Dododex
ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion
The Arks: Over Heaven (by Ben)
Chapter 77: Tales of Evolution and Survival
It was an oddly quiet night. Cars honked and the pedestrians down below on the streets were walking along, trying to find a place to eat and call it a day. Nestled within the high penthouse was a rich, yet clever man who could crack any case with just a single clue. A prodigy of his time, they called him the best. He truly was the nation’s best.
Beep beep!
“You have one message.”
Detective Darren was humming a tune to himself while snacking on his chocolate donut. Detective Darren had been on vacation for the past few weeks, something he was grateful for, although he still found it odd they just gave him vacation now of all days. The disappearances at Terran High still remained unsolved, but his boss had ordered him under presidential orders to leave the case alone for now since the government’s own investigative agencies would be responsible for it. Peculiar to him, but he wasn’t complaining. Maybe they were right.
Darren took his phone and took a quick peek at it. It was one of his coworkers, Warren.
“Why is he texting me at this time,” Darren muttered. He placed his donut on a plate and lifted his phone and slid up to view the message.
“DARREN THIS IS URGENT! I THINK WE FIGURED OUT THE DISAPPEARANCES!”
Darren’s eyes widened.
“What?”
Darren began to mash his fingers on the phone and he sent a reply.
“Let’s video call.”
Soon, the two were on video call. Warren seemed to be situated at a library, and he had dark bags under his eyes. Warren peered into the camera.
“Hello? You there Darren?”
“Yeah. I’m here. So you said you figured out the case…”
Warren gave a sheepish grin and scratched the back of his head.
“Well not really. I only said that to get your attention.”
Darren shot an unamused look at Warren and was about to end the call when Warren yelled, “Wait! We just needed your help. On this. We think we got a good lead and we just need someone with the brains to figure the rest out.”
“Oh really? And what would that be?”
Warren panned the camera to show four other people sitting at the library table. One was a very well tanned, tall man who seemed to be showing a man with huge muscles a picture on his phone. It resembled a floating space station with an island on top. Then he swiped the picture to show a picture of a logo that resembled an “A”. The buff guy responded by flexing his muscles and kissing them. Another was a blonde guy with a “READING IS COOL” shirt, who seemed to be reading through a thin book. On the cover was “Tales of Evolution and Survival”. Finally, a woman with fading blonde hair had seemingly fallen asleep. Darren almost didn’t recognize her at first because of her hair, but it was Sam.
“Uhh, what exactly are you showing me?”
“Everyone here has some form of evidence to contribute to the case,” Warren explained, “Son over here claims that the space station that was found in the sky by the astronomists is actually from some sort of game… He called it ARK? Or something like that.”
“What? From a game?”
“Yeah. I know. Crazy. Apparently it’s pretty old-school. Like, 1960s type. It’s a game where you survive from dinosaurs and stuff on an island.”
“And how is this helpful?”
“Well… You know that book I found at the principal’s office? The one that had no dust on it?”
“Yeah, what about it? You really wanted to bring that one home,” Darren retorted.
“Calem managed to speed read through half of the book. He’s a real champ with it, and he’s told us the basic plot is about a guy who finds himself on an island and he needs to survive from dinosaurs… Sound familiar?”
Darren’s eyes widened.
“So you’re saying they’re linked somehow?”
“Why else wouldn’t they be?”
“I guess not. You know some ideas are thought of at least twice in a lifetime. But this ‘idea’ seems pretty unique. I doubt it’s a coincidence. I believe you,” Darren told him. Warren smiled. Darren began to scratch his chin, looking up at the ceiling for a bit. Darren’s brain buzzed, and suddenly it clicked.
“Hey. Say, what if the author of this book was inspired by the game and decided to write a book about it?”
“Ah ha! I knew you’d figure it out! Thanks Darren,” Warren exclaimed. He turned to face the others and quickly told them everything he knew. Everyone began to murmur amongst themselves, while Calem shrouded the noise and continued reading.
“Woah. If that’s the case then who’s the author?” the buff guy asked. Son shrugged.
“That’s the thing Big Jack… WE DON’T KNOW.”
“Well then why don’t we just figure it out?!”
“Big Jack you’ve been flexing your muscles for the past three hours and haven’t even contributed to the findings! Stop being a nuisance and just shut up!”
“I’m sorry! Jeez louise you don’t have to be so dense,” Big Jack murmured. Son rolled his eyes.
“Our children’s lives are on the line. Take this a bit more seriously, okay? You wouldn’t understand, you’re here just because.”
Big Jack turned away sadly.
“But I do.”
Darren sighed.
“Did you at least find out where the book came from?”
Warren nodded, turning to Son.
“Son? Bring up the app.”
Son took his phone and began swiping on it, eventually pulling out a turquoise interface. He showed it to the camera. It was the logo of an egg. The egg faded away and it left some weird calculator thingie. Son swiped to the right, showing a forum filled to the brim with messages and stories.
“The story was written in 2015, it seems. It was the first of its kind on this platform. And take a look at this, it attracted a lot of attention. It remains one of the most ‘liked’ stories on the platform to this day.”
Son wiped again, showing a large amount of text in the form of a chapter. At the top? The title: Tales of Evolution and Survival. Dozens of comments were at the bottom.
“But why here? Why post on this niche app that nobody uses?” Darren asked. Son swiped back to the weird calculator.
“Because this app is used in conjunction with the game. It’s like a tool. It’s supposed to help with taming those dinosaurs that are out to eat you in the game. It hasn’t been updated ever since the game was discontinued though…”
Darren’s eyes sparkled, more puzzle pieces clicking in his head.
“But how was this story novelized? How did it become a physical copy? Where is it being sold?”
“We don’t know. We’ve tried searching up the name on everything! But nothing ever shows up. It’s as if it doesn’t exist.”
“You don’t know how to reverse search something?” Sam suddenly said. Warren turned to Sam.
“Look who finally decided to wake up,” Warren chuckled.
“Shut up. Calem, may I see the book?”
Calem stopped reading it and handed it over to Sam. She took the book, set it on the table, took out her phone, and took a picture of it. She began to tap and scroll with her phone, until eventually something popped up!
“Here it is! You can buy it now for thirteen bucks!” Sam shouted, showing the phone to everyone. Everyone murmured to themselves in wonder. Most notably, the poster of the book was someone who went by the initials, DW.
“Look at the reviews. There’s only two!” Son noticed, “Tiffany Originals says that ‘This is a fine story with the potential to become something great. With more unique, captivating ideas the fifth and final part of this story can make this a true masterpiece. Three stars.’”
“You know most of these reviews are saying this story is pretty mediocre,” Sam read, “Scott Graham says that ‘It’s an okay story. I believe the story is rushed and needs more editing and tweaking. The story refuses to let go of any of its characters; there is no consequence and things go too perfect.’”
“Scott Graham?” Big Jack said, raising his eyebrow, “Name sounds familiar to me.”
“I think he’s an author too. He wrote a story about people going on an adventure. It was called ‘Thrilling Thirteen’ or something… It feels fuzzy in my mind though. It’s as if it didn’t ever exist,” Calem answered.
“Now that you do bring it up,” Son said, “I do remember a name like that! I feel like he was supposed to be a really really popular author. But I can’t remember how any of his stories went.”
“Okay, okay! I agree with you all. This Scott guy is familiar, but what does any of it prove? There’s connections but how does it link to the disappearances?” Darren asked.
Calem pointed at the cover of the book.
“The object on the cover is something called an ‘implant’. It’s something all the humans who show up on the island have.”
“And in the game that I played, all us players show up with an implant,” Son added on.
“If you look at the footage closely, all of the scholars get a pain in their left wrist,” Sam observes as she watches the camera footage a second time.
“And in the game and story alike that’s where the implants show!” Son and Calem shout at the same time.
“Which means that… that island in the sky is an ‘ARK’, and that must be where the scholars went,” Son realized.
“And the author of the story must be the one responsible for bringing them there! The author probably did it so that he could have ideas for his story! What a weirdo by the way,” Big Jack added on. Son shot a funny look at Big Jack, and he grinned back.
Darren was absolutely flabbergasted. He rubbed his forehead with his thumb.
“It seems to me that you’ve already figured out everything. Maybe you don’t need my help.”
Darren was about to end the call when Warren stopped him.
“WAIT! Darren, that’s the problem! We can’t figure out who the author is! We’ve searched every nook and cranny but we can’t get anything on him! If we can figure out who it is, we can get to him, and we can stop this once and for all!”
Darren leaned back in his chair and scratched his beard again. He looked up at the ceiling, closing his eyes, and thinking as hard as he could. His brain buzzed, puzzle pieces clicked, and his eyes suddenly shot open as a sudden thought pierced his mind.
“WAIT!” Darren cried out, “THE AUTHOR OF THE STORY! I FIGURED IT OUT! The initials, Warren… Those are the initials of the President! Those are the initials of the President…”
“DAN WALKER!”
Everyone gasped.
“Are you serious, Darren?” Warren asked.
“It makes the most sense. Who has the most money capable of building that island? Whose initials are also DW? Who else has the manpower to shut down the case? He probably did it so we couldn’t figure it out! But here we are, we figured it out we figured-”
BANG BANG BANG!
Someone suddenly banged on the door of Darren’s penthouse. Darren turned back to see who it was. Darren ignored it and turned back.
“I think I should get that-”
BAM!
The door suddenly flew off its hinges, and a dozen armed men wearing SWAT gear entered the building. They raised their guns and aimed at Darren. Darren screamed, raising his hands.
“This is the United Intelligence Agency! You have been accused of treason, and thus, must be eliminated.”
“WHAT?!” Darren cried, “I’m the best detective of the nation! I love this place man! There’s gotta be a different reason, right?!”
The men marched forward, and Darren stumbled backward, his hands still in the air. Eventually, the agents backed Darren up onto the balcony and near the railing.
“Please. PLEASE! I didn’t do anything-”
The armed man rushed forward, and with a gloved hand pushed Darren off.
~
Warren looked on in horror as he heard Darren’s screams. He heard the mutters of the men, and then someone picked the phone up and ended the call. Darren had just been murdered. Everyone looked on in worry.
“So what now? Darren’s dead, they’re probably after us next,” Big Jack muttered. Warren looked back at the others, and clenched his fists.
“We go to the Capital. And we find and interrogate the President. And if it comes down to it… We’ll kill him.
”For our family. For Darren.”