Joel looked at his parents and little sister in the stasis pods, relieved to see they were alive but also worried. Although he didn't come from the wealthiest family, his parents earned a decent amount of money, enough to support him and his little sister through the academy. While his sister was just fourteen and wouldn't be done anytime soon, he had already graduated and was well-educated, particularly in human psychology. He knew the only reason a person would be placed in a stasis pod was if it was their only chance at survival until a cure was made available for whatever their ailment was.
"What's wrong with them?" Joel asked as he stared at his little sister, who appeared to be sleeping peacefully.
Cyrus paused for a second before he began to speak. "A Corrupted Ego feeds off emotions. The nature of the emotion varies depending on the Ego. The one that attacked your family thrives on despair. By pushing a person beyond their emotional threshold, it enslaves their mind, trapping them in a perpetual cycle of that emotion. This cycle continues until they manage to break free from it. Unfortunately, most people are not strong enough to overcome such overwhelming despair, but it does happen, albeit rarely."
Joel's hand trembled as he placed it on his sister's stasis pod. A memory flashed through his mind—of a younger version of himself, back in school. He'd been an easy target, often picked on by others, and one day, during a moment of overwhelming frustration, he'd done something he deeply regretted. A classmate who had bullied him relentlessly was alone one afternoon, and in an instant, Joel swapped their water bottle with one he'd tampered with. It was an impulse, a dark reaction to the years of being pushed down. The next day, the school was shaken by the news that the student had been hospitalized, barely clinging to life. Joel never showed any remorse, though he felt a strange sensation of detachment, like he hadn't truly been the one in control when it happened.
Joel opened his eyes, his heart racing, and muttered inwardly, 'Was I being taken over by something else?'
He looked back at Cyrus, his voice steady but desperate. "Is there a way to save them?"