#blackreef

While he walks toward his next destination under the forenoon sunshine to Array P in Zone 2, he couldn’t stop thinking about what Harriet last messaged him.

“What about Colt?” He exclaims,”WHAT ABOUT ME?”

He’s still furious about the fact that he was locked out of the group chat, with no warning. Just like that, the founder of Aeon was kicked out of the group chat where he, one of the foundations of all that have been achieved on Blackreef, perhaps the only one who has the right to be inside—Be humble, Egor—is denied the right to be in the group. No one would be here without me, it’s still an indisputable fact.

“Charlie Half-Brained Montague…” He mutters beneath his breath, treading carefully on the damp grass with his (sole miscalculation when he embarked this expedition) leather shoes, trying not to inhale too much of the freezing morning air that stings his nasals. His warm breath clings onto his spectacles. I should’ve had a hot drink earlier with my egg and toast.

How Harriet vanished without explaining the situation to him enrages him even more. Perhaps she went hiding somewhere on this island after her morning ceremony. After all, according to Julianna, Colt is on a killing spree. Egor tries to convince himself about Harriet ghosting on him like everyone else. Still, she should’ve said something before disappearing.

He is fed up with the impudent attitudes from everyone, especially the Eternalists. If it had not been them messing around his compound all day long, he would’ve made some progress on his experiment. He wouldn’t have to venture across the island on the first day of eternity because of their incompetence.

“All they bring is chaos... Never-ending nightmares from a bunch of masked imbeciles.”

When he reaches the Array, he lays down the equipment and begins to work on aligning the devices with precise measurement.

The taunts, mistreatments, disregards are nothing novel to him, he could stand them. What crossed his line of tolerance was the endless sabotages by those Eternalists who were supposed to help the Visionaries with their works. Instead, they mocked him when they learned his project behind his back, and still do, right in front of him. 

Make them respect you, Egor.

Instead of bathing in excitement, resentment has clouded his mind. Then he remembers the night when Colt taught him how to shoot. Beside his compound, the two of them stared into the inky lake by the shore. He raised his rifle and followed Colt’s instructions.

Relax The other-worldly coldness of the metal tingles his skin. FEAR

Breathe The crystalized air creeped into his lungs. FEAR

Squeeze Followed by the unforgiving darkness of the sea as he plunged into the abyss while looking to the land. There was Colt, who was smiling with a machete in hand, on the other side of the world. FEAR

His transmitter falls onto the soft grass in silence like the first snowflakes that land in the Complex later in the afternoon. He stumbles forward to pick up the transmitter. 

As he reaches for the transmitter, he feels a burn on his lips as it has cracked as usual due to his skin condition and the dry air. Then he crouches down and wipes his face with his dark red sleeves. Blood pumping through his vein, he felt a sharp pain on his forehead, piercing through his skull. Doesn’t feel like a headache.

“Fuck…”

Faraway, here at Array P, the sound of chaos is almost inaudible. The unforgiving northern wind sweeps away most of the things on land. The raging waves thrust against the steep cliff as splashes of the white freezing water merge with the roaring wind. In the distance, every now and then, the almost negligible sound of chaos tries to proclaim its supremacy.

He thinks of the vibrant colors of Fristad Rock, the excessive decoration in Updaam and the peculiar atmosphere of Karl’s Bay, all the stimulation that has been brought onto this island, this dark and cold corner of the world. As the pain eases, he stands up and glances at himself, a weirdo in a lifeless green field in his red coat and orange glasses. Standing out yet invisible, just as how he is perceived amongst the band of visionaries. Each one seemingly more eccentric than another. Then there he is, a boy with his toys and glasses, chasing his dream in a deserted landscape.

“Gotta stay focused.” He moves on to his next destination, “It’s the first day, don’t fuck up”

It doesn’t take long for him to receive the news regarding Harriet’s death, which he still finds hard to believe Colt was the perpetrator. Harriet’s base was filled with that strange toxic gas which, without proper handling, could have easily blown in the face of her entire cult during that ceremony of hers.

Why would Colt do that?

Array R, located in Zone 1, is the furthest location Egor has ever ventured to on Blackreef. Under the midday sun, where the temperature is even lower due to the altitude of this place, he stands on the highest part of this island in Polar Sea. He could almost see the Complex from here if it had not been covered by the loop structure standing in the center of the land.

On his way here, he was haunted by a disturbing feeling and several unsettling images that flashes through his mind. The thought of being forced to suffocate in the toxic gas like how Harriet might have died sent chills down his spine. 

He can’t help but feel like he is being hunted. Like what Julianna has warned them. The fact that he was kicked out of the group only fuels his paranoia. He feels like he’s being set up, as if all other visionaries have turned on him for their amusement. 

Being thrown into midair only to be slammed hard against concretes; suddenly wake up by that stupid wolf statue at Updaam and being kicked down to the cult’s Bay; being pierced through with a machete in a havoc of red—all these have come across his mind while he made his way up to the mountain.

Is the anomaly trying to tell me something?

While he is contemplating on the possibilities of cosmic communication, he hears the loudest explosion he has ever heard in his entire life. Manages to hold onto the invaluable transmitter, he fails to maintain balance and falls on snow.

The southern sky, a flash of hellish brightness, then the darkest and largest cloud of smoke soar up into the air with unprecedented height.

The end of the world? In the loop?

No.