The moment Watts emerged from the underground base, the crisp mountain air hit him like a cold slap. A soft ping resonated in his head—a silent notification from his technopathy—as black box fed him an urgent message: 12 missed calls. The breakdown made him pause.
Layla: 4. Unknown: 3. Evlyne: 5.
The unknown number caught his attention immediately. The log said the call came from his apartment at 9 p.m. last night. Watts frowned, his breath fogging in the frigid air.
But according to his cameras in the room, they showed only Chloe had come there last night.
His irises flickered into faintly glowing screens as he activated his technopathy.
Electricity pulsed through his neurons, letting him bypass his phone entirely to reach out to Layla first. After all, family came first—even when it was complicated.
"Hello?" he greeted.
"Damn you, brother. Do you know what you did to Auntie?" Layla's voice came through sharp and tense
Watts' brow furrowed. Layla's tone, usually full of warmth or teasing sarcasm, had snapped.
For the first time in his life, his sister's anger overflowed into words she rarely used.
"I really am sorry, but I can't do what she wants," Watts said carefully, though his voice carried an edge of guilt.
"Oh my God, Watts, it's so simple! Just forget about everything and start over! Why is that so hard?" Layla's voice broke into a shout.
Watts closed his eyes, letting the cold bite into him. He felt like a man standing at the edge of a knife blade.
"Layla, look... I... I can't."
The line fell silent. Not static, just silence—the kind that wraps itself around words unsaid. Watts didn't dare speak, waiting instead for his sister to fill the space.
Finally, Layla's voice came, but it was quiet now—leaden, calm, and deliberate.
"Is that so? It seems power's gotten to your head, brother. You lived your life just fine before. But now, a little bit of power and you can't even—" she stopped herself.
Watts' grip tightened at his side.
"The Watts I know," she continued softly, almost like a prayer, "would do anything… anything… to make Liz happy. Even if it meant death."
Then she hung up. The empty tone echoed in his mind long after the line cut.
Watts stood still, perched at the icy mountaintop like some fallen king. The sun had already fully risen, but the jagged horizon glowed red, orange, and bruised purple.
He sat back on a large, snow-dusted rock, staring into nothing as Layla's words burrowed into his skull.
Was she right? Had power twisted him? Was this about his parents, or had the search become his way of proving something to himself—to the world?
He thought back to the moment when this all began, the instant the system grafted itself into his mind. He had felt untouchable—a god walking among mortals, capable of creating anything he needed.
But he was human too. That god-complex wasn't just a theory; it was creeping in. His thought process had changed.
He saw himself as someone special now, someone who deserved more.
Watts exhaled sharply, letting the icy wind whip around him as though it might strip him clean of pride. The world needed to remind him he wasn't invincible. He wasn't a god.
He pulled himself back from the spiral and forced his mind to focus. He had other missed calls to address.
Layla would cool off eventually. For now, he had to check on the unknown number and Evlyne, but he called Chloe first.
After all, showing up at his apartment late at night wasn't her style.
The line barely rang before it picked up. Silence answered him, a cold breath on the other end.
"Uh, hello?" Watts asked, already wary.
Chloe's hushed voice cut through the quiet. "Where were you all night?"
Watts blinked. "What's going on? Why were you calling? And why are you whispering like that?"
There was a beat of hesitation before Chloe responded. "It's mum. I think she's in trouble. But don't worry, I'm working on it."
Watts froze mid-thought, processing her words. "Wait, hold on—you're working on it? Chloe, you're eight. What exactly are you…"
He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to laugh. "Are you telling me you're solving problems grown-ups can't figure out? Alone?"
"Yeah! What's wrong with that?" Chloe shot back, her voice full of indignant pride.
Watts couldn't help it. A laugh burst out of him, unexpected and warm. Leave it to Chloe to be an unshakable optimist.
"Okay, seriously," he said between chuckles, activating his powers to locate her.
A pinpoint appeared in his mind—she was inside a hotel downtown, disguising herself as… "a grandma?"
"Wait. What? How do you know that?" Chloe gasped.
Watts teleported to the opposite rooftop of the building where she was stationed. The view from above was comical.
Through the large hotel windows, he spotted her short figure, poorly wrapped in an oversized coat and scarf.
Despite her best attempts, she looked like an eight-year-old playing dress-up—not an undercover spy.
Watts shook his head. Chloe was many things, but subtle was not one of them.
The problem, however, wasn't her disguise—it was the fact that everyone around her already knew she was there.
Watts scanned the scene, spotting dark-suited men lingering in the shadows outside and inside the building.
They weren't making a move yet, but their eyes flicked toward Chloe every so often. They were watching. Waiting.
"What have you gotten yourself into?" Watts muttered to himself, running his hand through his hair.
He patched into her phone. "Chloe, listen to me carefully. Those guys know you're there."
Her small head jerked up as she scanned her surroundings. "What? How? No way… I was so careful!"
Watts exhaled. Chloe was brave to a fault, but she was still a kid. He could save her in an instant—teleport her out and wipe everyone's memories clean.
It would be easy. But something held him back, how fun would that be.
He stood on that rooftop, the city sprawling beneath him. The old part of him—the one Layla had spoken about—was calling him back to earth.
Maybe his sister was right. Maybe power had made him arrogant.
The simplest route would always be his first instinct—use his abilities like a cheat code to solve everything.
But this time, he paused. He wanted to do it differently. To remember what it felt like to rely on something other than his powers.
And was exactly what he was going to do