I, The Anomalous God

Chapter 1 Vortex Corp

“Mom, I’m leaving!” he calls out as he grabs his bag and walks out of their house.

“Be safe and don’t be late for supper!” his mom hollered back from the kitchen.

He took out a wireless headphone from his bag. He wore it on his neck and listened to some reggaeton music from his phone while walking on the sidewalk. “Yo, Dj John! Wazzup, man?” Tommy called as he passed by his front porch.

“Same old, same old!” he replied.

“Where ya' goin'?” Tommy asked.

“I got a job!” he said which threw Tommy into a fit of a laugh, “What?”

“Hahaha! You have a job!? You?” he pointed at him. John was annoyed.

 “I could have a job if I wanted to!” he thought then he said to Tommy, “Seriously, man! I am a responsible young man, you know!” he was not bragging, he thought he is a responsible and honest man!

“Pfft… Bahahaha!” Tommy laughed so hard when heard the young man. John shrugged and left annoyed at his neighbor.

John Arcala is an average 17-year-old, Filipino guy. He is 5 feet, 7 inches tall man, with a clean-cut brownish-black hair.  He likes to listen to rap and reggaeton music and eat all kinds of food. His food motto is “If it can’t kill you then it is food!” John is very ordinary that he never stands out in a crowd. He never had a girlfriend, but he had a girl-best-friend, though. Unfortunately, she went abroad, and they never saw each other again.

An interesting thing about him though is his deep-blue eyes which is ultra-rare for a pure-blooded Filipino. Some of his classmates and schoolmates during his grade school days and until his university days tease him because of it. They would call him “Anak ng Engkanto!” which means he is the son of a nature spirit. It sounded kind of cool if you think about it, but to John, it made his student life hell.

He once asked his parents about it. “It is God’s gift!” his mother would always say. Sometimes, he thinks he is adopted, but time and time, his parents told him he is not, and he is truly their flesh and blood. In time, he gradually just accepted it.

He studies to become a teacher in a university in Zamboanga City. During his summer, an acquaintance of his offered him for a part-time job at Vortex Corp which he readily accepted. It is an international company which is responsible for the most advance technologies around the world.

He heard on the news that on May 15, 2145, a new project will be launched and one of the test branches of the company is in Zamboanga City. So, when his friend offered him a part-time job during that important event, he accepted without further questions.

John took a bus. “How is this project going to help the world, Miss Aika?” he heard the newscaster on the tv inside the bus.

“Oh, it’s Ms. Aika!” he whispered.

“This project, if successful, will be the new trend in traveling across countries!” she said.

“Wow! Bold words! But is teleportation, really, safe?” the newscaster asked. Ms. Aika smiled at him.

“Teleportation! Amazing!” John beamed.

Yes, the project at Vortex Corp is teleportation. For many years, scientists tried to discover this amazing phenomenon. And finally, Vortex Corp discovered how to do it.

“It is safe! We will be launching our first cross country trial later. Please do watch out for it.” She said.

“Yep, I will be watching! I will be watching front row!”  John excitedly said.

Minutes later, he arrived at the company. The Vortex Corp building is one of the tallest building in Zamboanga City, having more than a hundred floors. He ran towards the entrance, flashing his ID card to the guard.

“Don’t run in there!” The guard warned. “Tsk, kids!”

“Sorry!” John answered and he walked.  He rode the elevator with other people. “80th floor please!” he said to the man next to the elevator buttons.

“First time working here?” the man asked when he noticed John.

“Yes! I-I am part timer!” he answered.

“Oh, you are lucky! Today will be the cross-country trial of the Vortex.” He said.

“Hehe! I really am lucky! I am so excited to work there. I will be watching the launching of the first teleportation device in the world, up front!” he beamed.

“Hahaha! Good for you kid. Anyway, this is my floor.” The man said and stepped out of the elevator.

After several minutes, he finally arrived at the 80th floor. He looked around and he was awestruck. There were many people in white coats running around the floor. There are so many devices around the corner. At the center of the floor, inside an enclosed fiber glass room was the teleportation device called Vortex.

“Wow!” he said in wonder.

“John!” someone called. “You’re here! Come with me!” It was his friend.

“Oh, hi, Mack! This is amazing, man!” he exclaimed.

“I know! Come one, we have work to do.” Mack said.

“Oh, yeah, yeah! What do I have to do?” John said enthusiastically.

Mack brought John to one of the people wearing with lab coats. “Sir, this is John. He will be working under you part time.” Mack said.

“Oh, good. I need you to carry those in there!” The man immediately ordered John.

“Sure!” John wink at Mack and got the large boxes. “Ooh, it’s heavy!”

“Careful! Those are important parts for the Vortex!” The man said a bit worried.

John placed them on the cart and pushed towards the enclosed room. “Do your best, John! I will be there if you need help!” Mack said and left.

The people in the room spent hours assembling the giant device. After so many hours, the device was assembled. It was already 6 o’clock in the evening.

“Ring! Ring!” John’s phone rang. “Hey, mom!”

“When are you coming home? I told you not to be late for supper!” his mom said angrily on the phone.

“I told you, I have a part time job! I am still working!” he said.

“What? That was true? Really?” his mom sounded doubtful.

“Yeah, mom. Turn on the tv! Vortex Corp will be all over the news. I am working part time here!” he said.

“Oh, wow! Then, take your time, son! Don’t forget to eat!” she reminded and stopped the call.

=============================

“Is everything alright?” ask a man in a blue suit.

“Everything is green, sir!” replied one of the men in lab coats.

“Alright, has the American team contacted yet?” he asked.

“Not yet sir.” The man in the lab coat replied.

“Go, make sure everything is fine. Nothing wrong must happen during the trial.” He said icily. The men in lab coat hurriedly went their way.

==================================

Around the world, Vortex Corp was all on the news. “Vortex Corp will launch the world’s first teleportation device! Everyone in the world is excited!” said a newscaster.

“We are now waiting for Ms. Aika to come!” said another reporter in front of the Vortex Corp building in America.

After a while, a black VC120, Vortex Corp’s most advance and expensive car, arrive in front of the building. A beautiful Asian woman exited the car. Cameras immediately flashed all around and the reporters swarmed over.

Men in black immediately cordoned the area, so, none of the reporters managed to come closer to the beautiful Asian woman.

“Ms. Aika, a word please!” called one of the reporters. “What can you say about the protest against your Vortex project?”

“Ms. Aika, will be safe to make your trial of the Vortex project in the middle of the city? Some scientist groups condemned that if it fails it may cause a black hole! What can you say about this?” another reporter chimed in.

“Ms. Aika!” Other reporters called out, but the beautiful Asian woman continued walking until she disappeared into the building.

All the people in the building bowed to her as she walked by. She was like a queen. “How is everything?” she asked the middle-aged man who approached her.

“Everything is excellent, miss!” he answered. “The board and other guests are already waiting for you, miss.” He informed.

“Good!” she boarded the elevator. Instead of going up, the elevator started to go down. After several minutes, the elevator stopped. It opened and few men in suits welcomed the Asian woman.

She was escorted into a room. Inside are several people. There are some high-ranked official too. “Ms. Aika!” greeted them.

“Hello, please, sit down everyone. I am sorry for arriving late.” She said.

“Your Vortex project will be a major turning point in our society!” said one of the old men in luxurious suit.

“You must first assure us of its safety! If it proves dangerous to the interest of the nation. We will take it down along with you.” Said one of the generals.

“Hm!” she smiled and said, “No need to worry, General. Everything is fine. It is totally safe. And my interest is also the government’s interest.” She said.

“Good!” the General said, and the others nodded.

“Let us start the trial!” she commanded.

“Yes, ma’am!” one of the men in lab coats answered her through the speaker phone. “Signal all receiving trial countries to prep the Vortex!” he ordered.

====================================

In Vortex Corp, Zamboanga branch, “Signal is on! Prep the vortex!” called one of the men in the comms.

The men promptly worked their way on the device. “You pull that cart over here!” ordered one of them to John.

“Yes, sir!” he hurriedly pushed the cart towards the man. “Plug this cable to the Vortex!” the man ordered the other people. “You stay back, your job is done here, go out!” the man said to John.

John went of the sealed room. He went into the viewing area, there he found his friend, Mack. “Mack!” he called.

“This will be phenomenal!” Mack beamed. The two guys chatted excitedly when the devices connected to the Vortex started whirring.

“Oh, it’s coming on!” Mack said. Then the large screens in the viewing area turned on. The beautiful Asian woman appeared. The same happened in the large viewing screens outside the building.

=======================================

“Hello, I am Aika Sakaguchi, CEO of Vortex Corp. For many years, brilliant minds all over the world invented and discovered revolutionary technologies that made our lives comfortable. Today, marks another step towards evolution and success!

Many of you have seen the movies using teleportation device, men having teleportation abilities! Everyone must have thought all of it are just fiction. But, today, Vortex Corp will show that teleportation is not mere fiction! We have created Vortex!” she announced worldwide.

“Vortex is a technological advancement of the millennium! By creating a dimensional tunnel, we can travel across the world in mere seconds or minutes!” she added. “Many have asked, “Is it safe?”. I assure you; it is perfectly safe! To prove you that, I and some of my colleagues will be the one to try Vortex and travel cross-country in mere seconds. We have installed Vortexes in selected branches around the world and we will visit them all today using Vortex.” She informed.

When people heard her around the globe, they had different reactions. Some screamed out in glee, some condemned her, some even cursed and spat threatening words against her.

The Chief Scientist ordered his assistants when he heard the CEO finished her speech, “Start the Vortex!”

“Initializing sequence…” one of the tech guys responded.

“Brazil, Vortex initiated.” Said another one clicking some buttons on his keyboard. The other tech personnel followed suit and announced.

“France, Vortex initiated.”

“Moscow, Vortex initiated.”

“Japan, Vortex initiated.”

“China, Vortex initiated.”

“India, Vortex initiated.”

“Iceland, Vortex initiated.”

“Philippines, Vortex initiated.”

“Canada, Vortex initiated.”

And many more tech personnel announced the initiation of the Vortexes around the world.

“Prepare to launch dimensional drill!” the chief scientist ordered.

“Dimensional drill ready for launch!” the tech person assigned to it informed. “Launching in 3, 2, 1… Dimensional drill launched. Drilling…” he added. Booming sounds can be heard from the Vortex along a whirring sound.

“Initiate Dimension stabilizer!” he ordered next. The tech personnel assigned announced its initiation. Another boom was heard, and a shining silver light started to appear inside the Vortex.

“Dimension is open and stable!” announced one of the tech personnel assigned to monitor the status of the Vortex.

“Alright, set coordinates…” The Chief Scientist then glanced at the CEO.

“I will visit France, first!” she said casually.

The Chief Scientist nodded and ordered, “Set coordinates to France Vortex!”

“Aye, sir!” the tech personnel said and type in the coordinates on his computer. “Coordinates set. Ready for transport, sir!”

The Vortex in France started to whir into action. A silver light appeared inside and started to swirl.

The beautiful CEO walked into the sealed room. She went towards the Vortex. “Everyone, I will now travel to France!” she said and then walked into the Vortex.

In Paris, France, many people were waiting for the beautiful CEO to appear on their side. And not long after she walked into the Vortex from America, she came out from the Vortex in France, safe and sound.

“Ms. Aika est vraiment apparue!” said the French reporters who saw the beautiful CEO appeared in their country.

Back in America and other parts of the world, people were also surprised and excited when the beautiful CEO appeared in France in mere seconds.

“Set the next coordinates.” She ordered.

“Set!” the tech personnel informed.

After she heard the tech personnel, she walked into the Vortex again and appeared in Brazil. All countries with the Vortex machine were visited by her in mere seconds interval.

“One more visit.” She said to live television. The world clamored at her achievement. Her technology is, truly, revolutionary!

“She is coming here!” John whispered.

The Vortex in Zamboanga branch started whirring. Similar light started to shine inside the device, swirling like whirlpool.

She walked into the Vortex and in seconds, she appeared in Zamboanga, Vortex Corp branch. People clapped their hands and cheered.

“Welcome to Zamboanga Branch, miss!” The Branch Supervisor approached her.

“Good work, Fernand!” She said. “Set the coordinates back to America.” She ordered. The tech personnel immediately followed. “Coordinates set, miss!”

The Vortex started whirring and the familiar silver light started swirling. When she was about to enter the Vortex, a massive quake suddenly shook the building. “Earthquake!” someone shouted.

The connecting wires of the machines started to spark as it was shaken by the quake. “Oh no!” John muttered.

“Get down, John!” Mack screamed.

All the people in the world witness what is happening in the Zamboanga Branch of Vortex Corp. “A report just came in; Zamboanga City has been struck by a 9.2 magnitude earthquake! A calamity has struck the city!” reporters all over the world said.

Some haters screamed at the top of their lungs, “Heaven’s wrath! A punishment for the blasphemous woman!”

“It is karma! Playing god when you are just mere mortal! Poor city!”

“Miss, get down. We have to take you to safety!” Said the supervisor. The beautiful Asian woman followed him slowly. People started crawling, finding balance while the building was extremely shaking. Glasses broke, and the floors started to c***k.

“Oh my God! We have to get out of the building!” someone screamed and hurriedly went towards the stairs. People were frantically running and stumbling towards the stairs. Some are, sadly, pushed of the rails and fell to their death, some were stomped to death during the stampede.

“The Vortex is destabilizing!” some tech personnel who decided to stay and try to shut down the device yelled.

“Shut it down!” said another. Suddenly, explosions happened inside the building. Some of the machines were squashed by falling debris. John crawled slowly towards the stairs, he made sure he was against the walls, so people will not hit him during their panic escape. Mack was nowhere to be found. “Oh s**t, s**t, s**t!” he muttered.

“I can’t turn it off!” one of the tech personnel left behind shouted. “It is going to implode! Run!” the floor was still shaking when he decided to leave. The floor finally cracked and split. Many people fell and died. Strangely, though, the Vortex device did not fall, instead, it floated in the air.

The scientists who saw the broadcast shot from the air reacted, “Oh no! It is becoming into a black hole!”

The Vortex device hummed as a weird energy started to pulsate from it. Debris started to float in the air as well as some people who were unlucky enough to be there at the high floors of the building.

“AH!” screams were heard as people did not know what is going on. First, an earthquake and now, they are mysteriously floating in the air. John was one of the unlucky people.

Then, the Vortex suddenly hummed, and an invisible wave emerged from it. “Ahh!” Someone screamed. The woman was suddenly floating towards the vortex. Not just her, but other debris were also coming towards the vortex.

“Oh my God! It appears the Vortex device turned into a black hole and is sucking everything!” The reporter on the helicopter reported.

Beeping sounds blared on the helicopter and it shook so hard. “We have to get out of here! That thing is also sucking us in!” The pilot screamed.

“I am going to die!” was what John was thinking. He thought many things at that moment. He thought about his mom. She must be so worried. She will be left alone now if he dies.

“Mom! I am sorry! I love you!” He shouted. “Ahhh!” John was also sucked inside the vortex.

================================

Inside the vortex, everything was dark. There was no light or sound. There was no air too. John struggled. He was still alive, fortunately. But not for long, he was out of breath.

“F*ck!” He cursed. He cannot see anything and worse, he cannot breathe.

“Oh? You are alive?” he suddenly heard.

“Who is there?” he thought. He cannot speak and even if he wanted to, there was no sound coming out. He coughed. He no longer cannot hold out. He was choking.

“Do you want to live?” the voice he heard sounded again and asked.

“What? Of course, I want to live! Who is talking? Where are you?” he thought.

“I can save you, but you must do something for me in return!” the voice said.

“Anything! I will do anything! Please, save me, if you can!” John plead in his thought. He was not sure how the voice was hearing him. He thought maybe God is talking to him or maybe the devil. In any case, his only thought was to survive.

“Good. Will you sign this contract, then?” the voice said.

“What? What contract?” John wondered. He coughed again but still no sound came out. He looked at his trembling hand and there was blood. He was coughing out blood. His chest hurt, his limbs felt cold and numb.

“Can you please hurry up and sign? Do you want to die?” The voice said.

“I cannot see anything! Where’s the f*cking contract?” John screamed in his mind. He was dying and he can feel it.

“Oh, how stupid of me. Sorry!” the voice said. “Just say “Yes!” in your mind and the contract will be signed.” It said.

John immediately complied, “YES!” he screamed in his mind and finally fell unconscious.