Cipiteca396

Hold on to your🧈, this one's a little bumpy.

POV: Unknown.

I checked my watch. My foot continued to tap in time with the second hand, a habit I'd picked up in recent years. 

There was still quite a while to wait. I leaned back into the park bench I was sitting on, looking around. I didn't really see anything around me though. It didn't matter to me.

I didn't mind the wait. I'd spent years waiting at my job. The work was fulfilling, but tedious. I'd picked up dozens of hobbies, ways to pass the time. Everything from collecting things, to exercise, to programming. None of it really stuck with me though. Well, until my colleague started taking me to a firing range. She said it reminded her of home.

I checked my watch, smiling at the nostalgic memory. The first time I fired a pistol. It was such a tiny, dinky-looking thing, but the recoil surprised me so much I almost dropped it. At first it wasn't that interesting, but over time... The smell of the gunpowder, the kick against my shoulder, the satisfaction of hitting the target- It got to me. My work gave my life meaning, but shooting made it fun.

Eventually, my colleague moved back to her hometown. She said she had to get away from all the 'prissy locals'. Even then, I continued to go to the range. There was a long while where I was able to enjoy myself without problems. But then, the same people who'd been harassing her came after me. With that and the continued increases to the price of ammunition, I'd had to give up after only a few years.

I checked my watch, then shook my head to dismiss the slight melancholy. I'd assumed that I'd be able to move onto the next hobby right away, but it was surprising how quickly it happened. A smile came to my face as I remembered the first time.

Instead of heading to the firing range to use up the last of my ammo, I'd dismantled the bullets and dumped all the powder into a plastic bowl. Even now, I'm not sure what I was thinking at the time. A moment of insanity, or maybe I was just trying to get back at the people who'd made me give it up.

Either way, I stuffed the container where they'd hear the sound and stuck a match to it. It caught shockingly fast, and I didn't really have a chance to get away. I was unscathed, luckily, but the explosion blew bits of plastic in every direction. The feeling at that time was incredible. The next step up from shooting, I ended up thinking.

After that, I'd experimented with different combinations of materials and chemicals. Although ammunition for weapons was expensive, the things I needed were cheap as dirt. Actually, some of it was dirt. It was perfect for me. Something I could think about and plan for even when I was at work.

I never used the same setup twice, always moved to different locations to test everything. It was harmless, but I always worried that someone would find out and try to put a stop to it. Especially after I accidentally started a fire one time. It got put out quickly, only burned a single house down. In the end, they'd said the owner wasn't taking care of their property properly and was at fault.

That had been a terrifying moment for me. Obviously I'd had close calls, hurt myself on accident; it was a dangerous hobby. But I wasn't some arsonist or killer. So I made sure to keep everything safe, clearing any flammable stuff from the area, keeping some safety equipment on hand. Nobody would get hurt. I frowned a little at that thought, a cold feeling forming in the pit of my stomach.

I checked my watch, dismissing my worries. The world had changed just under a week ago. Everything was different now. My work, what I'd spent my life on, was no longer necessary. Meaningless. My entire life gone, and nothing to go forward with.

I'd tried... I really had. To pour all of my ambition and purpose into preparing my Dungeon. The last six days had been some of the busiest in my life. But it all felt so hollow. Busy work to keep me sane while I waited for something important to happen. That is, until I realized the Crafting function allowed me to make explosives.

It was a little disappointing, having them just appear; no effort, no study, no plan. But I was able to make much larger devices with the Interface than the stuff I scrounged up from shopping. I smiled broadly, realizing that I might be able to craft the materials instead of the devices themselves. The best of both methods. Something to consider for next time.

I checked my watch, smiling as I realized that there wasn't long left to wait. I'd tested a lot of what I'd Crafted inside my Dungeon, using them like Blasting Charges to open up more space. But somehow that had been unsatisfying. It was a little embarrassing to admit, but perhaps some of the joy came from the risk of being discovered after all.

Not to mention, I had to restrict the size of what I made. Too big, and the damage might destroy my Crystal Core. I'd been sitting on a certain item for a while, too wary to actually try it out. But there was no issue if I set it up down here. Just like myself, everyone down here was using an 'Avatar'.

With that in mind, I hadn't even fully left the blast radius, just gotten far enough away that I could see it. Like this, I'd be able to experience the explosion for real, without risk of death or injury. The anticipation brought a smile to my face, even as I looked around at the unsuspecting people around me. Perhaps they, too, would develop a love of explosions from this? Thinking like that, I was really doing them a favor, no?

I checked my watch. Less than a minute. The test this time would utilize a so called 'Tactical Nuclear Weapon', although the current situation hardly made that label seem accurate. This was not a military action, after all. It was relatively low yield as well, by modern standards.

Ten...

Five...

Four...

Three...

Two...

One...

I looked up, smiling like a child. "Now ain't that something."

Then a wave of sound and heat erased my Avatar from existence.

Like a switch was flipped, I found myself inside my room in the Dungeon once more. It was a little disappointing that I couldn't stay a little longer, but most likely there would be recordings from other people who were further away. I lifted up the Interface, intending to check on that.

There was a strange message, and no way to change back to the normal functions of the device. It was like it was hung up, the only sign of continued function being the blinking ellipsis.

The Interface had never failed me like this, but it wasn't that big a deal. All of my electronics were still scattered around in my room, mostly for decoration. I shrugged it off and went digging through the internet for a while.

It was only a few minutes later that the Interface finally vibrated to get my attention. A series of words rapidly scrolled across the screen as I read.

I froze, staring at the blinking points on the screen. Thoughts whirled through my head; disbelief gave way to indignation and fear. I tried to understand what had happened, to think of a way to avoid what was surely a punishment. In the end, all I could do was wait for 'Arbitration', and hope that it would save me.

Time passed, what felt like hours. The entire time, my Mind uselessly fretted, planning for what might come. Until finally, a new string of messages began to scroll across the screen.

I shivered, feeling very small, like a mouse under the eyes of a hawk. The heavy weight of dread I felt was unlike anything I'd ever experienced. A long moment passed in utter silence before that feeling passed, and I suddenly choked in a ragged breath.

Though perhaps that feeling never truly left me again.

Cipiteca396

Sorry for the low word count and quality. Things have been super awkward lately, and I can barely keep my eyes open as I type this, lol. Try not to be a scary person, okay?