Chapter 1
The curtain rises. In the public’s mind, it happened without warning. No one could have possibly guessed that a single girl would turn the society they’d always known on its head, much less be the cause of its eventual destruction. The performers prepare to tell their story…
A teenage girl with short brown hair stirred in her hospital bed, causing two pairs of eyes to turn in her direction.
Her eyes fluttered open. “Ugh… Where am I…?”
“The hospital,” answered a female voice to her left.
When her caramel eyes finally focused, the girl saw a young-looking woman with very long, wavy black hair and striking blood red eyes. “Er, and who are you?”
The woman seemed surprised for a second. “My name is Victoria Winterway, I am the person in charge. How much do you remember?”
“My name is Alice… Rufner, I think… That sounds right,” said Alice, rubbing her head as she sat up.
Victoria gestured something towards the one doctor in the room, and he quickly hurried to get out. “It looks like the doctors were right after all. You hit your head in an accident, Alice, so you might have lost your memory.”
“Huh… That would explain a lot. So… what relationship do you have with me? Like, why are you here? You’re not wearing a doctor’s coat or a nurse uniform.”
“None really, I was simply concerned, since we hadn’t had a case of amnesia in so long,” Victoria explained, standing up. “When the doctor comes back, I suspect he will ask you some questions. Try to answer them as best you can, I will be back soon.”
Alice nodded, taking note of the woman’s strange appearance. Average height, slim figure, that was normal enough. But now that she looked closer, the woman’s complexion really was almost unnervingly young. And she was in charge? Not to mention her strange eyes.
“I guess she must be the boss for a reason,” Alice thought to herself.
As if on cue, the doctor from before returned, holding a clipboard. “How are you feeling?”
“Mostly fine. My head kinda hurts, but the world isn’t spinning and I’m not confused anymore.”
The doctor nodded and sat on a stool near Alice, grabbing a pen. “I heard you remember your name. What about your age?”
“I’m 14.”
“Occupation?”
“Uhh… I know I had one, but I can’t remember what it was.”
“Place of residence?”
“… no idea.”
“Do you remember anyone close to you? Friends, family?”
Alice looked down at the white sheets of her bed, clenching them tightly. “I don’t.”
The doctor nodded, finishing up his notes. “Any other basic information about yourself?”
“No.”
“Not even your designation?”
“Well, I remember I’ve used magic before, so… I guess I must be a mage.”
“Do you know what year it is?”
“7038 After the Unearthing. I mean, I think, it might be 7039, I’m the kind of person who always puts the previous year down when asked to write it on a paper.”
“You are correct, it is 7038 AU. Where are you?”
“I’m decently sure I’m still in the capital Facility, where I was born.”
“Do you know the districts?”
“The main ten, yes.”
The man scribbled down one last thing. “Alright, don’t worry, we won’t keep you here too long.”
“Say, doc, where am I, exactly?”
“The central hospital in District 9; your wounds were too severe to be treated at your local hospital. You will be returned to your district of residence after you are discharged.”
“And what is my district of residence? You must have my files, right?”
“You live in District 1, young lady. The nurses will be here shortly to conduct some tests. Now, if you’ll excuse me…”
Just like that, the doctor left the room.
It wasn’t until several hours later that the woman Alice had met when she woke up came back to her room, with an older-looking man. “Alice, this is Lester Demaio, your supervisor from work.”
The man dipped his head. “I’m glad to see you’ve recovered from your accident, officer.”
“Ah, um, thanks?” Alice nervously replied. “I’m an officer?”
“You have been working as a security guard in District 3 ever since your birthday,” Victoria explained. “Lester is a captain, and your supervisor. He has been working as a guard for 24 years, so ask him if you have any questions. We won’t send you back to the academy because of an accident you had no fault in.”
The brown-haired teen threw off her blankets. “Thanks a lot, I’ll try to get used to things again as soon as I can. Oh, um, right, the hospital bill…”
Victoria waved her off. “It has been paid for, do not worry. Can you walk?”
Alice nodded, standing up. “I should be fine as long as I don’t make big efforts for a bit. I was out for a while, though, and the nurses said I lost some muscle mass… I hope that’s not a problem. I’ll hit the gym as soon as I’m free!”
Lester laughed. “I like your attitude. I doubt it would be much of an inconvenience, you are a mage after all. You don’t remember where you used to live, right? Follow me and I’ll show you to the dorms, you should stay there until you’ve settled back into a routine.”
“Ah, okay!” said the girl, grabbing a backpack the nurses had brought her and turning back to Victoria. “Thanks for everything, miss. The nurses said you brought clothes for me and you don’t want anything in return, so uh, thanks again.”
“You are very welcome,” the woman replied, showing a pleasant smile as she lay her hands on a black cane.
While following Lester through the corridors, Alice watched her supervisor closely. He didn’t look very young and she questioned how capable of doing his job he was, but that meant he must’ve been experienced, she assumed. He had short, blond, messy hair and olive green eyes. They had the same job, so their uniforms should have had very few differences, only to tell the ranks apart, but security guards had two different branches: mages and ordinary humans. Alice noticed her own uniform was that of a mage, which consisted of some loose, light gray robes, boots, and a cloak. She consciously decided not to pull up her hood, despite the fact that every mage guard they crossed paths with had it up.
Then, she started her barrage of questions. “So… why does the woman from before wear long sleeves?”
Lester’s eyebrow rose. “What do you mean?”
“Looking around, it seems literally everyone from the doctors and nurses to the other workers I’m seeing on the streets wears short sleeves or sleeveless uniforms. So how come she has long sleeves? And what kind of job has an ornate dress like that as its uniform? Certainly not a hospital director.”
“… Alice, Lady Victoria isn’t a worker like us. She told you she’s the one in charge, didn’t she? She meant the entire SRP, not the hospital. Every single Facility is under her leadership. She is our supreme leader. As such, not all of the rules and laws apply to her. I assume it’s either a rank distinction so others cannot easily confuse her for others, considering we don’t produce long-sleeved clothing, or just a fashion preference. Either way, she is free to do as she desires.”
“Huh. And SRP stands for what? I know we’re in the capital Facility, but that…”
“Society Revival Project.”
“… history lessons are also forgotten.”
Lester sighed. “We are all that is left of humanity after the Unearthing. We live thanks to our supreme leader, who protects us inside these Facilities.”
“And how many of ‘us’ are there?”
“It should be about a billion, not sure if we hit the big number yet, spread throughout our territory… According to ancient data, there used to be well over eight billion.”
“Whoa, and what happened?”
The man groaned, walking into the railway station. “Look, missy, it’s been a very long time since I last sat in a classroom, and I don’t remember the details. All I know is that the Unearthing happened because the old human society was too greedy, and that caused an apocalypse situation where way over half of the world’s population was exterminated. We owe everything we have now to our supreme leader.”
“She sure sounds amazing… is that title inherited?”
Lester turned to the girl. “Do you not even remember basic information about the Lady?”
“Uh, no.”
“That explains it… Our Lady is ageless. She witnessed the end of the world and saved as many as she could. We have never had another leader.”
“Whoa. What? What kind of magic allows that?”
Lester shrugged, watching as the train came to a halt and people started boarding it. “Beats me. None that I know of, but you can ask your magic tutors. You have no formal magical training to speak of, do you?”
Alice squirmed and followed her supervisor into the vehicle. “I-I don’t… I only remember the bare basics and the theory I was taught at school when I was little.”
“Well, while I am a half-mage myself, I cannot take time out of my schedule to teach you, and we work differently. So I’ll just assign a few magic tutors to you, learn all you can from them. You will be preferably using electric magic for work.”
“Right…”
Through the windows, Alice watched the monochrome ceiling the Facility always presented her with and sighed, wondering if there was something outside those walls.
It was a long ride to District 3, but once they got there, Lester had some comments of his own.
“Now that I take a closer look… you’re a bit of a runt, aren’t you?”
Alice protested. “Hey, what was that for!? If I’m a guard, I ought to have passed the tests!”
“You must have, yes, but most guards tend to be… taller.”
“Most people around here are shorter than me! Besides, it’s not like you’re tall for a man… I’m average height, and I’m still growing…” the teen insisted, pouting and sharply avoiding Lester’s eyes. “So hey, what are those blue marks on your forearms?”
“They come from the ritual, everyone has them. You’ll need to go through it soon, so you’ll also have these, albeit a little different since you’re a mage. Ordinary humans have purple marks, with a slightly different pattern, and full mages have a lighter blue, and another pattern. They also help you use your biomagical data, and everyone has a unique pattern, even if you don’t see the difference, which works as an identifier, kind of like your fingerprints. They are an absolute must-have for every free worker, and the ritual is mandatory for a reason.”
“Ohh. Is that all, or does the ritual give us some sort of boon?”
“It enhances your body and its magic. It has uses even for ordinary humans, and it’s how they can command their prostheses, for magic use or otherwise. They claim recharging and maintaining the magic ones is annoying, it’s a common quality of life complaint, but most people would not have the jobs they do without them.”
At last, they got to the area of the dorms Lester was looking for. He gestured to a door and opened it with a slight glow of his marks, making a show of it so Alice could see.
“So they reach down to your wrist…” the girl curiously muttered aloud, staring at the blue patterns.
“Anyway, this is your dorm. Your roommate is working right now, and he will be your partner from today onward. I believe you’re about the same age, so it should be easy for you to get along. Ask him to teach you the ropes. He isn’t a mage, but he’s one of our best officers. You have been granted the rest of the day free, and we’ve taken the liberty of leaving some manuals and essentials in your desk. Be sure to study up before your first shift! Your ritual will be held tomorrow night, after dinner.”
Alice nodded, seeing that the room was practically split in half, where one half was fully furnished and the other was almost completely empty. “Okay…”
“I’ll be taking my leave, then-”
“Wait!”
“What is it?”
Alice blushed, and rubbed the back of her head. “Is there a map somewhere? I feel like I’m gonna get lost the second I walk out of here.”
“You’ll find several maps on your desk. There’s one for your workplace as a whole, one for the district, and one for the Facility. There’s also a railway map and a few guides. Those were all brought here under the Lady’s orders. She said to make sure you settle right back into society.”
“Wow, I’m flattered that she’d worry about someone like me.”
Lester closed his eyes and bowed his head. “Our leader is kind and compassionate. If you have lost your memory, I’m sure she would want you to feel comfortable and resume life as normal. Either way, you should start unpacking what little you might have in that backpack. I need to go back to my post.”
Alice nodded. “Okay, thanks a lot!”
The man closed the door, leaving her to her own devices.
