T'was the year 2605 AD. It was a normal day in the slums of San Francisco. Another shady creature emerged from the depths of despair and decided to take their chance with life once again.
When the creature emerged into the light, one could see that it was only an extremely ruffled and dirtied teen. This teen was Anthony Nguyen.
Anthony Nguyen was your average teen. He didn't excel academically and was rather moderate when it came to athletics. Alas, the modern age of technology and the removal of all menial labor jobs meant that he was destined for the streets of San Francisco.
He was doing quite well. Anthony had met a group of friends. They composed of two other boys and one girl. They were best friends and were dumpster diving buddies. After a hard day of work, they would meet up at their usual place behind the Glados Diner and share their goodies. Everyone would bring their fair share of goods and share.
Sometimes one wouldn't get any or very little and they would make up for that by doubling the efforts the next day. All in all, Anthony thought that his life wasn't too bad. At least they weren't living in the refugee camps.
The recent political tensions had caused a full-blown war to occur between Europe's major powers and Russia and China. The media had scrambled to release the news to the public in time, but the public had already found out. Many of the U.S. population living on the West Coast had Asian refugees coming in antique gasoline powered boats. A fence had been set up to control immigration and prevent any terrorism.
The skepticism of all Asians caused riots and revolts to be a common occurrence in the streets of major cities. The U.S. kept a neutral stance officially, but secretly supplied both sides, racking in a huge profit.
Of course, Anthony was only a kid from the slums. He didn't really care much about the world around him. But recently he did, a few of the Asian refugees would sneak out of the camp and go dumpster diving for scraps, causing the availability of the food supply to go down. He had to work quickly or the competition would make it impossible for him to get a meal tonight.
Anthony looked around for any cops before slinking into the back alley of a major nutrients drink supplier. He looked around once more this time looking for any employees. Seeing that the coast was clear, he opened the lid carefully.
"Jackpot!"
He whispered to himself. He had gotten so excited that he almost yelled in delight. Luckily, he had caught himself before he got himself caught.
Despite this being one of the major suppliers, it wasn't a popular spot. One being that it was private property and one could face major charges in court if they were found there.
But of course, desperate times called for desperate measures. Anthony felt that he had made a good call this time. He found the dumpster to be filled to the brim with nutrients drinks. There was even an A grade nutrients drink in there!
Before he could even lay a hand on one of the drinks, Anthony could hear shuffling feet as a pair ducked into the alleyway. One look at their face and Anthony could tell that it was the Asian refugees. His face turned ugly. If he was caught with them, the cops would mistake him for one of them for sure!
"Easy fellas. We all want a part of the loot. How about we split it?"
Anthony smiled nervously as he tried to negotiate with the two Asian men. One of them was tall and buff while the other was short and skinny. He didn't want to get into trouble and there was enough to go around. He could even see a sheath for a knife below the cloak of the big guy.
The two Asian men agreed to split it 70 - 30. 30 for Anthony and 70 for them. Anthony winced inwardly but outwardly nodded his head. They quickly divided the drinks and both parties went their separate ways.
Surprisingly enough, they had left him the A grade drink! Anthony was extremely excited. He couldn't wait to show this off as he chugged it down with his friends. He checked the expiration date to make sure it was okay. It was only 1 day off so it was still safe to drink for another week or so. Why did they leave such a valuable drink behind? Anthony shrugged and continued to pack the loot.
Anthony slipped into the shadows and followed the roads and alleyways to the Glados Diner without any problems. An hour of waiting later, the four friends had gathered and shared their loot.
"Haha! I probably got the best loot today! I got 10 whole C rank nutrient drinks!"
Kun Kim smiled broadly as he showcased his wide variety of goods.
"I have 13! I beat you."
Ba Gao laughed loudly as Kun Kim's expression turned to one of awe and adoration.
"I have 16..."
Zhao Chun said shyly. She wasn't exactly the talkative type. The two boys turned towards Zhao Chun and started to ask her if she would marry them. She started to blush a scarlet red and quickly retreated into the corner, throwing a few glances towards Anthony as a plea for help.
Anthony started to laugh as he watched the comedic situation play out before his eyes. The three turned towards Anthony and looked at him strangely.
"What are you laughing at? You couldn't have done better than 16 C-rank drinks!"
Ba Gao said mockingly. Anthony smiled evilly, causing Ba Gao's confidence to be shattered immediately.
"You're telling me that you did?!"
Ba Gao and Kun Kim both exclaimed at the same time. Even Zhao Chun had a surprised expression on her face and had unconsciously moved closer. Despite Anthony being the unofficial leader of the group, he was usually the one who found the least.
Anthony would take the most risks and would usually get nothing or a little bit. His contribution rate to the group fluctuated even more than stock market graphs.
"I got an A-rank fluid! We're going to live the life tonight!"
The four celebrated and Anthony enjoyed a taste of adoration and the rich life. The other three would cater to his needs, as long as they weren't too ridiculous. They drank some of the nutrient drinks and hid the rest into their stash.
"All right guys. Are you ready to see what a B-rank nutrient drink tastes like?"
Anthony grinned wildly. He had never felt so accomplished in his life! The four cheered and they unscrewed lid off the A-rank nutrient drink. They brought out special plastic cups that they had obtained from a samples tray and poured out the drink equally.
"Cheers!"
They all clinked their cups together and took a big gulp. They felt the pleasant feeling of a high ranking nutrient drink. They all congratulated each other for the great day before they started to clean up.
Suddenly, Anthony's throat started to clench. He started to have trouble breathing and collapsed to the floor, wheezing.
Ba Gao and Kun Kim rushed over, trying to help, by then Anthony had lost his vision. A few moments later, all four of the group were on the floor wheezing.
How could I forget that you can't ever drink a nutrient drink that is two grades or more above what you usually drink?
Those were the last thoughts that went through Anthony's head before he left his world. He didn't know it, but his friends followed shortly after.
Anthony suddenly found himself in an extremely white room. Everything was white. The chairs, the tables, even the fake plants were white!
"Where am I?"
He asked himself.
"Hi! Welcome to Heaven, how may I help you?"
Anthony jumped in surprise. He turned around to find an old man with a white beard dressed in white clothing walk up to him.
"This is Heaven?"
"Yes. And I'm god! Or at least one of the gods. I'm the one that manages the reincarnation services."
Anthony looked around him. Heaven wasn't exactly what he expected it to be. He expected it to be more flashy and full of winged angels and golden palaces. Not for it to be a white office from the 21st Century. Yes, he studies history.
"You said that you manage the reincarnation services?"
The god started to beam with happiness.
"I'm glad you asked. Yes! I do run the reincarnation services. Would you like to reincarnate?"
"I definitely would."
"Great! I'll do it now!"
"Wait!"
"What is it?"
The god looked at him quizzically. A malicious expression flickered across Anthony's face as he thought of something that he considered as quite the good prank.
"Could you reincarnate my friends too? I know they're still alive, but I would like some companions to accompany me into a new world. You know?"
"Sure, no problem! They're already dead by the way. You all died the same way."
Damn it! I forgot that they would also experience the same symptoms!
Anthony inwardly facepalmed and flushed red with embarrassment. His friends quickly appeared beside him out of thin air. The god informed them of Anthony's decision, conveniently leaving out the part that he thought they were still alive.
They nodded approvingly and prepared to be transported to a new world. The god pushed a button on a tablet that he had materialized out of thin air before waving goodbye at the four.
"Good luck! The closest alternate universe that I could find will be one in the 21st Century! There'll be a few slight differences like the existence of demons, but you'll be fine!"
The expressions of the four turned ugly. DEMONS?! The smile on the god's face now looked strangely malicious in their eyes. They were about to protest but the light enveloped them and took them to their new universe.
"All in a days work!"
The god said to himself. He pulled up his tablet again.
"Onto the next victims!"