy work, they all suddenly notice a strange happening within the chamber. When they approach it, they see the moving fingers of the pronounced dead master of them. [Luigi Sercros... He''s awakening from his eternal slumber... Be prepared.] The one who spoke is none other than one of his companion, Eve. An AI given to him personally by the emperor with an objective of surpassing human current technology. That was the time he felt awe and motivation. Eve is an artificial superintelligent that behaves no different than humans. She express emotion, give opinion, and even decides full of awareness. This masterpiece became the advance human foundation. And now, that very thing is surpassing the expectation given by her creators. To feel a sense of relief, joy, and excitement upon seeing her master''s movement. Minutes later after the preparation, Eve ordered the rest of the AIs to open the chamber. Upon opening, a cold smoke was released from the tube, and once it was gone, there appear an unmoving man. His black hair is still frozen, but his precious crimson eyes slowly reveal itself. His bare body starts to arise from his metaphorical coffin when suddenly Eve jump in front of him. [Master, you shouldn''t move recklessly. Due to the longivity of your sleep, there might be an anomaly that lies in your body.] Luigi is confused, but he nodded in agreement before returning to his original position. Once done, Eve did a general check of his body. His bones, tissues if there is any trauma, organs that still has yet to warm up, his blood flow, his nerve that barely response to his need. Every seems running in expected normal level. [Everything seems alright, master. You will then be moved to your personal room where we will assist to your needs. Please don''t move.] Two automated hands attached to the roof appear from the room, slowly and carefully, they carry the tube where Luigi lies. He felt a sense of pain from his back, which Eve notice and immediately took action. His back pain seems to be a cause of the unexpected movement of the tube. [Be careful.] She warn the two hands. Without further incident, Luigi''s body was move successfully to his room, where two humanoid robots readily took care of his fragile body. Four heavy looking humanoid then enter the room and swiftly but carefully move their master to the bed. His bare body was then clothed with pure white, his eyes and ears were tested for brain function. Upon collecting the data of his master''s health, she heave a sigh of relief in her head before approaching the unconscious man. [Welcome back, Master.] He looks calm, sleeping soundly without nothing to worry. Not knowing that he just slept for an entire 3 million years.