Awoke In an Irradiated World

[August 19, 2055]

A cloudy, humid day, the stuffy air was an account of the heavy rain from the previous night and the depressing drizzle the following morning. A man and a woman sat on a bench outside the door of a funeral home. The man was 5’9, wore a dark gray suit, with dirty blonde hair, and carried a rather depressed look in his eyes. The woman who sat beside him was a 5’3 ginger with glasses who wore a knee-high black dress and observed him with concern.

“I’m sorry Sam, your grandfather seemed like a really great man. I mean he took you in after your parents died and all.”, said the girl in a somber tone of voice.

“Thanks Emma. He was really a great man, thank you for being here for me today.”, Sam replied with a light smile.

Emma blushed a faint shade of red and cleared her throat, “It’s no problem at all! What are childhood friends for? Let’s go, we should catch the bus before it starts raining again.” Before Sam could respond, Emma grabbed Sam’s hand and while dragging him off the bench behind her, she began to run.

“Ah, slow down Em! This is too fast for me!”, said Sam as he desperately put one foot in front of the other in an attempt to not fall flat on his face.

Emma suddenly stopped as she realized what was happening, causing Sam to slam into her from behind. While she didn’t budge, Sam felt he just ran into a brick wall. “I’m so sorry Sam! I forgot about your, ‘condition’. Are you ok?”

Sam sighed, “It’s ok Emma, I’m fine. Just a little battered that’s all. But man, you really have gotten a lot stronger since I last saw you three years ago. When I moved you hadn’t even awakened yet… Come on, lets go catch the bus.”

After reaching the bus station, Sam and Emma sat down and began to talk about the various things that happened over the last three years. Though they kept in touch, this was the first time they had met since Sam moved to live with his grandfather after his parents’ deaths. Once they got on the bus and their somber mood caused the conversation to fizzle out, Sam reminisced about the many ways the world has changed since the Cataclysm.

It’s now 2055. Twenty years have passed since the beginning and end of World War 3. World War 3 was short, but also a nuclear nightmare, billions of people died... After 100 nuclear warheads exploded over the course of a single day across various parts of the globe, there was a bright flash. This was experienced by everyone across the globe. Some people theorized that the immense increase in energy destabilized space-time momentarily. It was only afterwards that people found that nuclear weapons would no longer explode. Not only that, but anything science related was unable to be developed further as it seemed like the laws of the world had changed. It was almost like god had been angered by the impetuous humans who dared to make a mess of the world he made. Though, fighting continued for a few months even after the events, the world gradually returned to peace.

Over the ten years after the war, strange creatures began to slowly develop near the various blast sights around the world. They were stronger than normal animals and many of them had access to a variety of special powers. This greatly distressed some, while exciting others. Some saw them as threats, while others, opportunities. Those delusional few felt that the magical fantasy world of their dreams was coming to life, eventually realized how wrong they were… Many of those who went hunting for the newly evolved beasts instead became the hunted themselves. At this point, humanity found that it was no longer at the top of the food chain. The beasts appearing from the areas were gradually becoming stronger and stronger. After a year, normal firearms hardly had any effect on them. Walls were built, strongholds were created, and humanity began to fear the beasts. These beasts now so strong that only cannons and artillery could kill them, truly earned the title of monsters. This continued for the next 8 years.

Ten years after the day the world, ‘Glitched’, as it had become known, things began to change for humanity. Things were beginning to look up! People began awakening supernatural abilities in droves… Children and adults alike began awakening varying amounts of strength. People age 15 and up awakened abilities at a rate of 95%! These people were given the title of ‘Awakeners’. This change began to slowly shift the balance of power in this cruel and unforgiving world. The more religious survivors believed that the past ten years were a punishment, that God had made them suffer and cower in fear because they dared to defile the world He made for them. And now, like how Adam and Eve were kicked out of Eden, they too have been removed from their fluffy and posh lifestyle and subjected to the harsh realities of the world. Now, they had suffered and paid a heavy price for their sins, but God did not sentence them to extinction.

In the ten years since the first people awakened, society experienced a variety of changes. With the increasingly large number of people developing supernatural abilities, the structure of society was greatly shaken. In this nigh post-apocalyptic world, there were many who through their greed, desired power. Power and influence were great motivators in the pursuit of greater strength. To quell this instability, the governments of the world came together and created the World Council. The World Council was a supervisory organization that united the various governmental forces through a grand alliance. This served a variety of purposes, it not only worked to control any power-hungry psychopaths that popped up, but also began developing a universally standardized system to categorize those with their newly awakened powers. The system they created sorted awakeners into nine tiers, with nine levels within a tier, measured by their average physical attributes in comparison to a normal human body. Through this, any supernatural abilities or superpowers were also sorted in an E🡪SSS scale.

Both Sam and Emily were awakeners, but not all awakeners were destined to be equal. People found they could continually elevate their strength through special training, practice, and consuming the flesh of monsters stronger than oneself, but only to a limit. The ‘limit’ was different for everyone, and it was nigh unsurpassable naturally. Sam was part of the unfortunate group of awakeners whose limit was depressingly low.

“Sam, it’s your stop.”, said Emma, startling Sam out of his revelry.

“Thanks, Em. See you around.” Sam got off the bus and walked the remaining distance to the moderately sized home he and his grandfather shared before his untimely passing. As Sam opened the door to the three-bedroom, two-bath, house where he spent the past three years, he felt a perpetual sense of loneliness. For the first time since he received word that the flight his grandfather was on encountered a mishap over one of the Ground Zeroes, the fact he was gone, truly sunk in. Exhausted both physically and emotionally Sam decided to lay in his bed and attempt to sleep.

[Two Weeks Later]

Ring! Ring! Sam grabbed his comm from where he set it the previous night and turned off its overly obnoxious alarm. Stretching, he rubbed his eyes and yawned. ‘Man, I can’t believe time has passed so quickly.’ Last Spring, Sam was accepted into one of the most prestigious universities on the eastern side of America, Adrian University. While he may not be a powerful awakener, what he lacked in pure stats, he made up for with his extensive willpower and unending motivation. Through his hard work and determination, he was just barely able to scrape by the exceptional standards AU required from its incoming freshmen. And today marked the first day of class.

Sam got up and took a quick shower before heading downstairs to grab a bite to eat. As he walked into the kitchen he suddenly stopped. ‘That wasn’t there last night…’ Set on the table in the middle of the room was an advanced looking metallic silver briefcase. The briefcase seemed to sense him when he entered the room because a holo-screen popped up saying, “Lifeform detected, biometrics analyzed, identity confirmed, Samuel Horario.”

The briefcase opened with a Poof, exposing its contents to the still stunned Sam. The briefcase contained only two items, a small black notebook with a handprint on top and a metallic card. Curious, Sam slowly walked forward, reached out, and picked up the black notebook. As he opened the book, he found it was blank. Disappointed, Sam prepared to set the book down when suddenly a holograph was projected above the open book. Under closer inspection Sam realized it was his grandfather!

“This is only a small part of my fortune; few know of my true identity. I was the owner of Woke Incorporated, the third largest company in the world. If you are reading this that means I determined that you are one of my descendants who I judged worthy to take up my mantle. There are ten of you, so there will be ten challenges, the last of you to complete the challenge will be ELIMINATED. Now, you can choose to accept the challenges and therefore the risks to become one of the richest and most powerful men alive. Or you may choose to give up your candidacy and take the $20,000 on the electronic card. It is your choice, and now that I am no longer in this world, it is none of my business. Whatever you choose, I wish you good luck and a good life. To accept your candidacy merely put your right hand firmly on the cover of this book, and say, ‘I accept’.”

Sam was stunned. His grandfather was the unknown CEO of one of the largest and most powerful corporations that popped up after the awakening. Woke Incorporated was the largest buyer and seller of various materials made from the corpses of monsters. They were considered a household name in the same way ‘Apple’ was in the past. For as long as he knew, his grandfather had lived an unremarkable life. Nothing he did was extravagant, the only exception was his yearly retreat with his buddies from the military.

After the holovid blinked out of existence, Sam began to read the words that began appearing on the book's blank pages, “Sam, everyone received the holovid, but this note is exclusively for you. These past three years you have been living with me have been the most peaceful of my life. Though, all good things must come to an end. You are the one I wish to obtain my fortune the most, but for that to happen you must become strong enough to shoulder the burdens. In my will, I will leave this house to you, I will not push you into this race because you are greatly behind your competition. If you decide to join the race, I plan to give you a gift that will give you an edge over the competition. It is your choice, whatever you choose I wish you luck, stay safe. -Grandpa John”

After briefly pondering the current situation, Sam made up his mind, ‘After you took me in how could I not accept your gift?’

Sam put his hand on the cover of the notebook and said, “I accept!”

Initializing The Awoken System In...

3..

2..

1.

‘What?’

“System Start”

Sam blacked out.