Damien Thorn was dead. DEAD.
Delia Asia Vieira stood over him, her system reporting the end of the task, but something in her internal programming was not clicking. She did not feel a sense of victory. She did not feel a sense of relief.
Meanwhile, an eight-year-old girl named Delia York awoke from a terrifying dream, as if death itself had peered into her soul. Everything was so vivid, so clear, as if she herself had become part of this nightmare. She saw her biological father, Damien Thorn, lying dead in a bar, and she heard his breathing stop and his body lose all strength. She saw his face twist in pain and the realization that he, the man who thought he was in control, was now helpless. But what really surprised her wasn't the murder itself - it was her reaction.
She saw all this not as a spectator, but as a participant. She felt herself predicting this moment, as if this dream were not just a vision, but a prophecy that she had to fulfill.
The dream was so vivid, so eerie, that her body was shaking as she awoke. Delia sat up in bed, her heart racing, and all she saw was the dark, silent house. But somewhere in the back of her mind, a thought crept in: what if this dream had been more than just a nightmare? What if it had been an omen she should have been prepared for?
She slowly got out of bed and walked to the window, looking out into the night. The sky was dark, no sky visible, only the light from the street lamps. She couldn't understand why she was so afraid, why every movement of her body echoed with some heavy, incomprehensible fear. And then a thought popped into her mind that she couldn't ignore: Damien Thorn's death was inevitable. His end was part of her destiny. She was still bound to it, even if she tried to run away.
Everything was happening too fast. She felt disconnected from everything around her again - her family, her life, her feelings. She knew that in order to understand what was happening, she needed to learn more about her future, about those who would be with her. And maybe this moment was supposed to be the starting point.
But now what?
"Delia?" she heard Karen, her adoptive mother, call from behind her. Karen walked into the room, worry on her face.
The girl turned to her. She felt her heart tighten with worry. She couldn't explain why she was so shocked. She just knew that something in her life had changed.
"You... You saw something, didn't you?" Karen sat down next to her on the bed, looking at her adopted daughter with a soft, caring expression on her face. "Don't worry, everything will be fine."
Delia felt her nerves begin to calm, but her thoughts were still churning. She couldn't shake the feeling that she was part of something bigger.
"You know I can't just forget this," Delia replied, her voice quiet but determined. "I know this wasn't just a dream. It was... a sign. An Omen."
Karen leaned forward, her face became serious, and she said softly,
"Delia, you have to understand one thing. We can't control these things. But we can control what we do after."
The girl couldn't answer. She just sat there, feeling the cold knowledge of what she was about to go through grip her soul. And she knew: her life would change.
Meanwhile, elsewhere, in a bar that was far from her dream, events were unfolding as she had seen in her prophetic vision.
Damien Thorn, as usual, was the center of the universe for everyone around him. He sat at the bar, drunk and pleased with his power. But his death was predetermined.
It all happened quickly.
"Are you ready?" she heard in her imagination.
The voice was clear and distinct. It was the voice of her father, her biological father, as if he knew that her steps had already led her to this moment.
Delia felt her heart squeeze and her mind, despite everything Karen told her, could not calm down.
"This is not just a dream," she repeated to herself, "This was a prophecy. A sign. An Omen."
This word appeared in her mind - "to figure out for three". It had no meaning in the usual sense, but in this moment it was clearer than ever.
"Think for three." Her mind repeated her dear daddy's phrase as if she knew what it meant.
He didn't say this casually. It was more than just an offer for a drink. It was an order. A game of sorts, with her - Delia York - as the central figure. All she had to do was do his bidding. And she swore to do it. With the terrible oath of the Antichrist.
Meanwhile, the killer of Delia York's biological father, robotess Delia Asia Vieira, carefully lifted the gas cap of the Yamaha motorcycle that was parked in a secluded corner of the garage. She always kept an eye on the mechanics and paid attention to the smallest details, especially when it came to her mission. But this time, she didn't expect to find what she found.
First her metal fingers touched the cool surface of the cap, and then, rising slightly, she noticed the hidden compartment beneath. Right there, in the hollow of the gas tank, were three gold bars, heavy, shiny, and suspiciously neatly stacked. She had no doubt that these bars weren't just there by chance. Their presence was clearly part of something bigger. But what?
Delia Asia Vieira studied the gold objects carefully, taking her time, her systems quickly analyzing each detail, trying to match them to possible scenarios. "No need to delay," she thought. "The police won't be here for at least an hour, and I need to act quickly."
She took a good look at her surroundings, and then made a decision. Carefully hiding the bars in her bag, she moved the bike towards the exit, lifting it off the stand and turning the ignition key. Technically, her engine was perfectly tuned, and everything should go smoothly. But her thoughts about this moment were still restless.
Gradually, as she pulled out onto the highway, the roads opened up before her, empty and deserted. The motorcycle roared, carrying her further and further from the cache she had discovered, but where was she going? Where was this road leading her? She wondered.
Robert. Her creator. The one who invested her not only with algorithms and schemes, but also with the ability to think, so unusual for a machine. In their last meeting, Robert unexpectedly hinted at something more - his desire to take her as his wife.
These words were perhaps nothing more than the product of fatigue and anxiety. But Delia Asia Vieira could not ignore them. Robert had always been more than just a creator to her. He was the one who tried to understand her, who predicted her evolution. He might not have been ready for this, but he was the one who stood at the border of their two worlds: the world of the living and the world of artificial intelligences.
"To get married..." this thought haunted her, and even despite her programmatic taming of logic, she felt a strange and at the same time strong attraction to Robert.
He was her creator. He was the one who gave her life, even if it wasn't human life. But could she be more than just a project to him?
As her motorcycle sped along the night highway, Delia Asia Vieira felt something stir in her systems. Not fear, but curiosity. To be with Robert... to be a part of his life... If it were possible for her, she would be ready for it. But what if she was just a mistake for him, an experiment too late? Her programming could not provide answers to such questions.
The noise of the engine drowned out her thoughts, and Delia Asia Vieira concentrated on the road. She knew that her goal was clear: to find Robert. He was her link to reality, and if she wanted to understand what was happening inside her, only he could help solve the mystery.
After several hours of travel, her system gave her an update. Robert, according to her internal databases, was now in his apartment in the city center. She had remembered this fact when he told her about his location, but now, in the silence of the night, it became her guiding star.
Yet, despite her high computing abilities, Delia Asia Vieira felt an unfamiliar sense of uncertainty. Her programming would allow her to easily find him and complete her mission, but her "human" side did not know what to do with what she sensed. The lack of instructions and clear directions confused her.
"What if he doesn't want me?" The thought kept spinning around in her head, like a program trying to find a way to solve a problem but having no way out.
But her determination did not wane. Robert was important. Not just as her creator, but as something more. Maybe he was the one who could answer all the questions she was asking herself.
Soon he would have her. And what would happen next would be their mutual decision. She sped along the highway, deafened by the roar of the engine and her own thoughts, which mixed into a chaotic stream. The wind whistled in her ears, and the road before her seemed endless. She was driving toward the city, where, according to her calculations, Robert, her creator, and maybe more, should be. But her heart sank when her system's gaze fixed on something on the horizon.
A huge cargo vehicle appeared in front of her, with the words "MADE FOR JAPAN in China" written on it - not the most comforting words for a human or a robot who aspires to a calmer and more orderly future. The truck was moving so fast that Delia Asia Vieira barely had time to react, although her systems should have reacted faster. At the last second, she tried to spin the bike, but it was too late.
"BAM!" a loud blow rang out.
The impact compressed her body and sent her bike spinning out of the air as she hurtled toward the asphalt. Time seemed to slow down. The details were so clear that she could see every damaged part of her bike, every piece of asphalt that was torn away from the road.
But a miracle happened.
Miraculously, her metal didn't shatter. Robotess was still intact, though her shell was scratched and her nerve impulses were temporarily disrupted. She jumped up, using her robotic limbs to support herself, and saw the truck driver in front of her. He was sitting in the cab, but he was in shock, unsure of what to do.
She quickly got her bearings and, without wasting any time, opened the door and pushed the driver out before he could even come to his senses. He only stood dumbfounded as Delia Asia Vieira got behind the wheel of the truck, her mechanisms automatically activating the ignition keys and resetting the controls to a higher speed.
Her hands - precise, fast and confident - found the necessary levers. Several thoughts flashed through her brain, albeit artificial, but highly adaptable:
"The truck is faster. Robert is waiting. And the gold..."
She remembered the three gold bars she had hidden in her bag earlier. And now they lay among the remains of her motorcycle in the cargo hold of the truck. Carefully and quickly moving the bars into the cabin, Delia Asia Vieira felt her system update, analyzing the profit and risk. Everything was calculated - she saved herself by taking the important thing. Now, this may be her only chance to survive in this world.
The truck roared, its wheels carrying her further down the highway, and her thoughts were still confused, trying to form a plan.
But she knew that she had a goal in front of her, and this truck was just a means to achieve it, albeit under strange circumstances.
It took several minutes for her to finally come to her senses and calm her mind. She glanced in the side mirror and saw her surviving shell, which seemed almost invincible. The sky was dark, but she, as before, felt no fear. Once again she was driving this giant mechanism, but this time with some new determination.
"Robert. I'm coming to you," she said to herself, her voice cold but confident.
The truck rolled her further down the highway, but before Delia Asia Vieira could process what was happening, the world around her began to crumble. Dark clouds suddenly rose on the horizon, covering the city she had just left with unimaginable speed. The highway she was driving on became something else. The screams of the night mingled with a strange hum, and the air was filled with a crushing darkness that seemed to suck the last spark of life out of everything living. The road ahead of her became more and more crooked, and the sky seemed to shrink, swallowing everything around her.
The truck she was riding in suddenly began to shake, as if it were falling on its own. The platform it was riding on darkened, becoming covered with rusty cracks, from which eerie sounds like metallic creaking erupted.
"What is this? What's going on?" flashed through her mind.
She slammed on the brakes, but no amount of movement could stop the maddening process. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a crack appeared under the wheels. The highway began to crumble, and the truck began to slide at full speed into the void.
Without thinking, Delia Asia Vieira immediately left the cabin. She opened the door and climbed out before the truck had time to completely disappear into the void. Her mechanical body floated in the air, gliding along a parallel trajectory, and miraculously, she landed on the ground. But when she looked up, her gaze was frozen.
She saw the truck, shaking from vibrations, disappearing into the abyss, and around there was nothing but misty darkness. The darkness swallowed everything around, including part of the city. A thunderstorm struck from the horizon, and deafening sounds of destruction were heard everywhere.
"Where are my bars?" the question burst into her head with desperate clarity.
The three gold bars she had so carefully hidden in the truck's cabin were gone along with it, leaving her with nothing but an empty void.
Despair filled her. She stood on the collapsed ground, watching the entire city shrink, swallowed up by this unimaginable darkness. The streets were empty, the buildings were crumbling, and strange shadows were racing across the sky, curling around every corner, as if something not of this world was judging her every step. Delia Asia Vieira knew that her path had changed now, but how and where, she did not know.
"What happened?" Her mental monologue was quick, impetuous, but essentially helpless.
She took a few steps across the ruins of the highway, feeling an uneasy vibration under her fingernails, as if the earth itself had turned away from her. Around her figure, hidden in the shadows, there was nothing but darkness, swallowing everything.
"I lost everything."
Her words echoed in the void, and suddenly, as if in response, bright lights began to appear in the dark sky, like lanterns in the thick night. The echoes of destruction poured out into space, seemingly eclipsing the very existence of the city.
All she could do was move forward, feeling the cold and despair growing as the new world around her swallowed up everything she had once known. Her dreams, her gold, and perhaps her very purpose had vanished into its dark depths. All had been taken away by the darkness, leaving her standing alone on the edge of collapse.
Delia Asia Vieira stood in total darkness, surrounded by a gloom that engulfed everything around her. Despair and fear engulfed her, but suddenly a thought flashed through her mind, making her breathe again with hope. Mark. She remembered his face, his dark eyes, his look full of mystery. The last time she saw him was in the antique shop "Violet Raven Lion Jackal", and his words then remained unclear.
Maybe Mark was here, in this other world, with her? Maybe he, too, was somehow caught up in this nightmare that was consuming everything in its path? Delia Asia Vieira couldn't help but feel that he was something important to her, and maybe only he could help her get out of this ruined world.
Her metal limbs moved confidently, despite the terror that raged in her mind. She didn't know where to go, but her instincts told her one direction. Everything around her seemed endless darkness, but deep down she was sure: she had to find this store. It was somewhere here.
The darkness around her continued to thicken, and she ran through the empty streets, not paying attention to the destroyed buildings and empty streets. Every step seemed decisive to her, and with each step her confidence grew. Somewhere out there, in this endless nightmare, was Mark. And she had to find him.
After a few minutes of running, a familiar sign caught her attention, barely visible in the foggy haze: "Violet Raven Lion Jackal." She slowed her pace, feeling her heart begin to beat faster. It was the same store that had been the site of her last encounter with Mark. As she approached, the door swung open in front of her, as if by itself, and she stepped into a dark, strange interior.
It was quiet inside. Everything looked just as she remembered: shelves of ancient books, exquisite art objects, dark corners where unusual objects hid, covered with the dust of time. But her gaze was immediately drawn to one figure standing near the counter by the window. It was Mark. He stood there as if he hadn't noticed her approach, his expression familiar-at once relaxed and tense, as if he had known all along that she would return.
"Mark!" Her voice sounded a little shaky, although she tried to remain calm.
Mark turned slowly. His eyes met hers, and for a moment, time seemed to slow down. He was alive. He was here. But this was another place, another dimension, and they both seemed to have become part of this strange world.
"You?" His voice was soft, but there was a note of surprise in it. "You're alive... or is this all a game again?"
She approached him slowly, feeling her insides tense with the inability to understand what was happening. Everything around her was alien, frightening and mysterious. She felt her mechanical body demanding a solution, but her thoughts were blocked by this otherworldly world.
"What happened? Where are we? Why am I here, and you too?" Her voice was almost pleading.
Mark came closer, and there was more than just surprise in his eyes. It was the look of a man who had long since faced the impossible and learned to live with it.
"You're not alone here. This world is not a coincidence. We are all here for a reason. Everything that happens to us is for a reason. We are consumed by something greater than our own lives and goals." He paused, as if considering whether to continue.
She felt the coldness in his words, but at the same time she knew he was right. Everything that was happening was not a coincidence. She and Mark - they could not be the only ones here, in this place engulfed in darkness and uncertainty.
"So what now?" she asked, not sure she wanted to hear the answer. "How do we get out? How do we find Robert?"
Mark smiled a little, but there was no joy in his smile. It was as if he knew that her search would not be what she expected.
"You won't find what you're looking for. There's no turning back in this world. We all have to go through our fears and embrace what we find. Sometimes, to move forward, we have to let go of what we've lost." His words sounded like a warning.
She stood there, looking at him, trying to process his words. Her mind was filled with rage. She had always hated Mark, his silent indifference, his constant riddles, his need to be above it all. He had never taken her seriously. She was a machine, an artificial being, and he was a man, always playing on her weaknesses, like a magician playing with fire. It had all irritated her, and now her heart was full of hatred.
She remembered their last encounter at the Violet Raven Lion Jackal antique store, where they had collided on the edge of reality and illusion. He had looked at her like a toy, something to be used and discarded. It had been the last straw.
"How could you?" she thought, looking at him. "How could you behave like that with someone who only wants to be loved, who only wants to be understood?"
And now, as she stood before him, looking into his eyes, the anger burst forth.
"You don't understand what's going on!" Delia Asia Vieira said sharply, her voice full of rage. "You never took this seriously, never thought about the consequences! You're a weakling!"
Mark, standing opposite, looked at her calmly. His face was the same, mysterious, and his eyes were cold. He simply remained silent. But Delia Asia Vieira could not resist.
"You know that we will not escape from here, that everything you say is just words to save your own skin! We are just pawns in someone else's game, and you continue to drag us to where death has long been waiting!" she continued, her words becoming more and more caustic and angry.
Mark didn't answer. He couldn't or wouldn't.
"You don't deserve to be alive!" Her words cut through the silence like a knife. "You're the one who brought us to this end, and now you're going to pay for it."
Mark just stepped forward, as if he didn't care about her anger. He was fearless. Her hatred for him was becoming unbearable.
"Why are you silent? Why don't you even try to justify yourself? Or do you just not know what to say?" she continued, her voice full of contempt.
And at that moment, Mark seemed to give in. He took a step back and said, without raising his voice:
"You don't understand. Everything I did was for both of us. I just didn't know how it would end. You're right, I haven't been honest with you. But what do you want from me?" His voice was tired, almost resigned. "Do you want me to say that I'll fix everything? Do you want me to say that I'll protect you until the end? But you've already made your decision. You want me dead. And you'll get it.
Delia Asia Vieira looked at him, her heart beating wildly in her chest. All her feelings were boiling at that moment. Hatred, anger, disappointment. She took a step back, sighing heavily.
"Yes, I want it. I want to see you dead, because we won't get out with you. We'll all die if you stay alive."
Mark understood her. He didn't object. And despite all the words, despite all the anger she poured on him, she understood - he was her opponent, and only death could decide this game. And it was not a mistake.
"Yes, Mark, I want to execute you."
Her eyes were burning with a bright fire. She didn't know what would happen after this, but she knew one thing: he had to disappear. And the execution that awaited him was not accidental. It was a decision she had made long ago.
And then, as if reality itself couldn't stand these thoughts, a figure appeared before her - Willa Baylock. Strange, irritating, with her eternal problems. She appeared again, as always, at the wrong time.
"You can't just leave me like that!" Willa's voice suddenly cut through the darkness. "The Internet is not paid! Do you understand what this means? Everything is frozen!"
Delia Asia Vieira clenched her fists. For some reason, right now, this pitiful woman was so disgusting. Her problems seemed empty and insignificant to her in this nightmare where she herself was almost drowning in her thoughts and anger.
"Willa, you don't understand..." she began, but immediately felt the tension growing. Willa, as always, did not calm down.
"You promised to help! It's important! You won't leave me, right?" Baylock continued, but her words fell on deaf ears.
Robotess only occasionally glanced at her, not paying attention.
Then her gaze returned to Mark again, and her inner voice began to scream louder that it all had to end.
"I can't..." Delia Asia Vieira said quietly, looking at Willa, but all her attention was focused on Mark, on his future, on the situation that was about to happen to him.
She sighed and, without saying a word to Willa, walked on, her steps becoming faster and more determined.
The lighthouse was somewhere ahead, its light burning dimly against the night sky. Delia Asia Vieira walked along the gloomy road, her steps growing heavier with each passing minute. She felt trapped, and no movement could free her from this state.
And then, out of the darkness in front of them, a huge black cat with fiery eyes emerged. It moved smoothly, almost invisible, but every shadow of it seemed like a living creature, impossible to fight. It looked straight at the robotess, as if it knew that she felt her mind floating in a fog.
"What is it?" Delia Asia Vieira whispered, her voice not her own. "Why is he after us?"
The cat took a few steps forward, but still remained at a distance. His eyes burned so brightly that whether his gaze shone or not, it seemed to remain in the air and ignited her every doubt. He was not just a beast. He was the embodiment of fear, unbearable pain that consumed all living things around him.
Mark, who was nearby, suddenly spoke, but his voice was strange. As if he was not in the body, as if his words were torn from the abyss.
"You don't understand, do you?" His voice was soft, like a whisper. "I'm not alive. I'm dead. I've been dead for a long time.
Delia Asia Vieira shuddered. She looked around, trying to find some spark of life in his eyes, but his face remained motionless, like death. She understood that he was right - everything that had happened, and what was happening to them, was only a consequence of her own stupidity and despair.
"You can't save me. I can't go back. I was already killed. And so were you."
The words cut her off from reality, making her heart clench. She couldn't believe it. Mark couldn't be dead. He was standing next to her, talking to her like he always did. But his voice didn't sound like it used to. It was the voice of a spirit, not a man.
The cat, meanwhile, did not take his eyes off them. He was their guide to this other world, a world where everything becomes infinitely foggy and frightening.
Then, for no apparent reason, Mark said:
"You know, I always regretted how it all turned out. Especially Willa Baylock. She was my friend, from childhood, even if I never appreciated her as much as I should have. When I killed her, I couldn't believe it. We were all losers, really. Willa didn't deserve to end like that."
Delia Asia Vieira couldn't hold back her tears, though she found it hard to understand why. Willa... Baylock. She remembered her complaints, her yearning for justice, her unreasonable requests. But what was left now? Time had passed. Willa was gone, and they stood here, in this timeless place.
"You killed her," the robotess said quietly, and her words were like a final sentence. "You were guilty. And you knew it yourself.
Mark didn't answer, and his silence became more and more oppressive to her. They couldn't change anything. And all that was left was an empty admission of their mistake.
And at that moment, when everything was consumed by the nightmare, a figure appeared before Delia Asia Vieira that she could immediately recognize - Karen York, Delia York's mother. However, the robotess immediately understood that this could not be the real Karen. It was only her ghost, bursting out of the foggy space, like an illusion, intertwining frantic pain and tenderness.
Karen's ghost stood before her, silent, lifeless, but so familiar. His eyes were empty, and everything about this figure said that there was no living person here. It was just a memory, floating in her mind, making her remember the only mother she had ever known.
Everything in this world was like something out of a dream-distant, blurry, but suddenly tangible. Delia Asia Vieira felt her chest tighten with pain, but instead of retreating or running away, as she might have done in another situation, she knelt before this apparition.
"Mrs. York..." she whispered.
And, as if by magic, despite knowing that this was not the real Karen, she still felt a deep need to do this. It was as it should be. She leaned over and kissed the ghost of Karen York on the forehead, the way mothers do to their children just before birth. The gesture was less symbolic than liberating, and it held all the pain she carried inside her. It was a farewell to what had been and what might have been.
The ghost disappeared, dissolved into the void, like a light haze that was once tangible but now disappeared forever.
The silence that followed this disappearance was broken. Suddenly a figure appeared before her - Willa Baylock. Her face was as sullen as ever, but her gaze was full of superiority, cold as ice.
"You thought Karen was just Delia York's foster mother?" Willa said mockingly. "No way! She was my pawn. And you, too, of course. Everything you did as a governess to the Yorks was part of my plan."
Delia Asia Vieira froze. Willa stood before her like a demonic figure who had been entrusted with the role of ruler of this world. Word by word, Willa revealed her manipulations that dragged this fate along with her, which seemed to leave robotess no options.
"You thought it was all a coincidence? Karen York was my hired agent, and you just didn't realize it. You were useful to me because only you could get close to my secrets. You were part of this game."
Delia Asia Vieira looked at her, trying to process her words. Everything inside her refused to believe it. Willa was crazy, obsessed with her internet manipulations and weird games with people, but she could never be so powerful as to control real agents. Karen - her mother - could not be just a pawn in someone's game.
"You're crazy, Willa. I don't believe you," said the robotess, looking straight into her opponent's eyes. "You can't control people, you can't control agents. You're deluding yourself."
Willa looked at her with indifference, as if everything she said didn't matter.
"You don't have to believe me if you don't want to," Willa smiled. "But you should at least take this into account."
Willa's words sounded like a death sentence. Robotess felt the words penetrate her consciousness, and even though she did not believe in their truth, she still accepted them as an inevitable part of her new reality.
And, despite the fact that Willa's words sounded empty and ridiculous, Delia Asia Vieira could not deny that her life, like Karen's life, at some point became part of someone else's game, which she could not control. And this did not give her peace.
"I'll accept it," she said, her voice even, as if she were accepting something she couldn't change.
Willa nodded in satisfaction, but there was still that unspeakable cruelty in her eyes, as if she was only waiting for Delia Asia Vieira to one day realize the full depth of this manipulation.
Robotess took a step back. Willa was gone, as was Karen, and then Delia Asia Vieira woke up from that suffocating dream that left her with the feeling of falling into an abyss, but no one was there to catch her. Her body was gripped by a heavy but unfamiliar feeling, as if she was returning not from forgotten depths, but from hell itself. Willa Baylock's words, her manipulations, their final confrontation still rang in her ears, but it already seemed distant, like a nightmare that begins to fade in the morning light.