As the decades passed, humanity continued to grow.
Cities expanded, populations multiplied, and the resources that had once seemed more than enough to sustain civilization for generations began disappearing far faster than anyone had expected.
Food became more expensive. Energy became harder to obtain. Fresh water became a growing concern in many parts of the world. Rare minerals and other essential resources were gradually depleted. Humanity had spent centuries believing that its greatest challenge would be discovering how to advance further.
Instead, it began to wonder how long it could continue moving forward at all. And when people became afraid, they did what humanity had always been remarkably good at doing.
They panicked. Governments were blamed. Protests turned into riots. Riots became rebellions. Countries that had once struggled together against the same problems began turning against one another as people fought over what little remained.
The world was slowly running out of everything it needed to keep itself alive. Then, without warning, the tall buildings that reached to the skies appeared.
There was no earthquake. No explosion. No flash of light. One moment, the land was empty. The next, an enormous structure stood there. Tall enough to disappear into the clouds. They appeared in different places across the world, seemingly without pattern or explanation. Cities. Deserts. Forests. Plains. Islands. Even places where nothing had stood before. And they did not appear in only one country. They appeared everywhere. Every nation had them. At first, humanity panicked even more. Some believed they were weapons. Others believed they were alien structures. Some thought they were the beginning of the end. But eventually, something unexpected was discovered.
They had entrances. Humanity did what humanity always did when faced with something mysterious and potentially dangerous.
It sent someone inside. Governments assembled expedition teams. Scientists were brought in. Military personnel accompanied explorers. Teams from different countries entered the enormous structures, one after another, hoping to discover what was waiting inside.
Days passed. Then weeks. And eventually, the first expedition teams returned. But they did not return empty-handed. They brought resources. Minerals humanity had never seen before. Plants with properties that defied known biology. Materials stronger and lighter than anything previously developed. Crystals capable of storing enormous amounts of energy. Even substances that forced scientists to reconsider what they believed was possible.
They were not merely structures. They were worlds. And those worlds were filled with resources. Humanity, which had spent years staring at the approaching end of its prosperity, suddenly found itself standing before an abundance it could barely comprehend.
The structures were eventually given a simple name.
Towers.
For the first time in years, people began to hope. The shortages could be solved. New technologies could be developed. Diseases could be treated. Energy could become cheaper. Humanity might not only survive. It might advance further than it ever had before.
The Towers seemed like an answer to every problem humanity had created for itself. Perhaps that was why nobody questioned the gift enough.
Because humanity had been so desperate for salvation that it didn’t stop to wonder what kind of price might come with it.
Then the Towers changed. Nobody knew why. There was no warning. No announcement. No explanation. The gates opened. And something came out.
Creatures humanity had never seen before poured from the Towers.
Monsters.
Some were small enough to slip through the streets unnoticed. Others were large enough to tear buildings apart.
They attacked cities. They attacked people. They attacked anything that stood between themselves and the outside world.
The resources humanity had celebrated became the source of its greatest disaster. The losses were enormous. Cities were destroyed. Millions died. For a brief moment, humanity once again stood on the edge of collapse. But this time, something else came from the Towers.
People.
People who had entered the Towers and returned with something far more extraordinary than resources.
Power. Some could manipulate fire. Some could strengthen their bodies beyond human limits. Some could control strange forces that had never existed in the known world.
Every one of them was different. And every one of them was bound by limitations that came with their power. Humanity gave them a name. No, the Tower was the one who gave them the name.
Awakeners.
They became the first line of defense against the monsters. And for the first time since the Towers appeared, humanity understood something important. The Towers had not come to save them. They had simply opened a door. And humanity had been foolish enough to walk through it.
***
The city continued to live.
People hurried along the narrow streets between the towering buildings, carrying bags, talking on their phones, complaining about the weather, about work, about one another. Cars passed somewhere beyond the buildings, their tires hissing against the pavement. A delivery worker pushed a cart through the street. Two children ran past an old woman who immediately shouted after them.
Nothing unusual was happening. At least, nothing that anyone had noticed. Between two buildings, where the sunlight rarely reached the ground, stood several large trash bins. They were overflowing.
Plastic bags had split open beneath their own weight. Rotten vegetables lay scattered across the pavement. Fruit peels had been crushed into the dirt, mixed with rainwater and whatever else had leaked from the garbage. The smell was so strong that even the stray cats avoided the place.
Then something moved. At first, it was so slight that it could have been nothing more than a plastic bag shifting in the wind. Then the pile moved again. A hand emerged. Pale fingers pushed weakly against the garbage. For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then the hand disappeared beneath the trash again. A moment later, a man slowly dragged himself out. He was human. Or, at least, he looked human.
His clothes were barely recognizable beneath the filth covering them. Rotten food, muddy water, pieces of paper and countless other things clung to his body. Something dark and foul-smelling dripped from his sleeve.
He remained on his knees for a while. His breathing was shallow. His shoulders rose and fell as though even that small movement required more strength than his body possessed.
He looked thin.
Not dangerously thin, perhaps, but thin enough that the clothes hanging from his body seemed to belong to someone else. His skin was unnaturally pale beneath the dirt, and his face carried the blank exhaustion of someone who had just awakened from a very long illness.
His hair was black. Dark enough that, even beneath the dirt, it seemed almost like a piece of the night had been left on his head.
But his eyes were different. They were a muted gold-brown. And they were open. Wide. Confused. He slowly looked toward the end of the narrow street.
Light. There was light there. He didn’t know why, but his body seemed to understand that he needed to reach it.
He placed one hand against the wall. His palm slipped. He tried again. This time, he managed to pull himself upright.
Barely. His knees trembled immediately. He took one step. Then another. His shoulder remained pressed against the wall as he dragged himself forward, leaving a faint trail of filth behind him.
He didn’t know where he was going. He didn’t know where he had come from. He didn’t know why his entire body felt as though it had been abandoned somewhere and only recently returned to him.
But he kept walking. One step. Then another. The light grew closer. So did the sounds of people. Voices. Footsteps. Cars. Life. He reached the end of the alley. For a moment, he stood there beneath the open sky.
Then his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the pavement. A few people nearby stopped. A man carrying a paper cup stared down at him.
"What the hell is that?"
The words were followed by several seconds of silence. Then someone covered their nose.
"Fuck... what is that smell?"
Another person stepped backward.
"Is he homeless?" he looked at him with very disgusted face.
"Someone call the police." an older man said looking at the guy lying on the ground helpless like it was some stock of dead animal that he didn’t even care as long as he didn’t see him.
"Don’t just stand there. Get him out of here."
"I don’t care who he is. It’s disgusting."
Their voices blended together. The man on the ground slowly lifted his head. He heard them. He understood their words. Yet none of them seemed important. His right hand pressed against the pavement. His arm trembled. He tried to push himself up. His upper body rose several inches before his strength disappeared.
His left hand joined the first. Slowly, painfully, he managed to lift himself enough to sit. Then he looked around. There were perhaps a dozen people watching him. Their expressions were different, but their eyes were almost identical.
Disgust. Suspicion. Fear.
He stared at them. He did not feel angry. He did not feel ashamed. He simply couldn’t understand.
Why were they looking at him like that? Where was he? Who were these people?
And, more importantly...
Who was he?
His gaze drifted away from the crowd. Something was floating in front of him. A transparent blue screen. No one else reacted to it. He stared at it. The screen remained perfectly still.
Words appeared across its surface.
[Congratulations.]
His eyes widened slightly. Another line appeared.
[You have been chosen as an Awakener.]
He continued staring. Then a final message appeared.
[Welcome, Awakener... Macarius]
The screen flickered.For a moment, there was nothing beneath those words.Then another line slowly appeared.
He stared at the last word.
Macarius.
The word felt strange. Distant. Like something he had heard long ago in a dream he could no longer remember.
His lips moved.
"...Macarius."
He paused. Then, almost instinctively, he tried to say it once more.
"...Mac." and without finishing what he was saying he simply lost consciousness