The shriek started soft, like a high-pitched whine, almost too quiet to hear. Then it got louder, like a huge wave of pain, and it felt like it was scraping my bones. It wasn't even something you could hear, more like a feeling, a vibration that shook me to my core in this messed-up digital world.
I covered my head, but it didn't help. The sky, which was just a jumbled mess of static and weird shapes, seemed to tear open with the noise. White flashes of text flew by against the glitching background – error messages, bits of broken code, and what looked like old log entries. They flashed too fast to read, like a dying screen trying to send one last SOS. `NULL_POINTER_EXCEPTION`, `DATA_CORRUPTION_LEVEL_MAX`, `ENTITY_MISMATCH_0xDEADBEEF`. The words didn't make sense, but they filled me with a dread that felt old and familiar. They were like echoes from a system I couldn't recall, a system that should've been my guide, my protection, my everything.
I stumbled, my legs heavy. The ground, all cracked and empty, glowed with the same sick light as the sky. Parts of it turned into shimmering code, showing glimpses of something underneath – a swirling empty space, a flood of raw data. I tried to focus, to find something solid, but the world itself was like a broken computer program. My own body felt wrong, like I was missing something important. No interface, no stats, no System. Just this empty feeling, this total loss of control.
The sky screamed louder, hitting me so hard I almost fell. I stumbled, landing on my hands in the rough, gritty dust. It stung. My memories were blurry, just bits and pieces: a clean, white room, someone whispering quickly, and this awful weight of guilt. What was I guilty of? I couldn't remember, but I felt it eating away at me. Was this wrecked place my punishment? Was the System gone because of me? The screaming finally died down, leaving a silence that was almost louder. Then, words started to appear in the air, solidifying into a single line right in front of me, burning into my eyes: `[WARNING: ANOMALOUS ENTITY DETECTED. SYSTEM INTEGRITY COMPROMISED. ISOLATE AND CONTAIN.]` Anomalous entity. System integrity gone. Lock it up. The words felt cold and made me nervous. What was I to this broken world? A bug? A virus? The thought hung in the air, like I'd already been found guilty. I stood up, my muscles aching. I was wearing a ripped grey jumpsuit that didn't protect me much. Looking around, I wanted to find a path, anything to help me. Far away, something shimmered. It seemed steady, too precise to be natural here. It looked like...light. A light in the dark. I felt something like hope, something I hadn't felt in a long time.
My trip started with a shaky walk toward this light in the distance. Every step was hard. Sometimes the ground would shake, messing up my sight. Now and then, part of the sky would stop, showing one picture for a second before going back to normal. I felt open and weak. Without the System, I was just a person in a messed-up world. How could I protect myself? What did I know?
As I got closer to the light, I saw where it was coming from. It came from a group of rough buildings that looked like black glass sticking out of the ground. They were basic, but they stayed standing despite the problems all around. And there, in the middle of the group, was a fire. A real fire, burning with a nice warmth.
People were gathered around the fire, covered in cloaks so I couldn't see their faces in the shadows and light. I could hear them talking quietly. As I got closer, they stopped talking. Everyone took a breath, and I could feel the stress. I stopped a few steps away, my heart beating fast.
Statless. The word hit me hard. I didn't just not have my interface; I was missing something important. Empty. Weird.
Integrity. That word again, like the warning. I started to feel scared. They didn't see me as someone who also made it but as a disease.
I looked at their faces and saw the fear and doubt. They were holding on to their System, like it was the only thing keeping them safe. And me, without it, was the scariest thing they could imagine.
The thought hit me hard. I got it. They weren't going to help. They saw me as something to get rid of. I stepped back, looking at the empty land behind me. Nothing there. Just that weird, broken wasteland. But staying with these people who thought I was a walking disaster felt worse than being out there. I turned away from the fire and their scared faces. As I left, I felt them watching, judging me. It got super quiet, except for this faint buzz from the messed-up world. I was on my own again, really alone, like I didn't belong in this broken place. I didn't know where to go, and I felt empty inside. But I had to keep going. I needed to learn what I was and why I was here, even if the world wanted me gone. All I had was this feeling of being cut off from everything.
"Who's there?" a gruff voice called out.
I hesitated. What could I say? "I'm… lost"? "I don't know where I am"? The truth felt too fragile, too unbelievable. I took another step forward, and the firelight illuminated my ragged form.
A sharp gasp. "By the Void…"
"It's… it's a statless," another voice whispered, laced with a revulsion that chilled me to the bone.
One of the figures, a burly man with a scarred face, rose slowly. He held a crude, sharpened piece of metal in his hand. His eyes, glinting in the firelight, were wide with a mixture of fear and disgust. "Get back," he growled, his voice rough. "You… you don't belong here."
"I… I need help," I managed, my voice raspy.
A woman, her face etched with hardship, scoffed. "Help? What help could you possibly offer? You're nothing. A glitch given form."
"I don't understand," I pleaded, my gaze sweeping over their faces. They all had a similar look – a desperate intensity, a constant, almost imperceptible twitch of their fingers, as if reaching for something just out of sight. "What is… a statless?"
The burly man spat on the ground. "It's what you are. Someone without the System. Without levels, without skills, without stats. A ghost." He gestured with his weapon. "You're a walking error. A threat to the integrity."
"I… I used to have it," I stammered, the fragmented memories bubbling to the surface. "The System. I don't know what happened."
A ripple of nervous laughter went through the group. "Everyone says that," one of them muttered. "Until the truth catches up."
"The truth is," the burly man said, taking a step closer, his weapon held steady, "you're a void. And voids… they consume. They break things." He pointed his sharpened metal at me. "You're a danger. We can't have you near us."
"Please," I whispered, my voice barely audible. "I'm not… I won't hurt you."
"That's not for you to decide," the woman said, her voice hardening. "The System decides. And it says you're an anomaly. An anomaly must be… corrected."
"I… I understand," I said, my voice regaining a semblance of strength. It was a hollow strength, born of desperation. "I'll leave."