SURVIELLENCE HEADQUARTERS, ORBIS INDUSTRIES
"There's a spatial distortion we've detected near Brighton State School, sir," one of the technicians reported, eyes fixed on a map of the Brighton area displayed on his monitor.
"How long has this been active?" Kage asked sharply.
"For some time, but—well, it's different from typical veils," the technician explained, glancing up briefly.
"The radiation pattern is unfamiliar. A standard veil usually dissipates upon contact with the ground, but this anomaly pierces through, connecting beneath the surface and forming a fully enclosed dome-like space, separated from reality."
"Specifics," Kage instructed.
"The signal is exceptionally faint—nearly untraceable. I had a suspicion and adjusted the sensors' sensitivity just to pick it up."
"Clear all personnel from the area within its radius," Kage ordered. "I'll assess the situation myself."
"Yes, sir," the technician replied, turning immediately to relay the orders.
+++
"I knew it!" The hideous-looking man shouted from the street below, craning his neck to glare up at me. I had already moved us to the rooftop of the building across from where we'd been standing.
"There's no way a non-awakened could pass through a reality veil," he muttered with clear malice.
My options were extremely limited. With Meloni in my arms, repeatedly using core's ability around her, will affect her. Still, it seemed to be our only option to escape.
Then, suddenly, a shift in the wind caught my attention. A blade glinted from my periphery, cutting through the air where we were a split second earlier. Now, a man in a suit and holding a katana was now standing exactly where we'd been.
"What the hell?!" he shouted, turning his head wildly. "How did you get over there so fast?"
"I know, right?", The tattooed bastard again, his speed even more terrifying, appeared beside me in an instant, closing the promiximate two-hundred-meter gap in mere seconds.
'That's two times now… I'm glad she hasn't said anything, but her body temperature is spiking dangerously.'
"It's like the guy's teleporting," the man with the katana muttered, glaring at me.
"If he's really teleporting, carrying that girl shouldn't be possible. She doesn't have a core, either," the tattooed one added, stepping forward before vanishing from my sight again.
'There it is again, that speed,' I thought, dodging his grasp to the left, only to find the katana slicing toward my waist from the side.
'Three.' I shifted positions again, this time closer to the dome's boundary. I only needed to use this ability one more time, but her body was struggling with the repeated spatial shifts. Her temperature was pushing dangerously close to critical.
"Just once more!" I grunted, tightening my grip on her. The energy from my core seeped into her soul—just enough for one more leap to cover a safe distance and lose them.
As another attack was directed at me, the last thing I saw was the katana right in front of my face as I disappeared from the area.
-
"You can open your eyes, we're safe now", I said looking at her. She's quite heavy to carry for a long time.
"Hey", I shook her a little but there was no response. "Meloni?", I called out.
"Fuck". I ran out to the main road and called out a taxi. I need to take her to hospital right now.
The taxi screeched to a halt, and I practically dove in, keeping Meloni's head resting carefully on my lap.
"Nearest hospital, fast!" I directed the driver, who immediately caught onto the situation and sped off.
When we finally pulled up to the hospital, I jumped out and carried her into the emergency entrance. The nurse at the counter immediately took in the situation and called for help, guiding us to an empty stretcher where I carefully laid her down.
Medical staff swarmed, a doctor asking questions. "What happened?"
"She… got sick. Really suddenly," I said.
They wheeled her down a hall to the triage area, where they immediately checked her vitals. I watched as a nurse checked her temperature, hooked her up to an IV, and placed an oxygen mask over her face.
I looked at her phone and unlocked it. She had shared the password with me a long time ago. It was still the same. Opening the call logs, I tapped on one of her favourites,'Mom'.
"What am I even supposed to say?", I muttered as the call rang.
+++
The tattooed man's grin widened as a faint, glassy crack split across the veil, a line of shimmering light tracing its way from the top down as if splitting the sky to the ground.
He muttered, "Now, would you look at that?"
Slowly, the cracks splintered outward, spreading across the veil like spiderwebs on a windshield, each line refracting the dim light. The pieces began to crumble, breaking away in fragments that fell like gleaming raindrops. They drifted to the ground as each shard reflected tiny, distorted versions of the street, like a delicate, glittering rainfall of glass.
Through the widening opening stepped a man, his silhouette almost blending into the falling shards. He wore a sleek, tailored suit, his hair neatly combed and catching the glint of the remaining fragments in the air. His movements were casual, his hands tucked nonchalantly in his pockets as though strolling through a garden, not stepping into a battlefield.
"Kage… One of the top hundred awakened is here." The tattooed man took a step forward, his voice low with awe.