In the middle of a crowded street, a large group of people stood before a street sign waiting to pass. The sign was holographic and red with a hand facing forward at them telling them to stop, every last person in the crowd obeyed the law no matter how different their backgrounds were. From the office lady going to her corporate job to the freelancer just killing time before starting his own work.
Everything seemed ordinary at first, people minded their business for the small moments they had together before moving ahead or parting ways with one another. But before such a thing could come to be, a shady unkempt man stood in the middle of the crowd.
Some people gave him small side eyes at his dirty appearance, his unkempt beard, the hood covering his head or how dirty his black hoodie was. Either way, no one cared enough to pay attention to him for long, they simply thought of him as another forgettable face in their morning commute.
Alas, that was not the case...
The moment the light turned green and everyone began walking, the man followed them and as he did, the center of his chest began to faintly glow which made those close to him realize that something was about to happen.
"Hey what's going on with him?!" A dark skinned man wearing a sleeveless orange jacket asked as he pointed at the unkempt man.
Many of the people around finally paid attention to what was going on beside them. The unkempt man's glow continued to become brighter and brighter as one woman screamed out in fear.
"Everybody run!!!"
Everyone turned around and tried to run away in fear, their screams sounded for a brief moment in the air before the man's glow finally reached it's climax. A large explosion on the same scale as a high end military rocket was ignited leading to every last person in the vicinity dying.
The buildings, the streets and every last living being that was nearby. All was turned to ash like it never even existed before and the only thing left was the unkempt man who lifted his hood revealing himself to be much older than he appeared.
He had long gray hair, empty blue eyes and an unkempt gray beard. He slowly smiled a yellow smile filled with nothing but joy at the sight of destruction around him. In that same moment, various drones with an egg like body and helicopter wings all made up of metal, began to fly quickly over him and filming him.
The man opened his arms wide in joy as he let out a cackle and laughed at the sky above.
"AHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!!!"
✦✦✦
In district 7 of the Eastern zone, the sun shone bright once more, it seeped softly inside the room of a peculiar detective who was sleeping peacefully in his bed.
His skin is pale ivory in color, he had messy and wavy dark brown hair. He wore a simple white shirt and baggy gray pants, the sun covered his eyes causing him to squint before turning around in his bed to give the sun his back and continue his sleep.
Sadly that was never going to happen as the moment Adam turned around in his bed, a loud sound began ringing from the outside.
*Ring...Ring...Ring....Ring...*
Adam grabbed the other half of his pillow to cover his ears quickly, he then let out a sharp scornful mumble as the bell of the church outside his home continued to ring.
"Ugh...Can't you let me sleep for one hour, god?"
*Ring...Ring...Ring...Ring*
Adam sighed a defeated sigh before letting go of his pillow and looked up at his ceiling. It was just the same as everyday, not a single thing changed about it, it's still a weird pale beige with the same hole in the right corner of it from the time a bullet was shot through it.
Adam got up from his bed and grabbed his phone, he put his finger on the center of the screen and after a swift scan of his print, it opened.
He quickly opened his notifications and found no new ones were left, he scratched his head in confusion at this. Usually there would be a number of calls and messages from his boss, the chief of the eastern Eternora Police Department.
"No calls from the chief...Something must be going on" Adam muttered to himself as he closed the notification page and opened the news app.
Immediately he was met with an article that caused his eyes to widen in shock. It read:
"Hundreds dead and thousands injured! A massive explosion in district 1 of the Eastern zone caused by a rampaging Tulpa terrorist!"
Adam opened the article and skimmed through it with his eyes, with each line he passed he seemed to frown more and more before he reached the end where an image was posted.
It was of an old man wearing a black hoodie laughing like a maniac to the sky above. Most of the comments on this image were a mix between people laughing and making memes about him or scorning him and speaking ill of Tulpas.
@AlbertODuffy:
@CallMeAshleyyyy1:
@ItzMark:
Adam clicked his tongue in irritation before turning off his phone and getting up. He felt a great deal of frustration at the uncaring comments of the denizens of Eternora.
He didn't let his frustration sully his day anymore, he walked through the mess of clothes that was in his room before exiting the room. Immediately he was met by the tasty smell of fried eggs and bacon coming from kitchen nearby.
He walked up to the entrance of the kitchen which was directly beside the apartment's door and facing the living room at the front.
"Good morning" Adam said as he greeted the woman inside of the kitchen.
"Morning! Looks like someone got woken up by the church bell as usual" Claire—Adam's younger sister—said with a bright smile as she turned her head away from the stove and towards him.
She is a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and swept bangs to the left, her eyes were green similar to her brother. She wore a black sleep dress and a pair of slippers, one of the dress straps had fallen off from her shoulder while she was cooking which caused Adam to sigh.
"Yeah, also couldn't you change out of your clothes before heading to the kitchen? You're one wrong move away from coming out of your dress..." he said as he fixed her strap onto her shoulder causing Claire to frown as she pointed at him with the spatula in her hand.
"You don't get to complain about me coming out of my clothes, mister! I'm working my ass off making breakfast for you before heading to work so I better hear a thank you or you can kiss breakfast goodbye for the whole week"
Adam face palmed in exhaustion at her words before putting on a shoddy smile as he grabbed her cheek.
"Thank you very much for your work, miss Claire. If not for you then my digestive system would be in complete shambles"
"Hmm that's a bit better but you suck at sarcasm, as usual"
"I will work on improving that with time" Adam replied as he turned around to leave the kitchen and went to the bathroom.
He opened the door of the bathroom and took off his clothes, after a quick shower and relieving himself, Adam exited with a towel wrapped around his waist as he went to his room once again.
From the run down closet he has been using for the past six years, he pulled out a white button up shirt, a black tie, a pair of dark gray pants and finally his black coat and socks.
After putting on his work clothes, Adam went over to the living room where Claire had set up two plates with sunny side-up eggs and bacon on them. A cup of coffee was also brewed for the two of them which Adam immediately went for.
After taking a sip he smiled lightly.
"As expected of a Barista, your coffee always hits the spot" he said to Claire who was cutting up her food with the knife and fork.
"Why thank you, Mr.Detective. I pride myself as the best in my field around the district"
Adam nodded at her words before indulging in the food before him, as he did Claire suddenly turned to the TV and spoke up.
"Hey M1a, turn the TV on"
Her words were directed to the AI system installed in the apartment, it's an famous helping system created by a company known as "Helix". The system is capable of controlling and monitoring devices around the place where it's installed and has helped in making the lives of many of Eternora's people easier.
The first channel to appear on the TV was the news channel and on it was news of the same incident Adam read about earlier.
"Did you see this, Adam?" Claire asked as her bright expression from earlier faded into a sympathetic one.
"I did, I'm probably going to go there today. It's a whole heap of trouble for everyone because this month will be filled with Anti-Tulpa protests"
"That's scary..."
Adam glanced a look at Claire before turning back to the TV as he responded to her.
"I suggest keeping the Taser I gave you on you at all time and if you can find someone to walk with you home then that'd be perfect" He said causing Claire to momentarily think before her eyes gleamed with joy.
"Ray! I could plan things out with Ray to drive me home"
Adam froze in his place at her suggestion, while he did not hate the man she mentioned as he's familiar with him enough to consider him a friend but the fact he and Claire were dating always caused him to be wary.
"If you can wait till midnight I can pick you up my self" Adam said.
"No thank you. That midnight promise ended up going till 3 AM last time and I had to beg Boss to let me stay in the shop till you arrived!" Claire retorted back.
"But I had an important case to solve..."
"Alligator tears don't work when your eyes look like a dead fish, Adam..." Claire said as Adam lowered his head sadly.
"Tsk..."
Claire got up from the table and went over to her room, but right before she left, she turned back to Adam.
"I'm gonna go get ready. I'll call Ray and see if he's free for this idea, and maybe we can also get a couple drinks while we're at it~"
"Just shut up and go already" Adam said with an irritated voice as Claire snickered to herself before going inside her room.
Adam finished his coffee quite quickly before getting up as well. He opened the drawer next to the apartment door and got his shoes out before grabbing his cigarettes, badge and car keys.
"I'm heading to work!" Adam yelled out to Claire.
"Okay! Stay safe out there!!"
Adam smiled lightly at her words before stepping out of the apartment and going over to the elevator. The hallways of the building look like they were freshly cleaned, as the smell of detergent filled the air.
Adam called the elevator and waited for 15 seconds before it reached him and the door opened. Inside the elevator stood a middle aged woman with her daughter holding her hand. Their hair was blonde and both smiled at the sight of Adam.
"Detective!!" The Daughter happily exclaimed as she let go of her mom's hand and hugged Adam the moment he stepped into the elevator.
"Good morning, Mrs.Robertson, Lisa" Adam greeted as he patted Lisa's head.
"Good morning, Mr.Morian. How are you doing today?" Mrs.Robertson asked as Lisa returned back to her and grabbed her hand again while Adam pressed on the ground floor button.
"I am doing well, expecting a busy day because of the recent news..."
"Ah...That was quite the tragic sight, are you going to district 1 today?" she asked as Adam put his hands inside his coat's pockets and nodded.
"Probably will, I am a self proclaimed Tulpas specialist"
The two giggled at his words as the elevator reached the ground floor and they all stepped outside.
"Well then, I'll see you both later. Good luck in school, little L" Adam said as he ruffled Lisa's hair.
"See you later, Detective!"
"Take care, Mr.Morian"
Adam stepped outside of the tall apartment building and was met immediately by the sight of the church plotted right in front of it.
He went around the church's railings until he reached his car. It's an old model by today's standards, the shell is colored a slick baywater blue with an open roof and Gazelle hide car seats colored in beige and dark brown. A beautiful mermaid metal statue stood at the front with the brand name written below it.
It's a now forgotten car brand named "Melusine", very few cars like it still exist due to the company going bankrupt 30 years ago. The car was a heirloom from Adam's mother with a unique car plate that has the name "M0R14N" written on it.
Adam walked up to the car and jumped into it before putting the key in and turning it on. The engine roared briefly before the car turned on and it's systems were running just as intended.
"If my paycheck has some cash left this month, I'll see about fixing you up for good" Adam said as he patted the car's doors and then moving on.
He pressed the play button on the radio and a feminine voice spoke up.
[Now playing: Fire In The Hole by Steely Dan]