"Have they given their consent?" asked the man in the suit.
"One of them hasn't—"
"Mrs. Brown, the higher-ups suggested that we call a Bright in to wipe their memories, yet you refused."
Sitting across from the caretaker of this house of rejects, the man sighed. His hands blurred as he flicked open the documents that had been on the desk.
"One sensory, and one elemental," he clicked his tongue. "They're awakened, nonetheless."
He slapped the documents back on the desk.
"We can't allow any more rogues roaming free on the streets now, can we?"
For a moment Mrs. Brown just stared at him with a slight frown until she opened her mouth,
"…yet"
This caused the agent to smile.
"First of all, they're still young. They won't even remember when they're older. And second, they may be younger than expected, but we still need their consent."
"So why not just sign them up somehow?"
"I can't do that to them. Much less break the law." She shook her head.
"I'll talk to them and get back to you. They still have a couple more weeks before next batch," drawing the documents closer she smiled. "Is there any other matter you wanted to discuss?
If there isn't, I believe we're done here."
The agent stared at the caretaker for a moment and then smiled.
"You know, just because your spouse was someone useful once in the past doesn't mean you can do as you like, Miss Caretaker." He finished as he took his exit.
…
I've always liked extras.
I liked them, because I knew I would always be an extra in this world.
And that was okay, because I knew I'd always be the main character in my own little world.
Did you know?
Extras are the ones who make all stories interesting.
They were the ones who made our blood rush whenever the protagonists wanted to wow us with their abilities and accomplishments.
They were the obsessed elders who shared wisdom with our protagonists when they were lost.
The cannon fodder who fought alongside the protagonists for a greater cause. And the ones who sacrificed themselves for everyone to understand the stakes.
They were the 'bad people' our protagonists had to encounter, leave, or defeat for character development.
Every good show deserves an audience.
But the audience were never the readers.
They were the extras.
The Footnotes of the Story.
Purely present to fill up space or give third person commentary—yet, they gave that space meaning.
They made a mundane story, extraordinary.
…We will all be extras in this world—footnotes, in the grand history of the universe.
But we can at least be the protagonist of our own story.
I wanted to be the main character of my own story so much,
To live on my own terms—to be in control of my own life.
I just never knew it would be this hard to be the protagonist of my own story.
"No"
I gave my final answer,
"I'm sorry, but…
…I want to awaken myself," I finished with a self-deprecating smile.
I knew living in their world required me to submit myself to their own rules. But to me, it felt much worse.
I don't want to be an extra in my own story.
And I hated that the most.
"Are you afraid of the surgery?" Sitting across from me Mrs. Brown asked with her eyebrows furrowed.
"No"
Then her face suddenly became serious.
"Did anybody tell you anything strange about the surgery"
"No"
Mrs. Brown stared at me for a moment.
"So, what's the issue?" She sighed
"Thomas. You can't survive on your own. Life doesn't work that way." Her brows furrowing even deeper. "What exactly do you want to achieve by refusing?
We've given you everything. The chance to survive—to become a respectable member of society yet you want to forfeit all that, and for what? Because you want to be special?!"
"Yes, ma'am. I do" I responded, a little shaken up.
No one spoke after that.
She just stared at me while I did my best not to make eye contact.
After a while she sighed.
"Alright then, you can close the door on your way out, Thomas." She said as she began looking through the documents on her desk, probably done wasting any more of her time on me.
I sighed silently and stood by placed my hands on her desk to push my chair back.
Just as I was about to close the door her voice sounded from behind it
"Please tell Ray to see me soon"
"Okay."
I nodded subconsciously and closed the door.
After a few moments Mrs. Brown paused with a sigh.
Staring at the door for a moment, she looked down at her desk.
"Eva, did you get his prints?"
A soothing voice, devoid of emotion, resounded from somewhere under the desk"
{Yes Mrs. Brown. My scanners also detected traces of essence on his skin. Shall I proceed?}
"Essence? But his spark is still dormant." Her eyebrows furrowed.
"It is most likely a side effect that causes him to release it subconsciously. Do you want me to come up with further scenarios why this may have occurred or should I proceed with the documents?"
After a pause, she focused back on the papers in her hands.
"Proceed with the documents please."
…
...
The room was small and utilitarian, built for function rather than comfort. Two metal-framed beds sat opposite each other, their thin mattresses slightly sunken in the middle, as if shaped by years of restless sleep.
A pair of wooden desks stood beneath the window, their surfaces scarred with shallow scratches, ink stains, and the faint outlines of old carvings that had been sanded down but never fully erased.
Bags and toys lay half-hidden under the beds, turning the simple interior—desks, wardrobes, beds—into a cluttered little jungle.
No one was home.
'Maybe they went to the arcade again'
Looking around one more time I turned to leave when my eyes caught a multi-colored cube partially in the bag under Ray's bed.
'Oh? I didn't know he had this'
It had been so long since I saw a Rubix cube.
"I couldn't even solve one side in my past life, haha'
Walking up to the bag, I picked it up by its side. Its contents spilled onto the floor from the other side.
"Sigh"
I knelt and hurriedly picked up the books and put them back in the bag. As I set the bag down and turned to pick up the cube I paused.
There was a smooth and polished black ball under the bed.
It smelled faintly of metal and something new.
'That wasn't there before. Maybe it fell from his bag'
As I stretched to pick up the ball I paused again.
'Wait, isn't this just a black box scenario? What if it's a forbidden artifact that the entire world will be after me for? What if it's a dragon's egg or an evil primordial sorcerer's magic ball or something? Extra's Rule No. 1: An extra should never touch something that looks fishy or forbidden.'
My enhanced eyes caught tiny contours running throughout its body like a 3D jigsaw puzzle.
'I don't think I should be able to see atomic bonds,' now I was more confident I shouldn't touch it.
Pshh
I scoffed, 'it's just a ball. Probably just another one of his toys. What is wrong with me, thinking about dragons and whatnot.'
I shook my head and stretched to grab hold of it. But the moment I touched the ball. It lit up.
Then came the pain.
AAARRGGGHHHHH!