Arcadia: Credence

Prologue: There they go.

Hunter's lips repetitively kissed the end of his pencil between his fingers, sitting alone in a dingy room. Atop his unimpressive desk was an unfurled blueprint, documents and a lamp with a neglected bulb that continuously blinked. His mind struggled to brainstorm from the sleep deprivation and the accumulating body odor from weeks without a shower.

This was an ongoing cycle. It was never going to end, he felt. He wished it would end, but the universe never answered his plea in the past. Why would it now? His eyes traveled around his desk, meeting the glances of two red-haired women, and himself. Those eyes judged him harshly for the way he was feeling. Next to that picture frame lay a gun on its side and a single standing bullet to accompany it. Guilt washed over him, and he needed to shake it off.

He let out a groan. Dropping his pencil and rubbing his face, Hunter rolled his chair back and stood up from his desk. He nearly tipped over to one side from his imbalance. He supposed malnutrition was also a factor.

The door across from him clicked, and light began to seep in through the crack. A young lady in a white lab coat peered her head in.

"Mr. Reed?" The lady chimed.

"Yes, Olivia?" He murmured.

"Those officials from the government are here to observe Yggdrasil."

"You mean the Science Office?" He questioned, standing in front of his desk now to obfuscate the firearm.

"I do, yes."

"Tell em' I'll be out in just a sec'." Hunter told her.

She nodded her head, shutting the door.

Hunter glided around the table to hide the gun in the drawer of his desk. Tucking his shirt in and fixing his long golden hair, he plodded across the room. Opening the door to a busy observation room revealed several men in suits forming a half circle around the young lady. To the left of Hunter outside the glass pane windows was a massive empty space, and a round wide structure that looked vaguely like an empty gateway at the end of it.

"Evening Mr. Reed." Greeted one of them.

"Evening."

The rest greeted him in unison.

Hunter cringed at the formality.

"We are incredibly intrigued by your machine. We were told you can create universes?" One directly questioned. 

"Whoever told you was correct."

"Perfect. We already understand that you are recently sponsored by our institution for this project, However we would like to see it in action." Another one stated.

"I am aware." He stated, almost visibly annoyed.

Hunter viewed them as vaguely human, all acting the same. It's as if they had no identity. The only difference he understood were the voices.

"We will prepare for your demonstration." One announced.

"Now?"

"Yes. Now." Another responded.

Hunter grated his teeth, motioning the workers at the control panels to activate the device. The large structure whirred to life.

"The Yggdrasil is a machine that is capable of creation on a universal scale. We call this process cosmogenesis. All it needs is a prompt. As this happens, it will create a gateway to access it." Hunter announced.  "We'll open a gateway to one we already have available to us." He added.

The group of men murmured amongst themselves.

"My question is, what do you plan on doing with this technology?" Hunter interrogated.