Jigsaw (Undergoing major editing)

1.1.1. Synthetic Dreams

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Chapter 1

§ Syηthєti¢ Dяєams §

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 “Join me or your world will cease to exist. Give up now and I might let your sister live,” hissed the disembodied voice, barely audible.

Ezio’s blue lips were too numb to respond, not to mention his chattering teeth. He drew his jacket closer around himself to retain any heat he had left. Meanwhile, heavy gusts of wind howled across the icy tundra. Ezio battled against the natural forces as he traveled through the vast, barren wasteland. He stumbled around blindly until his body, wracked with pain, gave up on him. 

He sank to his knees and welcomed the ground as it rushed up to meet him. Before he passed out, Ezio clung to the tiny sliver of hope that all evil would be vanquished, allowing him to finally relax and be reunited with Elaine. However, he wouldn't succumb to despair even though he was lying face-down on the snow and ice. A blue light, almost like an aura, enveloped him and shone like a beacon of warning.

Ezio’s eyes snapped open. His head throbbed painfully, so he rubbed it, attempting to ease the pain. Ezio's instincts told him that something was amiss, but he didn’t know what bothered him. His eyes widened, realizing that he was not at home. He could only feel the cool metal of the table he lay on. The scratchiness of foreign clothes made him uncomfortable. Someone had redressed him? Ezio gingerly touched his body, seeing if there any wounds or bruises. He winced when he found some injuries.

After a few moments, he sat up and let his legs hang over the edge of the table. Ezio scanned the room, trying to get a sense of his surroundings. He blinked rapidly, letting his eyes grow accustomed to the darkness. The entire room was pitch-black except for a single bare fluorescent light bulb in the center of the room; it was flickering on and off and cast eerie shadows on the blank walls.

There was a steadily escalating sense of foreboding as Ezio continued to look around the room with apprehension. The single item in the room was the table that he had woken up on.  Why was he here in the first place? He hadn’t done anything wrong and didn't have a criminal record. Who brought him here? Would he ever get back home? Thousands of questions ran through his mind all at once. Pushing his worried thoughts away, Ezio sighed and hopped off the table.

His legs were extremely stiff and when he tried to walk, his knees buckled. Grunting, he fell to the floor. Ezio lay in a crumpled heap for a few minutes; he managed to muster enough strength to get back to his feet. He wobbled a bit, feeling like a toddler just learning his first few steps. Eventually, Ezio made his way across the small room and reached the door.  He turned the doorknob, but the door wouldn’t budge; it must have been locked from the outside.

Panic set in quickly. Ezio’s heartbeat accelerated, skipping a beat. His gut clenched and for a few seconds, he forgot how to breathe. He took three deep breaths, only to start hyperventilating. Ezio grew frustrated; he was not going to spend the rest of his life stuck in some dark room, isolated. He began knocking at the door and kicking it, doing whatever it took to get some attention. There had to be someone there. Nobody would have just left him alone, would they? Ezio had to be there for a reason. 

Ten minutes later, there was no response. Ezio shouted at the top of his lungs, wanting anyone, just anyone, to come. Tears threatened to spill out of the corners of his eyes and Ezio let them; he normally didn’t like to cry, but this was a different circumstance. He sniffled and stopped trying to shout because his voice had inevitably gotten hoarse. Ezio leaned against the nearest wall and slid down to the floor with his knees pulled up to his chest and his hands wrapped around his legs. He laid his head on the top of his knees, wondering how he was going to get himself out of this predicament.