Chapter 2. First entry.

Chapter 2. First entry.

14. October 2010.

Getolium, Dmitry Sokolovs apartment.

Dear diary!

 

It has been three days now, since I ended up dead in hell. This is a very strange place. I have never though, that I will even open you, by the way. However, there is nothing better to do here, so… thus my writings begin.

As Marcus promised, he sent me all the information I needed to know. The iclaw, which I received in a very unpleasant way, allows Arena fighters to survive. It is our inventory, status tracker and the only way to purchase anything during fights.

He also wrote me, that I would receive a notification as soon as my first scheduled fight comes in. Which, to be honest, I really look forward to. Waiting is just too impossible for me to handle.

The hell itself divided into seven circles. Getolium is the first one. With every victory, Arena fighters move upwards. Large walls separate all circles. From your current position, you can see lower circles, but cannot the higher ones. Somehow, I feel that it is useful. At least, it adds some additional reasons to fight through the s**t I have stepped in. In addition, Marcus wrote, “you should never go to the red zones”, whatever that meant. Well, most likely he meant that I should not visit upper circles without permission. Map of the city of hell is also located in our iclaws. There we can see our current position and “colored zones”.

 

Dmitry has put the pen away and turned. The door opened and a blonde woman in a black corset and breeches came in with a broom and a bucket of water. As soon as she noticed, that Dmitry was looking at her, she nodded and started sweeping the floor.

- A bit early today, Melissa, - he smiled and closed his diary. Afterwards, he put it in his desk and stood up from the chair, lazily stretching.

- Shut it, Phoenix, - she responded, but a small grin appeared on her face. �" What, still no news from the Commentator?

- Nope, how did you know? �" yawned and asked Dmitry.

- Well, usually it is the first thing I hear, - stopped sweeping Melissa and leaned on her broom. �" “Oh, Melissa, guess what! My first fight will begin soon! Ha-ha, cannot wait to kick some balls, I am so awesome!” Those darned retarded douchebags. As I visit them for the next time, all I can hear �" is sobbing about, how lousy it went.

- I think you will be the last person, whom I will tell about upcoming fights then, - sneered Dmitry and lay down on his bed.

- Wise of you, newbie, - acknowledged Melissa and carried on with her floor sweeping action. �" Say, Phoenix, do you fancy for an evening?

- Why do you ask? �" counter questioned Dmitry and turned his head towards the woman.

For a moment, she stopped mopping and frowned a little. Sometime later, a small grin appeared on her face and she carried on with her work.

- There is a nice pub in Getolium, - she finally answered. �" I could give you directions, how to reach it, if you want to have a good time. Anyways, you have to satisfy your needs. Therefore, that might cover up some of them for you.

- Oh, I though you wanted to ask me out on a date, - smiled Dmitry and turned his head back to the ceiling.

- If you want to, - Melissa shrugged. �" How long has it been? Three days, since you died and you still have not even went for a walk further, than this neighborhood.

- Wait, how do you know that? �" Dmitry frowned and looked at Melissa.

- Hey, I clean s**t after all of you mighty fighters, - she laughed. �" I get to see much more, than any dead soul around, Phoenix.

- Fair enough, - Dmitry sighted and put one leg on another. �" Well, would be nice to have someone around, if I get to go there.

- Then it is settled, - Melissa nodded and made her mop disappear with her iclaw. �" I will pick you up as soon as I am done with work.

- Cannot wait, - Dmitry rolled his eyes and turned away from Melissa.

For a moment, Melissa opened her mouth, but then just closed it and shook her head. Since they have met three days ago, Phoenix made an impression of a very quiet and enclosed fighter. Now, when he agreed so fast to go out with her, made Melissa just a little, but still happy.

Without saying anything, she bowed and went out of the room, shutting the door behind her. As soon as she was gone, Dmitry stood up, went back to the table, and took out his diary. His writing was unfinished because of the importunate housekeeper, so he wanted to make the best of the time that he had.

 

In addition, those iclaw things can allow us to activate and deactivate mutations, items of everyday use and even communicate with each other. Somehow, they remind me of mobile phones, but with additional functions. However, I am still curious about the Arena. Most of the functions I have seen so far in my iclaw are gray and closed. Maybe they will open after winning fights. Who knows?

This Melissa girl… there is just something wrong about her. I cannot tell by now, but something dark and cold lives within her… maybe I am just thinking that out. However, after meeting Adderly and Marcus, I do not believe, that anyone here should be trusted. Reminds me of the world I used to live in somehow.

 

For a moment, Dmitry put away the pen and looked at his iclaw that made a horrible sound of received message. As soon as he opened the lid, he saw the screen that was blinking with bright light. A message came from Melissa for him to be ready in half an hour.

After typing a simple “K”, he closed the lid and carried on with writing.

 

Still, there is hope that I will get to fight eventually. Maybe I should get drunk and find me a punching bag for the evening? Sounds like a rather nice idea, though. Who knows, maybe I should do that?

Well, I suppose I will stop writing for now. Thank you for listening. Thus, I say my goodbyes to you, dear diary. Until we meet again. Sincerely yours, Phoenix.

 

He closed the notebook and looked at the time on iclaw. By now, he had around forty minutes until Melissa will be back.

Without any doubts, he put his diary, pen back into the desk, and lay down on the bed. From his past days of being a living, breathing soul, he remember, how well time flies in bars and pubs. Therefore, he considered taking a small nap, while he has some time for it.

Some thoughts flew on his mind. Maybe, Melissa was right at her proposal of going out. He spent three days looking up all the manuals he could find about hell, iclaws and even optional things, like mutations and communication features. His head filled with new information now and with every moment, this whole idea of taking a small break felt better and better. Eventually, Dmitry closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Author's Note

Rather small chapter. I'm just a bit lazy and, well, "the date" itself will take a lot more text, so I won't be able to fuse those two chapters together... Anywho, (me) <- this guy hopes, that you enjoy it :). Still haven't figured out how to prevent dashed from becoming quote marks, but I'm working on it :D. Toodles :D.