I was locked in my own mind, my thoughts the only tether to reality.
Then, it appeared.
A fluffy white cloud materialized before , impossibly soft and glowing with an otherworldly sheen.
“Sorry,” it said, its voice unnervingly calm. “I just finished severing from you. I’m still adjusting to the new environnt.”
I blinked.
I thought I was dreaming, but my senses were too sharp—too present. The weight of the mont, the clarity of each breath... no, this was real.
Sothing was in my head.
And I was standing face-to-face with it.
“What’s going on here? Who are you?” I asked, staring at the floating cloud.
It said nothing.
“How... where did you co from?” I pressed, my voice trembling with urgency.
Then, without warning, the cloud began to shift—warping, stretching, and solidifying until it took on my form. But not quite. The figure that stood before had my build, my features... yet his eyes burned a piercing blue. My Solid State—reflected back at .
“My na is Cipher 2.0,” it said flatly, conjuring a glowing screen in midair.
I stepped forward, disbelief washing over .
“Cipher 2.0? Is that supposed to be a joke?” I shouted, frustration spilling over. “Let out of here! My friends are in danger!”
Every second that passed could an their deaths. I could feel ti slipping away.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” he replied, voice cold and unwavering. “Look at this.”
A screen materialized before ,
{
> Consciousness Sync: 0.5%
> Internal Override: Active
Core Potential: 0.5% (Estimate of Unknown capacity)
o Status: Unimpressive
o Growth Curve: Stagnant.
Physical Attributes:
o Power: Novice – Level > 1
o Speed: 0.0001% Light Speed Equivalent.
o Endurance: Fragile
Extra abi1ity: Internal Atomic Manipulation
o Integration Level: 15%
}
The displayed data seed odd to
"What is this?" I asked, confusion mixing with my growing panic.
That’s when another screen flashed a red warning appeared:
‘At your current power level, you can’t defeat this enemy! Course of action: ...’
"Run away!? I don’t know what’s going on here, but you need to let go back now! My friends are in danger—I don’t have ti for this!" I insisted,
And then, the so-called Cipher 2.0 advanced nacingly towards .
"Our conversation here is operating in a nanosecond of your ti outside. I barely managed to create that protective coat on your skin! You have about two minutes until I turn the power off. Use that ti to escape without looking back!"
"Escape? We’re on an island! And what about my friends?"
"Forget about your friends. It’s too late for them. You’ll find other companions along the way,"
I didn’t know who or what this thing was, but one thing was clear: it was heartless. I closed my eyes, focusing intently on the stimuli around my body. I redirected all my energy to my mind to force myself out of his trap. As I’d hoped, it worked!
"What are you doing?!" Cipher 2.0 demanded, trying to intervene.
But I tore myself free from the dark void, returning my consciousness to the outside world. Its voice lingered in my head, though.
"Don’t be stupid!” He barked in my mind. “The energy this enemy released has neuromuscular nerve transmission interference effects. They’re frozen, imprisoned in their own bodies! It’s too late for them!"
"Only a coward leaves his friends to die! As long as I’m alive, I won’t let fear turn into one!"
I was resolute to what I was fighting for. The promise I once made to myself, I wasn’t going to abandon it no matter the cost.
I turned to William, calling his na repeatedly. To force him to awake back to his normal senses. A few monts later and he finally seed to hear ,
"Take everyone and run!" I urged him
He was looking at with a confused stare
"I can’t move!" He gasped. "What is this thing doing to us?"
"You’re the strongest man I know! Don’t let it defeat you!" I cupped his face, trying to pull him back from the edge. If even William was this terrified, I couldn’t fathom the others’ fear.
"Close your eyes and focus on the energy within you! Breathe in and out. That thing is just a man, lost in the labyrinth of his own power. Like all n, he can bleed. We’ll stop him—that’s a promise!"
He stared at , unaffected by the monster’s power.
"William, trust once more!” I continued, “I won’t let this thing leave the island. Take Sane, Yukio, the captain, and everyone else. Get to the boat and call the helicopter! You need to warn the General about what’s happening! We have to stop this monster before it grows stronger!"
With renewed resolve, William regained control. He punched Dmitry, snapping him back to his senses. Together, they hoisted the others onto their shoulders—the still-unconscious captain, Yukio, and Sane. Including the twins, Zack, Drake and Diego.
Only one person stayed behind: Wardak. He seed unfazed by the monster’s influence. I didn’t matter if he was a rcenary, I knew he didn’t stand a chance against Hira 125.
I turned to him
"I know you want to help, but this thing is dangerous. We already lost one friend—we need to be smart, or we’ll all die before the real enemies arrive. Go with the others, with my powers I will try to slow him down."
“Zma dushmanan la la makhke delta di — pa fikr ke hak shoy, da insaniat zeyganda. Da zhen gunahuna." he replied in Pashto.
“My enemies are already here—etched in thought, born of mankind. Transgressions of the mind.”
I thought he was referring to Maxwell.
His silence was different from Sane’s—a man with nothing to lose, singular in purpose. His eyes carried a darkness, the gaze of soone who’d walked through fire and erged half-alive. We all kept our distance, sensing the void he carried. This ti too, I said nothing more.
Turning back, I saw only destruction. Imnse power, greater than Victor’s, pulsed within Hira 125. I realized there was no safe place on the island to flee, hoping only that William and Dmitry had reached the shore.
Then Wardak punched a hole in the ground and pulled inside with him. Hira exploded again, scouring the island’s surface clean, sending shockwaves that shook the earth like a magnitude 7 earthquake.
It was ti to play my final card: find his weakness and fight until one of us fell. My hyper-cognition and healing against his colossal energy. As I gathered strength to strike, the Solid State abruptly shut off. I’d been in it for about almost 15 minutes this ti—a new record, overshadowed by the realization that a lunatic in my mind controlled its activation. Without it, I wouldn’t last a second against Maxwell.
That’s when Wardak suddenly charged forward, toward Hira 125.
I thought he’d attack, but he went straight to touch Hira’s skin. And when he touched the monster’s skin, he was hurled back.
I knew then that stopping Hira was up to . I didn’t understand why the voice in my head toggled the Solid State, but I sensed it was part of —and it wouldn’t let die. So I planned to force its hand, even if it ant risking my life.
Though I aid to provoke the voice into reactivating the power, I wouldn’t do it recklessly. I sprinted around Hira, building montum to amplify my strike. Each ti the Solid State deactivated, a rebound weakened . Pushing through the dizziness, I made a sharp turn and lunged at Hira’s neck, my hands as weapons. Before I could connect, sothing blurred past , striking Hira and sending him flying hundreds of ters.
And then a voice spoke from behind. "Why are you naked?"
I turned and saw Victor.
"I told you to go back ho.” He said, “I’ll be the one killing the monsters!"
One glance at him, and I could tell he’d grown even stronger—perhaps as powerful as Hira.
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