Richard lay unconscious in his bed, his breathing steady but deep, his body still recovering from the incomprehensible transformation he had just undergone. Beads of sweat clung to his forehead, his muscles slightly twitching as if his very biology was still adapting to the changes forced upon it.
Though he appeared at peace, his mind was anything but.
Sowhere, deep within his subconscious, sothing new had awakened.
Sothing beyond human.
anwhile, downstairs, the atmosphere in the kitchen was heavy.
Estello sat at the far end of the large wooden dining table, his fingers interlocked, his expression unreadable. The normally lively kitchen, where family laughter and idle chatter often filled the air, was now deathly silent.
Jack, Anita, and Maria were seated around him, each wearing a look of concern and confusion.
For several monts, no one spoke.
The events from earlier—the screams, the shaking walls, the floating objects—were burned into their mories.
Finally, Estello, the patriarch, broke the silence.
He shifted his gaze to Jack, who was still deep in thought, his expression torn between worry and suspicion.
"Jack," Estello said, his voice calm but firm.
Jack blinked, snapping out of his thoughts. He straightened up and t his grandfather's eyes.
"Yes, Grandpa?"
Estello exhaled deeply before asking the question that had been weighing on his mind.
"Do you know anything about this?"
Jack's jaw tightened. His fingers tapped against the table, a subconscious tic he always did when he was thinking hard.
There had always been sothing off about Richard—his best friend, his sworn brother.
The first ti he noticed sothing strange was two months ago in Laguna.
They had been at an internet café, testing their ga's physics even before the Vector Core had been developed. Richard's typing speed was inhuman, his fingers flying across the keyboard with unnatural precision.
At the ti, Jack had chalked it up to the shrooms Richard had taken, thinking it was just so hyper-focused, drug-induced state.
Then ca the mansion, where Richard had begun coding the Vector Core.
His intelligence skyrocketed, as if his mind had been rewired overnight. Jack had told himself that maybe, just maybe, his best friend was an unpolished diamond—a rare genius who had finally found his calling.
But as ti went on, Jack grew more suspicious.
Richard never answered his questions directly. He dodged and deflected, as if he himself wasn't ready to admit sothing.
Now, after tonight's incident, there was no denying it.
Sothing was happening to Richard.
Sothing not normal.
Jack sighed, rubbing his temple before finally answering.
"Grandpa... I have no idea what it is," he admitted. "I have my suspicions, but I couldn't figure it out. And honestly... I didn't know if I even wanted to."
Anita, Richard's mother, folded her arms.
"Yes... Although I know my son very well," she said, her voice softer, "he's never been good at keeping secrets. When he started using mushrooms and smoking, he just told outright. Of course, I was mad, but... I couldn't restrict him anymore. Especially after his older brother left the house."
Her eyes grew distant as she rembered those difficult tis.
"He was depressed back then. He did all sorts of things to distract himself. But this?" Anita shook her head. "This is different. This is sothing I've never seen before."
Estello sighed. He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, his fingers steepled in thought.
"I may sound like a fool," he said slowly, "but this is... beyond anything human."
Jack, Anita, and Maria exchanged uneasy glances.
The old man was never one for exaggeration.
He was the kind of person who believed in hard facts, in reason and logic. If even he was admitting that sothing unnatural had happened, then it had to be serious.
Estello's piercing gaze locked onto Maria, the family's most trusted maid.
"Maria," he said.
Maria straightened in her seat, her hands folded neatly in her lap, though her fingers trembled slightly.
"Y-yes, sir?"
Estello's expression darkened.
"What we saw tonight? No one must ever speak of it. Not to anyone. Ever."
Maria swallowed hard but nodded.
"I understand, sir."
Estello then turned his attention to Jack and Anita.
"That goes for you two as well," he continued, his voice carrying the weight of undeniable authority. "No one outside this house must ever hear about what happened here."
Jack shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "So, what do we tell people if they ask?"
Estello's eyes narrowed.
"Tell them it was an earthquake."
Jack exhaled sharply, shaking his head. "An earthquake? Grandpa, do you really think people will believe that?"
Estello's gaze remained unwavering.
"It doesn't matter if they believe it. It's better than the truth."
Silence fell over the room once more.
Then, Estello continued, his tone softer but deadly serious.
"Richard may not be my blood, but I've treated him like my own grandson. And Anita, ever since your father—my old friend—passed away, I swore to take care of all of you."
His hands clenched into fists.
"I will prioritize your safety and security, even if it ans going against the entire world."
Jack swallowed.
Anita's expression softened, touched by the old man's unyielding loyalty to their family.
Maria, still visibly shaken, nodded in agreent.
Estello took a deep breath, his decision final.
"Jack, look after Richard. When he wakes up, bring him to . Because I think we all deserve so answers."
Jack nodded. "Got it."
The weight of Estello's words settled over them.
What had happened today was just the beginning.
----------
Hours later, Richard's eyes fluttered open.
The ceiling fan creaked softly, its blades moving in slow, lazy rotations. The familiar scent of the mansion—wood polish, old books, and the faint aroma of coffee—lingered in the air.
For a mont, he just stared at the ceiling, letting his mind catch up.
Then, it all ca rushing back.
The gym.
The stats dump.
The excruciating pain.
The floating objects.
Richard gritted his teeth, resisting the urge to groan.
"I fucked around... and I found out."
But at least, it had been in a good way. His body felt different now—stronger, lighter, more refined. His mind was sharper, running at a speed he wasn't used to. He could process things faster, his thoughts moving like a supercomputer running at peak efficiency.
But there was another problem.
Everyone must have figured out sothing was off by now.
He needed an explanation.
But not the truth.
No—the truth was his weapon, his trump card.
He had to tell them sothing believable—sothing extraordinary yet digestible.
Sothing they could accept without asking too many questions.
His thoughts were interrupted by a voice from across the room.
"Hello there, Superman."
Richard snapped his head to the corner, finding Jack sitting there, arms crossed, wearing a shit-eating smirk.
The mont their eyes t, Jack stood up and strode toward him, his face shifting into mock outrage.
"Okay, dude. What the fuck was that?" Jack demanded, throwing his hands in the air. "Why the hell did you just go Super Saiyan in the middle of the goddamn gym?!"
Richard sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Of course, Jack was excited. Who wouldn't be?
If soone else had a mysterious system, a cheat-code life hack that let them level up beyond human limits, they'd probably do one of three things:
Play God.
Get Famous.
Dominate the World.
Jack had always been a mix of #2 and #3.
"Listen—" Richard started.
But Jack cut him off.
"Nah, nah, nah—don't tell it's that 'Keeper' thing again," Jack said, rolling his eyes.
Richard exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
"Every night when I sleep, I dream," he began, his voice lowering slightly, like he was revealing sothing sacred.
Jack raised an eyebrow but didn't interrupt this ti.
"I see a figure," Richard continued. "Bathed in light. It takes to... a place. A world beyond ours. It's beautiful. Peaceful. Whether you believe or not—that's where everything happened for ."
Jack's expression hardened slightly.
"You're saying that's where all of this ca from?"
Richard nodded. "Yes. But..." He sighed. "It's hard to believe, isn't it? If soone just said it, with no proof, you'd think they were crazy."
Jack scoffed, crossing his arms again.
"Evidence?" he repeated, his voice dripping with disbelief. "Dude. You were floating inches off the floor. That's not evidence?!"
He started counting on his fingers.
"One—you coded an entire next-gen AI system like it was a simple school project."
"Two—you basically created a God-tier AI that's years ahead of anything the world is even close to making."
"Three—you fucking made objects levitate in the gym. LEVITATE, BRO!"
Jack threw up his hands. "If that's not evidence, I don't know what is!"
Richard leaned back, exhaling.
He had expected Jack's reaction, but hearing it out loud made him realize...
There really was no covering this up.
Jack was too smart, too observant, and above all—he was his best friend.
And yet... Richard could see the worry behind Jack's excitent.
His best friend wasn't just shocked—he was genuinely scared.
Jack ran a hand down his face, shaking his head. "Dude, I'm happy for you or whatever, but you gotta be careful from now on. If it wasn't us who saw this..."
His voice trailed off, but the implication was clear.
"If the wrong people found out... what would they do to you?"
Richard swallowed.
He already knew.
There was no telling what the governnt—or worse, private military corporations—would do if they discovered soone like him existed.
Jack exhaled sharply.
"Co on," he said, turning toward the door. "Grandpa's expecting you in the kitchen."
Richard nodded, swinging his legs over the bed.
His body felt lighter than ever, every movent precise, controlled, effortless.
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