My breathing was ragged, but the sharp, searing pain had dulled to a simmering ache, The world around me was a haze of muffled shouts and quick, frantic footsteps on metallic floors.
"Wasn't I dead?" I thought, the question echoed in my mind, almost louder than the chaos around me.
"No, you aren't, kid," a voice cut through the fog. It was calm but firm, belonging to a man in a white suit standing at the edge of my vision. His face was obscured by a mask, "We managed to kick-start your heart just in time." It continued.
Kick-start my heart? What had happened to me?
I tried to lift my head, to focus, but my body was sluggish, unresponsive. Voices overlapped around me—technicians shouting orders, alarms blaring faintly in the background. I couldn't make sense of it all.
And yet, amidst the chaos, I felt a strange calmness within me.
I was alive.
Not just alive—I felt powerful
Yes, powerful. I had survived whatever this was. The pain, the transformation, the bloodline awakening—I had endured it all. My bloodline had to be powerful. It had to be. I had heard them say "Code Black." That had to mean something unique, something extraordinary, right?
A faint smile crept across my lips, but it was short-lived.
"Hahaha!"
A loud, abrupt laugh shattered my thoughts, cutting through the noise like a blade. The voice was deep, gruff, and carried an edge of bitterness.
"Hey, kid," the voice continued, dripping with mockery. "Wake up from your little fantasy."
I forced my head to turn, my vision still blurry and distorted. A figure stood in the corner of the room, leaning against the wall. It wasn't a man—it was something else.
It was humanoid in shape, but its skin shimmered like polished metal, two horns protruded from his forehead with a vertical closed eye in the center.
My happiness was short lived albeit I felt chills in my spine when the figure spoke
"There's nothing special about you," it spat, its tone grumpy and disdainful. "We're all nothing but tools, servants of the Thirteen Rulers."
The words hit me like a slap. Tools? Servants? What the hell?
"Who... who are you?" I managed to croak out, my voice barely above a whisper.
The figure stepped forward, its movements unnervingly smooth, almost mechanical. "I've been called many names," it said, its tone laced with amusement. "But you may call me Omnis. Like you, I am an ant in the great scheme of things, one who can be crushed at a whim by the Rulers."
I felt confused, and looked at the man with questioning gaze.
The figure tilted its head, and a slow, unsettling smile spread across its face, exposing sharp, glinting teeth that looked anything but human.
My heartbeat quickened, I tried to move my body but it refused to move, the feeling was unsettling, I felt scared...
"Ah, I see it now," Omnis murmured, its voice dripping with amusement. "You're afraid, aren't you? Good. You should be."
"What... what do you want?" I murmured in a trembling voice.
Omnis chuckled, the sound low and rumbling, like distant thunder. "What do I want? Oh, child, it's not about what I want. It's about what they want."
It pointed upward with a single clawed finger, its glowing red eyes narrowing. The vertical eye on its forehead twitched, as though it were trying to open.
"The Thirteen Rulers," it continued, "they decide everything. They see everything. And you, little anomaly, have just stepped into their spotlight."
Omnis leaned closer, its metallic face inches from mine. I could see my own reflection in its polished surface—wide-eyed, pale, and utterly terrified.
"Because I enjoy watching the hope drain from your eyes," it said, its voice a whisper now, like the hiss of steam escaping a valve. "You think you're special. You think you've been chosen. But the truth is..."
It paused, and the vertical eye on its forehead snapped open. A sickly, glowing green light poured out, bathing my face in its eerie radiance.
"You're just a pawn in a game you can't even begin to understand."
I gasped, a cold, suffocating fear wrapping itself around my chest like it was stabbing daggers. I clenched my chest, cause my heart seemed to seep out of my chest
Ah, I feel like I am losing my mind here.
The figure started to fade slowly but it still had the serene smile
"Remember this moment, little anomaly," its voice echoed, disembodied now, fading into the air. "For it may be the last time you feel alive."
And then it was gone.
The weight pressing down on me lifted, I jolted awake but my heartbeats were still fast.
"Subject #20's vitals are spiking!" one of them yelled.
"Stabilize him! Now!"
I barely heard them. My heart was racing, my mind was spinning. The figure's words played over and over in my head, like a haunting melody I couldn't shake.
What had I just seen? Who—or what—was Omnis? And why did I feel like I'd just glimpsed the edge of something vast and terrible, something that would consume me whole if I dared to look too closely?
The room spun, and darkness crept at the edges of my vision. I collapsed back onto the table, the weight of fear pressing me down once more.
But this time, it wasn't my body that felt heavy-It were the daunting questions.