Back From the Apocalyptic Future

003 - What You Truly Desire

Slowly, Arifin regains his ability to move. He holds Grace so tightly, and releases a repulsion force to push those zombies away.

  

He tries to shake Grace who is already losing her consciousness. But there's nothing he can do to save her.

  

All he can do is look up to the sky, howling his cries with so much agony. In desperation, he vents out his anger to those zombies, butchering them all with so much madness.

  

But then he realizes, no matter how many zombies he kills, he can’t bring Grace back to life. That’s when that mysterious voice appears again in his head.

  

<< What’s your deepest desire? Name your offering, and I’ll help you accomplish your dreams >>

  

“Shut up! There’s nothing I want from this hellish life.”

  

<< Every living thing has desire >>

  

“Just kill me then! Just kill me!!!”

  

<< Remembers again, what is your deepest desire >>

  

And so, Arifin starts remembering all the dreams he had in the past. He even begins to see an illusion. It’s the illusion of himself when he was a kid.

  

“Then, why don’t you try to look for it for a while,” says the kid. “I’ll let you live, and then, you might find what you truly want.”

  

The kid flicks the tip of that Kris. Slowly, Arifin’s right hand is moved by itself. It’s shaking so hard.

  

“No! What are you doing? Let me go!”

  

A tiny black dot occurs on the tip of that Kris. It grows bigger, and starts creating a tiny black hole. And that kid disappears into the thin air like a haze being blown by the wind.

  

Arifin’s hand starts disintegrating, from the hand to his body. It turns him into some plasma like a spirit.

  

<< Let's go back in time. Let’s find out what you truly desire >>

  

The black sphere traps Arifin inside. A moment later, it shrinks and then disappears along with Arifin and that mystical Kris.

  

***

  

In a dark room, a young man with short hair is covered in a thin blanket, sleeping on the bed which is placed so close to the wall.

  

His hair seems growing albeit slowly. There are even some parts of it starting to be gray.

  

There is a unique Kris on his right side. The mystical Kris is vibrating as the young man gets more hectic in his dream.

  

Parts of his clothes look so soaked with sweat. Until at some point, he accidentally shoves that mystical Kris and makes it fall under the bed. That’s when the young man suddenly wakes up with a shocked face.

  

“What was that?” he mumbles as he catches up to his breath.

  

He rubs his head, and then to his neck, until he feels some scars at the back of his neck on the left side.

  

Something like an interface window occurs in his vision. But he hasn’t noticed it yet, since he hasn’t completely opened his eyes.

  

[ ! ]

[Wanna play a game?]

- Yes / No

  

He doesn’t seem to care since he hasn’t opened his eyes. He seems curious with the scar he has, until a phone rings and shakes his attention.

  

As he leaves the bed to pick the phone, that strange interface window just disappears.

  

The screen on the phone shows 05.13, January 19th, 2083. He realizes it’s just a missed call from his mom, so he just ignores it.

  

He is Arifin Tetsuo, 18 years-old mixed race who is now in the first year of college in Chemistry. He takes chemistry for some silly reason, only to follow his crush from childhood life.

  

After taking a shower, and taking a look at his face in front of the mirror, that’s when he notices something odd with him.

  

“Eh, since when did my hair get this long?”

  

He also notices the gray part, mostly at the front. He becomes a bit worried about having gray hair. But then, he starts thinking it is somewhat cool.

  

There is also a portrait of a cute kindergarten girl with beautiful black hair pasted in the mirror.

  

“Good morning, Andini! Today, I’ll win the day, and be your hero!”

  

He is not a pedophilia. It's just that he has been in love with this girl since childhood. And this one photo of Andini as a child is just a ripped off from the school holiday album.

  

The confidence is overflowing with him after having this new look. He still feels so weird for that odd change, but he just takes it positively.

  

But he is forgetting about something. It's only been three weeks since he entered college as a freshman.

  

There is one old culture named “Polonco”, where the seniors bully the freshmen in the name of acquaintanceship. And this kind of “cool” appearance will only make Arifin a good target of bullying.

  

The time changes, but humans are still humans. Something changes, something doesn’t.

  

“Get your ass here!”

  

“Come quick! The earth is not going to stop rotating, only to wait for you to get here on time!”

  

“Hey! You girl over there! How dare you look more beautiful than your seniors?” says a dude, pulling one cute girl to the front row. “What’s your name?”

  

“It’s Minda!” replies the girl.

  

“Hey, bitch!” says another senior who is also a girl. “I didn't even have the time to brush my teeth for this rally. And you paint your cheeks with this much blush on and make it look like a sunny side up? What are you looking for?”

  

“Hahaa! A sunny side up? She must be so eager to be licked by the guys here.”

  

All the dudes are laughing. But that senior girl just pulls that girl named Minda to a toilet, and forces her to wash her face with the toilet water.

  

“Hey, Hannah! You are going too far! Be easy on her,” says one of the other seniors.

  

Hannah drags Minda and then pushes her to the others.

  

“Go! Lick her as much as you like!”

  

Those guys show their disgusted faces. That new girl is looking so pale and also so scared for the humiliation and the intimidation she gets.

  

All the other freshmen can only show their displeased faces. But as soon as those seniors look at them, they immediately hide it.

  

Except for Arifin, who happens to live quite close with Minda. He looks so pissed off and unable to hide it.

  

One of the seniors, a guy named Ronald, approaches Arifin by dragging his fat ass.

  

“What? Are you mad? Wanna be a hero now?”

  

Arifin feels so intimidated by that fat dude. He immediately looks down, and that’s when that guy named Ronald is attracted by Arifin’s hair.

  

“Hey! What’s this? A bleaching? It’s only three weeks you are here, and you are already dared to bleach your hair?”

  

He grabs Arifin’s hair, and pulls him to the front row, and then forces Arifin to kneel in front the the other seniors.

  

That man shouts so loud to Arifin’s ear. “Who told you to bleach your hair?”