The tires made a loud screech as the driver tried to avert running into Vale just the moment he thought it was all over -- that he had killed himself. The car braked, stopping only inches away from Vale. It seemed like the driver of the black, sleek sedan car with terribly tinted glasses wanted to hit him and had just teased him.
Before Holmes could react, one of the doors opened and a man stepped out.
The man didn't have the movements of a normal human being. His movements were too mechanical, still, and overly coordinated. He had a blank expression on his face, with his hands at his sides inside thick black gloves. The man had a face that wouldn't attract attention.
Vale was lost in the details he was gathering from the stranger steadily walking up to him that he didn't notice the man reach into the breast pocket of his midnight coat he wore over a black suit.
He didn't speak. Neither did Vale Holmes, who just stood there transfixed.
The man pulled out a black object and slipped it into Vale's breast pocket. It felt both informal and dangerous at the same time. Vale registered the weight of the object but didn't react. He only watched as the man walked back to the car, sat inside, and closed the door. The car sped off before Vale could blink twice. There was no license plate at the rear of the vehicle. The more he looked, the more Vale was confused as to how he couldn't see the car any longer.
Now, it was dark as Holmes stood, unmoving, with his heart ramming into his rib cage.
Slowly, Vale reached into his pocket.
A phone.
The first thing Vale noticed was that the phone was unbranded. He turned it over and observed that there were no ports as well. There were no buttons either. A thick black glass that seemed like it could swallow lights covered the surface of the device. The phone was so cold, like it had just been pulled from a freezer. An eerie feeling loomed over Holmes.
Could my day get any weirder? Vale pondered as he looked in the direction the car had gone.
"You're falling behind schedule, Vale."
The whisper was soft and direct, too precise to be a hallucination.
Vale spun. He didn't see anyone behind or around him.
"You were selected by the system."
Vale's breath hitched in his throat as he glanced at the phone again and this time, saw it glowing.
***
Vale had taken a cab and had gotten to the entrance of his apartment building. The drive to his house seemed like forever as his mind was heavy and anxious. He had hidden the phone in the pocket of his pants, and it felt like there was a brick there. Vale just needed to have some privacy to see what the phone and everything were about. At this point, Vale was numb, and his head was pounding with tension and stress.
"You're a star now," the front desk lady said.
Vale looked at her, wondering why it was this talkative person who was on duty for the night shift. He ignored her and walked on to the elevator. Punching in his floor number, Vale took out the phone and kept staring at it.
"Besides, the manager wants to see you," the receptionist said. "He said to tell you whenever or if you return," she finished with a wide grin plastered on her pale and freckled face.
In his house, Holmes placed the phone on his living room table as he folded his sleeves. There was a deep crease between his brows as he scanned his living room. Somehow, Vale felt like he wasn't far from paranoia.
The glow dimmed as these words appeared on the screen.
'Successor.exe'
What's this? Vale thought.
A prompt appeared next.
'Welcome, Vale Holmes. Or should we say... Vale Rykard?'
"Is this a prank?" Vale asked in an audible voice, as if talking to whoever might be on the other end of the phone.
"Did Vanessa do this? Is Dez behind all these?" he asked, quickly getting agitated.
"They really want to drive the knife in, huh?!"
Vale Holmes tapped the screen again as his mind overplayed the image of his name and the 'wrong' name that had vanished from the phone's screen.
'You have been confirmed as the beneficiary. Uploading protocol. Please remain conscious.'
"What do you-"
Vale was interrupted by what was being displayed on the phone. Codes. Infinite lines of code and numbers. Spinning. Sliding. There were symbols that Vale Holmes couldn't recognize. They flicked across the screen like camouflaged messages.
Next came images. Different pictures of him from different times, ages, and jobs. It was crazy and mind-blowing to Vale as he watched himself through another person's eyes. What stunned him the most was that he never had the inkling that he was being watched all this time.
'You are now active, Vale.'
'You have 72 hours to complete Order One'
"What order are you talking about?" Vale questioned. "Who are you?"
The screen turned black again, reflecting the light a little bit. Then, three words appeared across the screen in bright blue uppercase letters.
'YOU. WERE. CHOSEN'
Before Vale Holmes could react to the message, the phone began vibrating on the table. The vibration was so violent that it moved the phone to the edge of the table, threatening to fall over. Vale reached for it and grabbed it, when a projection appeared to hover over the device.
It was that of a woman. Vale couldn't see her face properly as big, dark glasses hindered that. She pointed forward, past Vale, which made him turn around to check for what she was pointing at.
Nothing.
He turned back to face the phone. The projection was gone.
Now, the phone screen showed nothing but a countdown of some sort.
71:59:58
And below it was written:
'Order One: Return to the Scene. Humiliate Them All. Don't Be Seen.'
Vale's breath seized in his throat. Every other noise coming from outside and his freezer faded away. He could only hear his heartbeat and could only see the words written on the screen -- blinking like a watching eye.
And then a final message appeared:
'Fail this order and we deactivate the legacy.'
Then...
'And you.'