Zenless Existence

χ

Hollows. Anomalies that appear out of thin air. No one knows their origin nor their purpose. Whatever the case, they have become a common occurrence for the last civilization of humanity, New Eridu.

While effort to prevent major damage from these abnormalities has become swift and thorough in recent time, nothing is perfect.

The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and the Hollow in the middle of a beach continued growing. Policemen and their cars surrounded a newly formed anomaly, preventing beachgoers and any other curious person from coming close.

Crowds formed due to the fact that some people had already been engulfed into the anomaly. Law enforcement tried its best to keep the peace and prevent entryway while a task force was en route to take care of the Hollow.

From the roof of a building near the whole situation, one man stood. His eyes were behind a pair of binoculars that had locked onto the irregularity. After another second, he switched his gaze to the crowds.

First looking down at the people slowly gathering to view the brand-new Hollow, then onto law enforcement trying their best to suppress the growing crowds and prevent them from nearing the void.

Looking down at his waist, there was an interesting device wrapped around it. The gadget seemed to be a mechanical belt that seemed more advanced than anything humanity was able to create at the moment. Yellow columns were at either side of the front piece, which stood out from the rest being purely silver.

He hummed to himself before putting away his binoculars. Along with the belt, there was even more gear attached all over it. Each and every one of these seemed to have a similar paint job, like the belt itself. Silver and black as a base, with yellow to bring out the details.

For some reason, there seemed to be an empty slot at the front. On his left side was what seemed to be a Polaroid camera in a holster. Attached to the back of the belt was the aforementioned pair of binoculars. The last and most interesting item was a handgun at his right hip in the form of the letter 'X'.

The man stared long and hard at these items on his person before switching to his hand. In it, there was one more device that matched the others' aesthetics. It was a sort of flip phone that had a unique cover to it. A yellow 'X' encased in a purple circle.

When grabbing the top of it, he swung it to the side, revealing the numpad. Multiple codes were displayed on the screen as well as some sort of codename for the phone itself, 'SB-913P'. Ignoring the rest of the codes, the man instead inputted the one in the very middle.

9-1-3.

Standing By.

A deep voice uttered from the mobile. As it continued to loop a beacon-like noise, he closed the phone and held it up to his chest. The man rotated his wrist to display the cover before saying one word.

"Henshin."

Right after that, he inserted the mobile phone into the slot in front before pushing it down parallel with the belt itself. Suddenly, yellow beams of light burst out from the two columns. As they grew longer, the lines covered his whole body before shining bright for a moment.

Crowds slowly thinned out around the Hollow, relieving the policemen posted there. That was until the roaring sound of an engine caught their attention. Both the ordinary crowd and law enforcement turned their heads to the noise, finding a motorcycle speeding towards them.

From how fast it went, people were unable to discern any features. The only things that they could see were the black and yellow color palettes of both the vehicle and its rider, as well as the purple eyes of the figure. Before anyone else could get a better look, the motorcycle drove straight for the police.