He noticed the snowflakes fluttering above his head. Emma's white, youthful face was hidden among the dusting of snow crystals. As Meyer looked at Magnus, he felt time stand still. Then, he found himself in a strange place. It resembled a crimson apocalypse. The thin, dusting snow in the air had turned into hail, and it was now blood red.
"A lethal redness," Meyer muttered. A metallic scent, unlike the winters of old, permeated the air. Like spices embedded within air molecules. Or like the smell that would emerge if you took an iron table into your mouth.
Why was he here? He couldn't provide an answer to that question. Only muffled voices circled around him. Amidst the dreams, he suddenly saw the hulking Huyger. Genuine tears coming from giant Huyger's soft heart were rolling down his cheeks as droplets of blood.
"Huyger, are you here?" Meyer asked. "Why are you crying, hey?"
"I am here," Huyger said, repeating in agony. "Here, right in front of you."
"Well, why are you crying then?" Meyer asked, watching the blood trickling from his eyes.
"I am suffering," Huyger replied. "This is a pain that deeply mourns my heart. I lost my child."
"Which one?" Meyer asked, his brow furrowing.
Huyger answered, "My firstborn. My daughter."
"H-how did this happen? W-where are we?"
"We serve Code 43 now." These words poured from Huyger's mouth. They were all death notes shed in desperation.
Huyger remembered the gates of the past swinging wide open at that moment.
"The Devil Chip has been activated. Are you ready to descend into past memories?"
With the voice echoing in his mind, Meyer felt his selfhood cease to belong to him. Deeply so. As his shoulders slumped inward, the tingling in the heels of his feet told him to move. His fingers were clenched into fists, resembling a sign of combat—like a fighter preparing to overcome an opponent in a taekwondo lesson.
"Yes," said Meyer; "Yes."
With his answer, his mind was imprisoned in the vaults of the past.
When the world was warmer, perhaps forty-five years ago, Huyger and Meyer had gone to Bitloins to eat ice cream. When they left, Huyger sensed once again how terrible the ice cream tasted. It was as if he were somewhere inside that moment. Upon leaving, Huyger had suggested going to the zoo, and they had set off. Back then, it was a shelter at the foot of high volcanic rocks that mesmerized tourists. Meyer remembered—in an accelerated version—the fear or admiration he felt for each wild or docile animal as he passed by their cages.
What was in this moment? Was something belonging to him hidden there?
"Why this memory?" he said, squeezing his temples violently between his index fingers. Everything in his mind collapsed.
"2048, Robbery at the Magma Conservation Area Precious Metals Meeting Bureau!" Digital news clippings flashed through his head.
"2047, Death of the Union of Precious Ores Chief Executive spreads terror everywhere!"
What kind of connection was there between these?
Meyer opened his eyes in confusion. When he opened them, Huyger had vanished.
Time folded into itself. It was like a complex metaphor.
Why were these passing through his mind? Was this the work of the Devil Chip?
The only answer he found to his question was Magnus, who came into view as he opened his eyes. He wasn't looking at Meyer judgmentally, nor as if he were going to kill him. What was happening? Meyer understood nothing. What should he have said, or should he have remained silent?
The answer was a giant "I don't know."
"You have a mission," Magnus said in a docile voice.
"What are you talking about?" Meyer said, promising to suppress the urge to swing his fist into the air for only two seconds.
"You might be the only person Code 43 accepted on the first try. That's why I must obey you."
Lights were bouncing off the scars of the cutter lying on the ground in the distance. The light of the stars.
"You're a fraud!" Meyer shouted. "A damn actor! Tell me, what's your intention this time? A tyrant like you would never bow to another! What's your gain?"
Emma and Magnus looked at each other at the question that fell into the atmosphere like an avalanche.
"Don't you remember anything?" Magnus asked, his voice dropping a notch. "About the past—"
Cutting him off, Meyer yelled fiercely, "Shut up! If you speak a moment longer, I'll beat the hell out of you!"
Whenever the devilish anger within him surged, Emma's eyes would fill with tears.
"He doesn't remember," Magnus said.
"Don't remind him," Emma said pleadingly.
Magnus made eye contact with Meyer's sharp eyes. With deep and careful intent. "He has to remember," Magnus insisted.
Meyer slammed his right fist into Magnus's nose.
The blood trickling from Magnus's nose dispersed into the air.
Emma said, "Stop," but Meyer looked on in bewilderment this time instead of smiling.
"Where is Huyger?" he asked. Where had that hallucination gone? The crimson sky? The falling hail? Where had it all disappeared to? As he looked at the motionless Magnus in front of him, the Devil Chip activated.
"Do you want to descend into the memories Magnus mentioned?"
"No," said Meyer. This was merely a frequency network he could communicate with through his brain. When the relevant brain waves were sent to the necessary regions of the brain, communication with the chip was established solely through brain channels. This was definitely an invention from later than 10,250. It was an interesting version and would certainly have even higher versions in the future.
He remained silent, turned his back, and said once more with his entire mind, "No." He slowly walked away from the ruined area.
Emma's gaze turned into a frail tree branch.
Her eyelids were trembling.
Spiders had raised their heads, looking at Meyer. When they received no reaction from their master, they returned to their tiny underground shelters. Flies fed on magma ash swarmed around the dead body of the cutter.
As soon as he looked at the flies, the brain signals activated.
"Do you remember the flies?"
"The zoo," Meyer murmured as he walked. Then his steps quickened; he realized he missed running very much. "The zoo," he said and lifted his right heel. He left his left foot slightly loose. He clenched his fists and lunged forward.
It hadn't even taken him seconds to realize his legs were extremely powerful.
He ran through the shattered stones and gray ashes on the ground. A wave of warm air spread from underground to his legs. Throughout the run, his throat felt scratchy. His pharynx was burning like fire. The only thing he thought about was what Magnus had mentioned. His steps were leading him to a place he seemingly knew by heart. He took a deep breath to suppress his inner voice and slowed down.
"You know the tower; come there," the words of Code 43 echoed in his mind.
As his thoughts darkened suddenly, the weather closed in as if to match them. Ahead were coal-colored apartments where city dwellers lived, trees made of dry branches, and circular gardens filled with cactus plants. After passing them all, he stopped at one point, catching his breath with his hands on his knees.
Lightning struck; a white line appeared in the air like a tick mark. A shaped warning.
"Learn the password for the tower entrance. To learn the password, prove yourself to the mosquitoes in front of the tower.
Rule: The mosquitoes in front of the tower carry the F21 virus through the blood they suck from humans. You will die 15 minutes after catching that virus. There is only one way to fight them: Never be afraid. Players who pass this level receive fearlessness points and are invited to the courage novice club. Are you ready?"
Meyer smirked crookedly. "Me?" He looked at his fists raised in the air. He felt the beating of his heart, which didn't feel a shred of anxiety. "Of course! Where is the entrance?"
Lightning struck; his steps vanished within the momentary cascade of light.
He could smell blood.
One more thing... the scent of death emanating from the mosquitoes buzzing in the air.
Everything was just beginning.