Chapter 1 

3rd ‘day’ on Rolista, 6th Sunrise of the 5th Rotation 

Rolista is the name of the world I am currently in. I finally learned it in a shop this morning when I was trading for supplies. Rolista, a minor planet floating somewhere in the outer belt, not relevant to most timelines, but being the home of some somewhat known Perspectives. Think ‘storybook village hidden forest in the middle of nowhere with a view of the mountains’. The people are nice enough, smart enough to not ask questions, and use USC, one thing I can thank the dammed Chrono Commission for.  

Tomorrow I will leave this place because if I linger, I will start to care. It’s the reason heroes die and villains prosper. It’s all I’ve ever been told, it’s the only way to continue existing, in this deteriorating world. If you stay then you will start to care, and if you care, you will start to have a purpose. And when you have a purpose, you will die. 

_+_ 

The chilly wind swept ‘S’s long hair and cloak around as they stepped out onto a long flat rock outlooking a lake. The water rippled with the breeze, creating small waves, but was reflective enough for what ‘S’ was doing. The surrounding trees bent with the wind, the sound of their branches swaying in the wind creating a haunting melody. ‘S’ exhaled, creating a small puff of fog from their mouth. “It’s a shame,” ‘S’ said, placing a metal disk into the edge of the water. A final parting gift from ‘7’, all that time ago. “That I have to leave now.  The Cold season is always so pretty in these parts.” ‘S’ hopped onto the disk, and it started floating to the centre of the lake.  

When it arrived, ‘S’ pulled out a canvas from their worn down messenger bag. They set it down in the water, and then they grabbed a vial of dark, thick ink. Like many times before, ‘S’ pulled out the stopped on the vial of ink, and dumped its contents onto the canvas. The ink quickly expanded, first covering the canvas, the spreading to the entire lake. The ink swirled around the lake in ever complex patterns, then suddenly surged up, into the sky, forming a black swarm of lines, random yet intentional, messy and orderly at the same time. 

'S’ breathed a sigh of relief. This world had rejected them, so they were free to go. ‘S’ used their foot to lightly tap a pad on the metal disk, and then all the ink suddenly snapped into a tight spiral around the metal disk, branching out into the sky and beyond. Time to go, they thought. They tapped another pad, and a protective layer formed around them from the metal disk.  

10...9...8.. “Soul! You shall not leave!” a voice cut out from the forest. 7..6.. “On behalf of the Chrono Commission, I have come to deliver your punishment.” 5... oh no. ‘S’ though. They can’t have found me this quickly. It can’t be them. “Crime: being in cahoots with Strain 7 and conspiring against the Chrono Commission and order of the universe!” 4... 3... They can’t do anything to me, I’m about to leave. “Come willingly, or face any consequence to be brought to justice!” The voice sounded closer than before, and then a small spirit resembling a cat with large eyes and ears came floating out of the foliage. 3.. Not one of those... ‘S’ thought. A Toast Cat. One of the Chrono Commission's worst forms of punishment, with an all too innocent name. They bound to souls, not physical forms, so simply acquiring another form wouldn’t deter them. 2... If one is here, them I must leave before the binding process is through. Otherwise... let's not think of that now. “Oh great God Prime, bind thy to soul to this criminal, so they may receive the proper punishment and guidance to their wayward ways, and find true balance in their corrupted soul. I ask of this through all my power, and the power of my creator, Prototype.” And after that, the Toast Cat threw itself through the ink, and onto the metal disk. ...1. The metal disk let out a hiss, and threw them through the link spiral into the emptiness of space.