A Heavy Awakening
Giovanni woke with a start, his breaths shallow and his heart pounding in his chest. His mind swam with fragments of imagery he couldn't fully piece together—worlds burning, faces twisted in agony, and the Architect's mocking laughter ringing in the void. The last thing he remembered was collapsing onto the couch in his cramped apartment. Now, he sat upright, drenched in sweat, as if he'd run a marathon in his dreams.
He stumbled to his feet, reaching for the sink. The reflection in the cracked mirror caught him off guard. His face looked the same, but the eyes staring back at him felt… wrong. Distant. Almost like they didn't belong to him.
"Get it together," he muttered, splashing cold water over his face.
The timer in his vision flickered faintly: [MISSION TIMER: 21 HOURS, 18 MINUTES REMAINING.]
The Ring around his neck was cold to the touch now, but its presence felt heavier somehow, as though it bore down on him with an invisible weight. He clutched it, breathing deeply, trying to push away the unease clawing at his mind.
Outside, the city buzzed with chaos. Velmont's streets were alive with noise and motion, but there was something off about the rhythm. The usual clamor of traffic and commerce had been replaced with an edge of uncertainty. People lingered in tight groups, their voices hushed but animated.
Giovanni walked through the narrow streets, his hood pulled low to avoid drawing attention. Neon signs flickered erratically, some entirely dark, their power disrupted by lingering effects of the Stellar Flare Event. Vendors shouted over the din, hawking their wares to nervous crowds. Drones floated above, sluggish and unsteady, their movements jittery as though affected by the same unseen force.
His ears caught snippets of conversation as he passed.
"Rings haven't worked right since the flare," an older man grumbled to a shopkeeper. "My AI assistant froze for three hours yesterday—thought I'd lost it for good."
"That's nothing," the shopkeeper replied, lowering his voice. "I heard people over in Sector 7 couldn't get their Rings to unlock their doors. Had to call emergency crews to break in."
Giovanni frowned. The disruptions were worse than he thought. If Rings were glitching across the district, it would explain the growing tension in the air.
The timer in his vision ticked down, unrelenting. Giovanni ducked into an alley, leaning against a damp brick wall to catch his breath. He needed to figure out his next move. The System had to hold more answers—more tools. Something he could use.
"System," he said aloud, feeling a little ridiculous. "Show me… options? Abilities?"
The interface responded instantly, shimmering into view with a soft metallic chime.
[AVAILABLE FEATURES:]
[DUPLICATION: ACTIVE.][ENERGY: 87%.][LOCKED FEATURES: CUSTOMIZATION, ????.]
"Customization," Giovanni muttered. "What does that mean?"
The text shifted, almost as if it had been waiting for him to ask.
[CUSTOMIZATION ALLOWS ALTERATION OF DUPLICATE APPEARANCES. CURRENTLY UNLOCKED: RANDOMIZATION. ADVANCED OPTIONS LOCKED.]
He furrowed his brow. "So… I can make them not look like me?"
A faint hum vibrated through the Ring, almost like an affirmative nod. Relief mixed with curiosity. If he could make his duplicates look different, it might solve one of his biggest concerns—avoiding detection. But why was "Advanced Options" locked? What else could the System be hiding?
His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of raised voices nearby. Giovanni peeked around the corner to see a small crowd gathered near a vendor's stall. The merchant—a wiry man with sharp features and a tattered coat—was waving a wrench in the air, shouting at a younger competitor.
"You think I don't know what you're doing? Flooding the market with knockoff parts and selling them for scraps?"
The younger man crossed his arms. "Maybe I just know how to get better inventory than you. Ever think of that?"
"Better inventory, my ass," the older merchant spat. "You're gonna tank the whole market with your crap!"
Giovanni stepped back, ducking into the shadows. The argument wasn't about him, but it hit too close to home. His duplication ability was already creating ripples in Velmont's underground economy. If he wasn't careful, it wouldn't just be local merchants noticing—it'd be the authorities. Or worse.
Later that evening, Giovanni returned home to find Kaori hunched over her sewing machine, the rhythmic hum filling their tiny apartment. She didn't look up as he entered, her focus fixed on a delicate piece of fabric in her hands.
"You're late," she said, her voice steady but tired.
Giovanni hesitated. "Work ran over."
Kaori glanced at him briefly, her sharp eyes scanning his face. "You've been distracted lately. Is something going on?"
"No," he said quickly, too quickly. "Just tired. You know how it is."
Her gaze lingered for a moment before she returned to her work. "If you say so."
The hum of the machine filled the silence. Giovanni leaned against the doorframe, watching her hands move with practiced precision. The sight brought a pang of guilt. Kaori had always been the steady one, the one who kept everything together even when the world was falling apart.
"You should rest," he said softly.
She didn't stop sewing. "Rest doesn't pay the bills."
As Giovanni lay in bed that night, staring at the ceiling, the System's interface flickered faintly in his vision. His mind churned with unanswered questions. What was the Architect planning? Why had the Stellar Flare Event triggered the Ring? And what would happen if he failed?
His thoughts were interrupted by a sudden shift in the interface.
[ANOMALY DETECTED.]
[ARCHITECT OVERSIGHT ACTIVE.]
Giovanni bolted upright, his heart racing. Before he could process the message, it vanished, leaving only the ever-present timer.
[MISSION TIMER: 19 HOURS, 42 MINUTES REMAINING.]