First published: June 3rd, 2023
Final Quest: 4 - 4 || Chronoscape: October 9th 2273; Sector 666, Ehmo
Current Date: February 17th, 2001 (4.44 PM)
The sky is falling. Literally.
Numerous blazing cracks scar this dark sky, its embedded stars trembling in place, trying to latch on. Fragments slam hard on the sandy plains, causing deep craters. Seething magma infiltrates its bases. The orange wind hisses across the tarnished, ashen remains of 23rd century Earth.
And if that's not enough, a flock of about a trillion magbots - pixelated magpies with a beak of death - are airborne. Their miniature eyes glare a ruby red.
The tattered sky, the fiery craters, the hazy sandstorms and the approaching tornadoes...it's them who are causing it all.
Six ordinary teenagers. All seniors at Seoul International High (SIHS). All considered hopeless in at least one way.
The very same teenagers who are currently the magbots' unfortunate targets.
"Gah!" a boy of seventeen shouts at the top of his lungs, his bob cut tousled, his grey suit burned at the edges, his face a heavy mix of blue, purple (some from his face mask) and red.
The magbots are inching closer.
"This way!" his friend, a girl who's just turned eighteen bellows, her squinted eyes red from the rasping wind, her grey suit sodden with an unidentifiable slime.
She's at the lead of the triangle, followed by two of his other friends, nerdy classmates to be exact, surprisingly keeping up with this chase. While he's starting to fall behind, thanks to his sprained ankle.
"No," another girl says, the cracks on her mask enlarging her hazel eyes, her chestnut hair singed at its ends. She grabs his arm, pulling him closer to the triangle.
The worn-out squad of six enter a narrow but ragged pathway, shrapnel of metal, glass and the night sky lining either side.
Kang Jae-seong, the limping boy, glares at the person running beside him. The only one who's uninjured.
"It's all your fault, you shameless bastard," he manages to say out loud, though his voice is wobbly. He's been shouting for hours. "We're all going to die because of you!"
"Shut up,' the leader's determined bellow cuts through the magbots' grating chatters. Jae-seong exhales sharply, while continuing to wince as he keeps pace with his supporting friend.
A simple last quest, my foot! This dystopian world's going to fry us all. All because of that idiotic moneybag!
"Found any signal, Dae-ho?" the leader asks. Jae-seong glances hopefully at the bespectacled boy beside her who stares hard at the screen projected from his broken helmet.
"No," Dae-ho says, deep wrinkles creasing his babyish face. "I can't connect to Da-rae."
Jae-seong frowns. He should've never joined the Daydreamers Club. No, he was forced in along with these oddballs. He should've left when he had the chance earlier this year. But then, he wouldn't have found his Imo*...
Jae-seong glances at the leader. He should've fled the day she said please.
The second-in-command of Seoul's most nefarious gang, Na Eun-kyung, flits her gaze to her right. "Young-ja-"
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Ruki's Classified Project #2
Science Fiction#willreturn Title: The Daydreamers Club: Class of 2001 SIX LIVES. AN ABANDONED TIME MACHINE. A REWARDING QUEST. ... A SFF adventure drama following a closeted detective, a brazen actor, a gullible software engineer, a paraplegic bank employee, a se...
