"We spend our days climbing through ruins, trying to salvage anything useful from the buildings ravaged by war."
Maya Hansen endured the droning noise of a diesel generator as she wrote in her journal under dim lighting. This was her habit—keeping a daily record of her discoveries. But this time, she wasn't in a late-night lab or a cozy hotel room; she was deep in a dark, desolate ruin, scribbling away at her desk.
Two toppled buildings leaned over her makeshift workspace, with scattered machinery and human remains strewn across the area. Maya had picked a relatively intact skull from the pile of corpses and placed it on her desk as her only companion in the darkness—it also doubled as a pen holder.
Her new boss had taken her on a brief tour of this underground city beneath Rome, though only in the safer areas. According to him, this place was once called the Eternal City, one of the greatest cities in human history. However, it had been destroyed by internal conflicts fueled by ideology, conspiracies, and betrayal. Now, the organization tied to this city was nothing more than a footnote in history.
"This city is filled with incredibly advanced technology and exquisite works of art. In the collapsed buildings, I've found silver armor adorned with intricate patterns. Although most of it is warped and deformed, its design—heavily reminiscent of the Renaissance period—still speaks volumes about the technological prowess of its creators."
Maya paused, leaving a small ink blot on her notebook. She paid it no mind and continued writing. "This city, like my new boss, is shrouded in mystery. If I hadn't just been brought back from the dead, I'd probably be terrified by the eerie silence here. I've pulled bodies from the armor and set them aside, then scavenged for essentials—like the desk and cushioned chair I'm currently using. I suspect these pieces of furniture are hundreds of years old. If not for the dry conditions here, they wouldn't have survived this long. And, of course, I have to thank my boss, who used magic to blow away the dust. Otherwise, I'd have drowned in a sea of grime."
She glanced at the growing pile of salvaged items around her. "So far, I've gathered a ten-inch-high stack of mechanical components, five or six dried-out corpses (some with mismatched limbs), twelve elongated silver helmets, twenty-four silver-embossed pauldrons, a complete tea set, a bag of glass shards, half a streetlamp (seemingly melted in half), and countless gears in various sizes and colors. But the most abundant items are weapons. From personal firearms to massive field artillery, they're all here—crafted with impeccable precision and an air of elegance. These weapons stand silently in the dark ruins like somber gentlemen."
"I wonder who created all this—and why it was destroyed. I'm curious. Here, I've seen oversized footprints that don't belong to humans, as well as technological marvels far ahead of their time. There's no record of this city in any book I've read, just as I've never come across a working alchemical formula in any text—no cryptic ciphers, no pictorial codes, no numerological decryption. Just clear, straightforward equations. I even suspect that the UFO Kenneth Arnold famously spotted might have been invented by the same people who built this city. After all, current evidence strongly suggests that aliens don't actually use flying saucers."
She sniffed the air, catching the faint scent of dust and a lingering burnt smell, as though the ghosts of past battles still wandered through the ruins.
"What other choice do I have? I've just experienced the most significant turning point of my life. I thought I'd already had my turning point when I invented the Extremis virus, but now I realize this moment eclipses it. Magic, advanced technology—everything awaits discovery. There's so much I don't know, and I've barely scratched the surface of this world's truths. What I've seen so far has left me dizzy with amazement. I can't even imagine what else is out there waiting for me. I'm excited, even though this place is desolate. But I can still uncover things from the debris—things that could shake the world to its core."
"Also, I have to thank my new boss. Not that flattery will get me a raise, but I'm grateful nonetheless. Not just because he saved my life, but because of his generosity. He shares his knowledge with me. He's told me there are more than one kind of alien species, and he's even offered me non-human experimental subjects. Solomon Damonet is, as it turns out, the same knight who fought in the Battle of New York. He admitted this to me personally. But honestly, that revelation didn't even surprise me anymore. I've been hit with too many shocking truths today. Judging by his expression, he was a little annoyed by my reaction—or lack thereof. I tried to act the way he expected, but that only seemed to irritate him further."
"Fortunately, he didn't bring me here on a whim. He provided me with a diesel generator, pens, ink, a stack of introductory alchemical texts (authored by him, no less), a lightbulb and some wiring, as well as plenty of food and water. I have no complaints about being left here. In fact, I find this place perfectly quiet—no one will bother me, not even my boss, who has to go to school. That, by the way, is the most amusing thing I've learned today—my boss is a teenager!"
"Age isn't something I can control, Ms. Hansen," Solomon said, gently placing a television and a signal receiver next to her. After fiddling with the equipment for a while, he managed to get it working, though the signal was erratic and frustratingly inconsistent.
"I didn't know you had a habit of snooping on people's diaries," Maya said with a smirk. "So, what's happening out there? It feels like I've been in here all day."
"It's only been a few hours, actually. I should've brought you a clock or a laptop; otherwise, you might lose track of time in here. I'll go buy one later. There's also another possibility—this place has experienced multiple time-travel events. You might've been caught in some kind of temporal anomaly until my presence as an observer broke the cycle." Solomon stretched out on half of a broken sofa. "Alright, enough small talk. Watch the TV—it should give us the latest news."
"Here we go again with your commentary," Maya quipped.
"Of course," Solomon said. "In fact, if it were just a case of the U.S. President being assassinated by terrorists, the country wouldn't be in such chaos. The real issue is that this happened after an alien invasion. The American government has already proven its incompetence, and this incident has only magnified that perception."
"Humans need enemies to maintain order," he continued. "Those enemies can be racists, anti-LGBT activists, or anyone else—usually confined to the internet. But aliens and terrorists? They're in a different league. That's why people are scared—they've realized their so-called democratic government can't protect them. And since they can't identify the root of their fear, they lash out in protests. It's the only response they know. Humans don't get smarter as civilization advances."
"How's Stark doing?" Maya asked, accustomed to Solomon's ramblings.
"Thriving," Solomon replied with a wink, stretching out his legs. "Don't forget—you need a new identity. You've already said goodbye to your past friends and family. Your ties to the mundane world have been severed. In a way, Maya Hansen is dead. At best, your name might come up at a dinner party and then be forgotten after the guests sober up."
"You're quite the pessimist, boss," Maya remarked.
"The more I learn, the more pessimistic I become. Humanity teeters on the brink of extinction every day. A single werewolf, an incurable magical disease, or something like a zombie virus could wipe us out. Please don't create one of those—that would be terrifying."
"You misunderstand virology," Maya said. "I couldn't make a zombie virus even if I tried."
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure," Solomon sighed. "You created Extremis, didn't you? If you can make that, anything's possible. In this universe, there's always something unexpected waiting to happen. Trust me, this world has a way of surprising you—I know that better than anyone. Don't give me that look; I can't tell you what I've seen. Just know that I've stood face-to-face with gods. Does that pique your curiosity? Work hard, and one day, you'll experience it yourself."
"Alright, one more question."
"What is it?"
"Why are you wearing that?" Maya asked, pointing her pen at Solomon's robe of holy relics. "Is that your wizard outfit?"
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