Morning light creeps over the rooftops just as the traffic starts to hum. A coffee cup sits half-full on a windowsill where someone stopped for a moment long. Buses groan at the lights while peoples shoes tap impatiently on the pavement. One person checks their watch then sighs into their collar. The air smells a bit like concrete and toast.
The morning is full of motion. People head to their jobs some walking heavy others hurrying. Children trudge toward their classrooms their backpacks swaying. Street sellers call out the prices of mangoes and steaming chai. Car horns honk between stalled vehicles. People pass close by without looking at each other. The noise wraps around everything. The chaos feels familiar. Life stumbles forward like it does days.
Lanine moves without thinking a teenager caught up in the rhythm of the sidewalks. His eyes stay fixed on his screen his fingers tapping away his mind. The world around him blurs into shapes and noise. Each step follows his memory, not his sight. The importance of things slips away. Everything seems flat and drained of weight.
He scrolls through his phone with his thumb flicking through pictures he has viewed times before. As he walks his legs carry him past the drink stand again just like every morning. The lady who runs the stand shouts out to him her sleeves rolled up high promoting a kind of brew. He lifts his hand still staring at his screen.
A tiny but clear shift happens, altering the moment without warning.
A low strange sound hangs in the air. Not loud just odd.
Lanines hand pauses mid-swipe his eyes lifting his brow creased. The silence is sudden, sharp and total where the bird noise used to be. The crossroads lights twitch, flash once twice then go dark.
A dull hush settles across the horizon. It's not nightfall. It's like a pause mid-breath. The brightness seems to have slipped and never returned.
The air clings to Lanine, thick like the weather is shifting, but nothing stirs above. No cloud breaks the stare of the sky.
People start to look their heads turning. One woman freezes, her grocery bag dangling her eyes lifting skyward. A child on a bike jerks to a stop losing their balance. The silence swallows the street sellers call, word by fading word.
A streak of light cuts through the clouds above a line that holds steady from edge to edge. It's like a flaw torn through what should be whole. People can't look away; their attention sticks without trying.
Lanine drops his phone. It falls without a sound. His eyes stay fixed ahead not registering anything. The moment passes,. He still doesn't look.
The crack widens.
Then chaos erupts.
Lanine goes down as the earth yaws wide open not just splitting but ripping itself apart gulping the pavement forward like hunger has taken root under the city. Structures tilt sideways then vanish inside windows bursting into glittering slivers that hang in the air shining like jewels. It ends with silence where noise should be.
People. Run.
Lanine sprints, his body surging forward without thought his feet slamming the ground his pulse hammering like a trapped thing screaming inside him. The noise swallows everything roaring, like reality cracking open right beside his ear.
The clouds split open without warning a break appearing where none existed before. It tears open showing a void underneath. Through that tear spills not a sunbeam, nothing familiar. This brightness feels complete, total and wanting.
In that moment everything fades away one by one. The creatures slip away leaving nothing behind. Silence hangs where voices once did vanished without a trace as if time erased them completely.
The streets sit frozen in time cracked under a hush deep it presses. Vehicles clog the asphalt, frozen where they stopped. House entrances gape, tilted like eyes. Near the curb a small red truck twirls, barely one wheel ticking round.
The earth shifts on its movement beginning without warning. The flat ground gives way to peaks like something huge stirs beneath the cracked roads. Where structures once stood deep hollows now open wide dragging down whats left. Life surges forward not slowly. In sudden coils with green strands gripping fallen walls. Trunks split through concrete without warning. Petals flash hues never seen before sharp under light.
Under a hush of stars rivers twist, water climbing, lit inside by blue pulses.
A whisper runs through the soil stirring roots below. Shape shifts under morning light, slow but certain. New skin forms where cracks once opened wide.
Lanine wakes up then blinking into the light. A patch of land surrounds him thick with trees and noise. Change hums through the air like something. His breath catches once. This place should not exist.
He was falling.
Falling. It's not a choice. Light rushes past then sound crashes in followed by hues on any map. Around him everything. Maybe its just his body twisting midair. A surge rises from inside pressing against his neck. Thoughts fracture into bursts of white noise.
Something gives beneath him suddenly. Something solid meets his path next. He tumbles down sliding over rough ground until he hits a soggy patch headfirst right into a creature snapping at his nose.
"WHAT THE. "
He stumbles backward hand slashing through the air then stops, staring. A shape waits there round and soft built like a hamster if it had been dreamed up during a night full of eerie films. Fluffy fur puffs out around it. Its huge eyes gleam, wide with something that almost seems like wonder.
A row of sharp teeth lines its mouth. The opening stretches open, wide enough to swallow his head whole.
" hamster " Lanine whispers, backing away slowly on his hands and heels. "Nice friendly not-a-monster hamster. You're a hamster. You don't want to eat me. I probably taste terrible. I was in the middle of an apocalypse. Really stressful produces bad meat. "
The small creature lets out a cheerful sound before darting forward. It moves fast full of energy rushing ahead without pause. Joy seems to drive its leap into motion.
Lanines footsteps pound as he surges upward racing ahead.
The creature lunges forward stays on its feet long enough to count out a dozen heartbeats then snags a toe in its puff flips headfirst once twice vanishes into green leaves. The plant splits open like a yawn shows teeth takes the small round beast down without chewing.
Lanine keeps moving of checking what's there.
SYSTEM INITIALIZING...
WELCOME TO NEWLAND!
Wait here while your soul gets logged into forever….
REGISTRATION COMPLETE.
Your journey begins here. Welcome aboard the Cosmic Survival Initiative.
Look. Trauma happens. No complaints allowed. Money back? Not happening. Your planet? Gone. Resetting, actually. Sorry about that. The sorry part costs nothing. It also gives nothing back.
Inside his skull the sound speaks, growing where thoughts do a whisper without lips not heard but felt, like breath behind teeth.
Lanine knows. Miles stretch empty nobody near. Twisted purple trees rise where nothing moves. Underfoot blue grass glows, cracks like sugar when stepped on. The sky has three suns now though before there weren't any.
"Hey?" he asks, careful.
GREETINGS, PARTICIPANT 1,045,036,801!
"I'm sorry what?"
Your title is Lanine. Home world gone universe tag says main. Status: reset in progress.
Your status shows alive. For now that stands. Though it might shift at any moment without warning.
Tick by tick the clock moves toward day twenty-nine. Hours slip past. Twenty-three now gone. Minutes crawl down fifty-nine left. The first test waits ahead silent. Time runs short no turning back.
"Test?" Lanines voice cracks. "What test? What happened to my planet? What happened to everyone? There were. There were millions of people. "
RELOCATED.
"What?"
All living creatures, from your world now reside on Newland following the terms of the Evolution Treaty. While you were moved your home planet began its reset phase. Completion will come when the cycle ends. Then it will return, changed. This shift was not sudden. Timed with deep planetary rhythms. Life there sleeps until the surface reawakens.
A second chance comes once. Live it like you mean it.
"Two. Two lives? What does that even. "
Your pain is seen, yet still set aside. Though recognized it will not be answered. What hurts you is registered,. Nothing follows. It is acknowledged, true. Left untouched. The pain reaches ears that choose not to react. It is noticed, yes though never tended to. Your pain is seen clearly then promptly dismissed.
SUGGESTED ACTION: SURVIVE.
There are seven days left until trade and chat go live. Until that moment arrives, shouting into space remains possible. The silence was answered back already. We watched it happen. Nobody felt comfortable after that test run.
Lanine shouts,. Nothing answers Lanine.
The silence stays unbroken just like it said it would.
A stumble begins the week. Shame follows behind.
The water from the stream seems fine at glance. Upward it moves, defying what most would call gravity as if the rule never mattered. A sip hits his mouth, sharp and metallic like touching a wire with his tongue. Numbness spreads fast lasting longer than expected. Thoughts from stones fill his head without warning. Three hours pass before feeling returns. The silence feels different after that.
Lots of rocks sit around wondering about how the rocksre slowly wearing down. Erosion fascinates the rocks deeply one rock called Gerald. Gerald never misses a chance to talk about climate changes. Moisture gets on Geralds nerves. "Way too damp lately " Gerald mutters under his surface. Centuries ago dry spells lasted forever Gerald recalls. Rain did not fall as often. These younger stones have no respect for dry periods according to Gerald.
A shape stirs near Gerald. Something like a dandelion gone wild. Suddenly the shape bursts open without warning. Dust sprays across Geralds body clinging mostly to one side of Gerald. From on bugs act strange; drawn by something only the bugs sense. Geralds arm becomes the bugs target. Not danger, not hunger. Relentless attention. One after another dive toward Geralds skin with purpose. Inside a hollow Gerald waits, flicking the bugs aside each time they land. Low grumbles escape now and then. Nothing sharp. Never fear.
A growl echoes inside the space where he stands too still. Something massive covered in fur claims these walls as its own. It does not welcome visitors. Not him. The air shifts when it moves, heavy with warning. His intrusion has been noticed. There will be no exit.
He runs again.
Now it clicks. Things fit together somehow.
Achievement Unlocked: Professional Runner
Running from threats has filled Lanines day far more often than most face in years. Each sprint pushes Lanines heart stronger. Yet every escape chips away at pride a little more.
Lanines stamina goes up by one. So does Lanines self-awareness. Because the truth is, Lanine is on the menu. Best to face that.
When dusk comes. If dusk means the trio of suns sink below the horizon and the sky deepens into something like a purple wound. Lanine crouches beneath a broad slab of stone. Lanines legs ache Lanines stomach tightens with emptiness thirst scrapes Lanines throat raw and more than once Lanine has questioned whether what passed before Lanine was just fevered sight.
Something bobbing on the water might have been a mushroom. Those shrieking stones? Unlikely. What looms above Lanine now swallowing every bit of sky shaking Lanines jaw with its howl. That belongs to this world.
Lanine flattens his body into the stone whispering names of gods that come to mind. Some real others born in panic. A hush follows each plea as if silence could offer cover. Lanines breath stutters between syllables, sharp. The cold seeps through cloth grounding Lanine even as thoughts spiral. Not one name feels too strange to call out. Each voice inside Lanine begs one loud another trembling.
Maybe the Spaghetti Monster hears this. If it exists maybe it cannot see well. So maybe it will not notice Lanine hiding here. Suppose it does not exist… then perhaps it could show up anyway once long enough to help. Changing sides would not bother Lanine. A metal strainer on Lanines head? Fine. Starting some kind of group? Sure. Anything all.
The silhouette moves on.
Lanine stays awake. Fear keeps Lanine alert. Somehow Lanine carries on. Lanines body pushes through each night without rest.
Achievement Unlocked: Not Dead Yet
One night down in Newland. It turns out that already beats the odds most newcomers never clear. About seventeen in a hundred did not make it past day one. Lanine did. Good thing Lanine is still breathing.
Some healing kicks in. It barely helps truth is Lanine is still awful. Yet somehow not gasping on the floor either.
A third sun creeps above the hills while hunger claws at the gut. Berries pulse violet underfoot. Dawn does not come quietly.
For a stretch of moments Lanine just watches. Lanines eyes stay fixed on the berries shapes. Silence hangs between each breath Lanine takes. The air feels thick while Lanines gaze holds steady.
"These will either save my life or end it " Lanine tells the bush.
Here silence comes from a shrub that has zero interest in advice. This plant just sits. No teeth, no appetite, nothing to danger. A quiet relief.
Lanine eats one.
A spark of flavor hits. Sudden bright like celebration crackling on the tongue. Hair lifts, as if pulled by threads from above. Sight narrows, so fine it catches wobbles inside matter itself. Afterward stillness returns. Now flames seem oddly inviting.
"...Okay " Lanine says. "That is fine. That is normal. Berries definitely do that on planets that have not just been destroyed."
Four berries now sit in Lanines stomach after the last bite disappeared.
ITEM ACQUIRED: GLOWBERRY
Strange energy sharpens the senses for a while. Heat feels closer almost friendly. A sudden urge to watch things burn flickers in the mind. Small sparks seem exciting than before. Fire dances pull attention without reason. The body reacts before thought catches up. Moments pass like smoke. Quick, gone.
Hold on tight. This might scramble the sense of what's real. Running a bulldozer? Not a good idea now. Wondering if anything means anything? Sure dive into that rabbit hole. Actually. Dig deeper. The view gets stranger.. Weirdly amusing.
Lanines teeth keep grinding just as the haze appears.
Smoke that does not roar like a beast. Nothing erupting from cracked earth. Just the quiet trail of a campfire. Deliberate, somehow polite in its rise.
Footsteps pound as Lanine closes the distance on impulse. The air rushes past while Lanines legs move faster than thought allows.
A tiny fire flickers low tucked into a spot where two bent trees lean close. Beside that warmth curled up beneath a roof of snapped twigs and damp foliage sits a girl.
She could be around Lanines age. Perhaps a bit younger. Definitely human. Not just human. Fully clearly nothing but human. Hair the color of earth tied up loose and uneven. Cheeks smudged with grime eyes like stones. Dressed in fabric torn and faded worn down by chaos. Or something worse. Given how things went on Lanines world wreckage makes sense.
A flickering flame dances along the wood in her grip. From its tip orange light spills toward Lanines face. Her arm stays fixed aiming the burning branch at Lanine.
"Wait " she says. Voice rough, yet firm. "Just stay where you are or else. Look I did not plan what comes next.".
Lanine stops. Lanine raises his hands. "I am stopping. I am stopped. Please do not. Is that stick on fire?"
"Yes."
"Where did you get fire?"
"It took me six hours and three regrettable encounters with things that did not appreciate me rubbing sticks together." She does not lower the stick. "Who are you? What are you? Why do you look normal?"
"I am human. From a planet that just got... Destroyed? Reset? I do not know. There was this crack in the sky and then. " Lanine gestures at everything. "I think we are in the situation."
A silence stretches between them her eyes fixed on Lanines face. Stillness holds the air like weight. She does not blink once during that stretch of time.
The moment slips loose from her fingers then she drops onto the ground a laugh breaking through. Suddenly seated, weight settling, sound rising without warning. Her hand empties itself laughter spilling out after.
That laugh does not come from joy. Instead it spills out when fragile control finally breaks apart. After two days trapped inside horror a sudden shift occurs. Another presence appears. The sound escapes before thought can stop it.
"I am Rika " she says. "From a planet called Veridia.. I have no idea where I am or why I am here or what that voice in my head wants or why everything here wants to eat me or if anyone else from my world survived or. "
Lanine speaks soft-like. Across, from Rika Lanine takes a seat enough so the stick cannot reach. "Same here " is what comes out of Lanine.
Across the fire their eyes meet.
A single person from one world. Another from a place that's really different. Both are still alive after everything fell apart. There are marks on a map and the map is filled with things that are hungry secrets that are too deep to understand and rules made by forces that did not ask anyone.
She is holding a twig in her fingers now. She holds it out like she is offering it to someone
"Partners?" she says.
Lanine takes the twig from her.
"Partners " he says.
Achievement Unlocked Friendship Is Magic
Now you are with others in Newland. Working together means you have a chance to stay alive. About one-third better.
The truth is, the title means what it says. There is magic in friendship. Even real magic. We are not sure yet. We are still researching. Far we have seen it in just two cases.
A huge shape makes a noise in the distance.
Rika feels a run through her. Something inside Lanine shouts that they should run away hide in the dirt and stay there.
He does not move.
Neither does she.
They stand back to back watching the fire for what might happen next. They are still as the smoke curls up into the air and each moment becomes longer.
They do not know where they are.
They are not sure what made them special.
They do not know what the "test" is about.
Deep down they know one thing. What matters now is clear even, in the chaos of Newland.
They do not want to be alone when it ends. Most people want someone when its all over.