Chapter 1 - Alberto Ferantelli

 With an audible *clack* someone from the neighboring apartments pressed the "Play" button on, what must have been, the world's biggest boom box. A stream of music emanated through the whole complex, reggaeton rhythms suddenly giving everything about that morning an upbeat vibe. Berto groaned and pulled his extra pillow to cover his head. It was too early for this crap and he had less than one hour more to sleep before work! "Miguel I swear to God.." he murmured as he got up.

 Miguel was the enthusiastic barista who had opened a lovely coffee shop on the ground floor, so just under Berto's apartment. Although the two young men got along well, Berto had asked Miguel not to "pump the jam" before 7 in the morning, but to no avail. At this point Berto guessed that it was just teasing from a friend. Although he knew that his lack of sleep, at least on this instance, wasn't completely the barista's fault. Berto had lost two hours of sleep because he was up gaming on his laptop. A new RPG based on a favorite novel of his had come out recently and because of his heavy work schedule, night is the only time he can get a few hours of gaming in.

 Berto made his bed by just slightly straightening his bed sheet. He stretched and put on a pot of coffee to brew. His apartment was nothing special but it was his. A bedroom, a small kitchen with a counter for dining and a decently sized bathroom. The premises were littered by a few energy drinks and cup noodle plastic containers. With a huff he picked up most of it and dumped it in a big plastic bag, tying up the top once he was done. Grabbing a small cup full of hot Cuban coffee he left the trash bag next to his door to dispose of later. He then opened his one and only window and sat on the frame, taking a sip from his hot beverage and looking out with a smile.

 The beautiful Santa Barbara was even more exquisite with the dew of morning. Rivers of fog cascading down the lush green mountain. The morning sunlight bouncing off the Atlantic and highlighting golden beaches. Surfers, swimmers, fishermen and all kinds of other people rushing towards the coast. The markets coming to life and Miguel, just below where Berto was seating, had just started setting his tables on the road outside his shop. A man in his late twenties just like him. Olive colored skin, slim with oily, curly, black hair and quite handsome.

"Thanks for waking me up an hour earlier amigo!" yelled Berto to the barista with sarcasm to spare.

"Oh I'm sorry paisano! Did I ruin your beauty sleep? Will you let me make up to you with a cup of coffee? I have to get you in my shop at least once and since I already woke you up.. eh?" said a smiling Miguel gesturing towards the shop.

"Ah.. I got it covered.. sorry, maybe tomorrow?" replied Berto while raising his cup.

"Yeah.. maybe tomorrow.." answered the barista with a defeated expression, waved and entered his shop.

 Berto sighed with frustration before stepping away from the window, shutting it in the process. It was almost as if he wanted the window to be a safety screen between him and adult life. He was pretty sure that Miguel was flirting with him but was too afraid to find out. It had been more than two years since his last relationship ended. He was involved with a nice girl but was reluctant to commit. Now, for the first time, he felt attracted to someone else, someone of the same sex no less and was simply overwhelmed. There was so much going on with his work that he had shut out everything love related for too long. He felt it just wasn't the time to discover he was Bi. "Would it ever be the time?" he wondered.

 The young man looked at himself in his bedroom's mirror as he got undressed for a morning shower. Alberto Ferantelli had a height of 1,78 meters, short but messy dark brown hair and a fairly light complexion. He wasn't the most attractive man but had a few good features like amber eyes and a nicely shaped nose. Looking now at himself, he frowned as he noticed his arms and chest were starting to sag, with excess fat, and his belly was visibly larger than what he had grown accustomed to since his teen years. He was never into exercising and eating healthy but when you're younger your body almost takes care of that by itself if you don't overdo it. But now.. He could feel his body getting used to working at a desk, metabolizing slower and starting to ache all over. It didn't help that Berto also entertained himself mostly with video-games, reading, eating out with friends and short walks. He tried exercising in the past but could never commit more than a couple of months at a time.

 Suddenly a low but annoying ring echoed throughout the apartment and Berto turned his attention to the source, his cellphone. The alarm clock he had set just went off. He deactivated it and hoped in the shower. He had exactly one hour to punch his card in at work and had a good track record of always doing so on time.

 Ten minutes and a hot shower later, Berto was throwing on his everyday work attire. A simple pair of black trousers, shirt and tie with shoes to match. He prepared his briefcase by arranging some blueprints and schematics he had been studying and making adjustments to. Packed his laptop as well. He was so relieved to have managed to save enough money for his own gaming laptop. If he had resorted to borrowing a laptop from his company he wouldn't have been allowed to install any games on it. Cerberus Dynamics did not fool around with its policies. Berto had to memorize a 200 page booklet of policies, guidelines and regulations just to get hired in the first place.

 But he was grateful. His hard work, studying as an engineer, had paid off and was being put to great use. Not only had his good salary allowed him to move out and find an apartment of his own, but also helped with paying off a good amount of the medical loan still hanging over his and his father's head. Being a "slave" to a mega-corporation like Cerberus Dynamics did feel strange sometimes. But he was doing good work. His designs for the company were being implemented and, in a small way, changing the world daily.

 The island had sold much land, properties and rights to the corporation in order to keep its economy afloat. Santa Barbara was the Island Capital of a small Archipelago with many natural resources. Berto worked on one of their most advanced facilities. An old re-purposed oil rig, with underwater labs and research stations. They explored the deep to study aquatic fauna and flora, monitored volcanic activity and harvested geothermic energy and even sent out sub-aquatic expeditions for ancient wrecks or ruins. After the Quake the entire world had discovered "magic". Now every nation and company were tied in an arms race for ancient knowledge or antiquities that might have been altered by the event, turning them into weapons of magical power.

 All sorts of magical beasts were known to pour out of these extra dimensional gateways, like Orcs, Drakes and other horrors. But Cerberus Dynamics was also studying the phenomenon which occurred when a rift opened up amongst natural living animals. It mutated them to mythical nightmares or hybrid abominations that were aggressive and saturated with magic. That's why "Champions" were so important to the world now. Champions, meaning people who were blessed with a fragment of magic and could now use magical abilities and in general, surpassed any physical or even mental limitations that normal humans had. Weavers of spells, rogue like figures that could become one with the shadows and warriors that could slice steel in half with enchanted swords. The Champions kept the rifts closed and that kept the people safe. This was the now Berto's world..

 The Champions were hired by giant corporations or governments to destroy rifts from the inside out. Although how that occurred was beyond Berto. It was rumoured to be a hazardous endeavor and many champions had died trying to combat the more powerful of rifts. However if they succeeded, the resources they could harvest were unimaginable to everyday working people. The monsters the slew dropped crystallized hearts irradiated with magical energy. The stronger the monster the greater the worth of its heart. The young man once heard on the news about the sale of a "Troll's" heart, earning the seller about 5.000 u.s dollars, and that was just one heart. Usually Champions could slay a dozen or two monsters per expedition. It was only logical.. Only these Champions, these magic-enhanced people could defeat monsters efficiently. The creatures were almost immune to mundane weapons and their wielders. An entire platoon of soldiers was lost once just to take down three Orcs.

 The mere thought of a Champion's full pay day made Berto jealous. But he wouldn't willingly run into so much danger just for money. And besides.. Even if he were a Champion, that would probably make him hate his own guts after what happened to his mother. Berto stepped towards the door and straightened a portrait that hung next to it. A framed picture of a happy family, holding their young boy. Even he were a Champion he could never bear to make his father worry. Giorgio, gave him a hard time growing up. Always telling his boy to "man up" and with his constant disappointment towards Berto's hobbies and likes. It took his wife passing away to come to the realization that he would love his son no matter how he turned out as an adult. Berto held no ill will towards him. His father stood by his side at every turn along the way and he loved him.

 With a practiced motion, the door behind him was locked and he was on his way for another day of hard work. Berto soon found himself at the main port. In front of him awaited the Capsule Train, the high speed, underwater railway system that transported employees directly to "Argos", Cerberus Dynamics' underwater facilities for advanced research! The ride there was definitely the coolest part of working at Argos. The fast moving capsule created a blurry image with many shades of blue and beautiful aquatic scenery. Many parts of the tube ,which contained the railway,  were made of bulletproof glass, designed to stand against the pressure. Berto admired the amazing feat of construction and engineering, almost saddened that he wasn't involved in its making.

 Berto had been modifying designs for hydraulic systems used for robotic appendages. These allowed researchers to interact with the deep from the safety of the facility or a submarine. He also came up with new designs that allowed more efficient harvest of geothermic energy. His good work had landed him a fairly quick promotion to Assistant Engineering Consultant.

 His boss, Manuel Guevera, was basically in charge of telling their branch of the company, how to better apply or utilize high level engineering to solve problems or make money. He took a liking to the hard working youth and kept him close to mentor him. When Berto proved his worth with his designs, he promoted him to an assistant.

Soon the ride was over and the young engineer stepped into a pressurized facility that seemed to be at least a decade ahead of its time. The slick aesthetics and use of whites and greys, the technology and display panels. Argos was almost literally out of this world. Berto swiped his card as he entered, followed by a few colleagues, and then inserted it into a big machine that seemed to process his information and gave him the work schedule of the day. Berto checked it twice before downloading it directly into his phone with a push of button and then almost dropped it when he heard a yell aimed specifically at him!

"Niño! Niño, come quick!" shouted an ecstatic Manuel as he ran towards him. The senior engineer seemed at least 45, with very short dark hair that were starting to grey near his temples and sideburns. He had a few pounds to spare but ironically that only made him look more charming and approachable. "Mister Guevera!? Sir what's going on?" exclaimed a confused Berto while looking around him for clues. Had he forgotten someone's birthday again?!

"Berto mi amigo, follow me! Prepare to have your mind blown!" said Manuel with ample excitement, leaving Berto puzzled but intrigued!

Thank you for reading! Next week's updates will be on Monday and Friday. Have a good one!