In the year 2050, humanity discovered the Expanse.

An infinite, ever-shifting dimension that exists beyond reality itself. No one knew where it came from, only that it had always been there—lurking beneath the fabric of existence, waiting to be uncovered.

It changed everything.

The resources harvested from the Expanse accelerated human progress to unfathomable levels. Technology, medicine, infrastructure—90% of the advancements in our society were now thanks to the Expanse, but most jarring of all was the introduction of a new breed of beings: the Cyberdaemons. 

The Expanse teemed with daemons—metaphysical constructs that bonded with those who resonated with their nature. 

Those who formed a harmonious union became Cyberdaemons, enhanced beings capable of supernatural feats. Yet for many, the bond was a curse. Those unable to control their daemons twisted into Cyber Aberrations—a human form slowly, or sometimes suddenly, warped into a monstrous echo of what they once were.

The Cyberdaemons formed a group called the Mikoshi to combat against the aberrations and explore the expanse. In this unforgiving world, only Cyberdaemons could stand against the Aberrations, but for many, there was no escape from the inevitable descent into chaos. 

—

The day dragged on in a haze of dull lectures and the hum of fluorescent lights. I leaned back in my chair, idly spinning a pen between my fingers as the teacher droned on about something I stopped paying attention to ten minutes ago. Around me, my classmates were either frantically jotting down notes or barely keeping their heads up.

Across the aisle, Ryo—one of the only people I could tolerate in this school—stretched with a loud yawn. "Man, this class is killing me."

"You say that about every class," I muttered, resting my chin on my hand.

"Yeah, because they're all boring as hell," he shot back. "Come on, Aida, how do you not fall asleep through this?"

"I do," I admitted. "I just make sure I wake up before I get called on."

From the desk in front of me, Mai—class rep, model student, and someone who took this whole 'school' thing way too seriously—sighed. "You two do realize this material is going to be on the test, right?"

Ryo groaned, slumping onto his desk. "Yeah, yeah, because tests are what really matter in life." He nudged me. "What about you, Aida? Got big dreams? Some grand plan for the future?"

I exhaled through my nose, tapping my pen against my notebook. "Not really."

Mai shot me a disapproving glance. "You can't just drift through life, you know."

I gave her a half-hearted shrug. "Seems to be working fine so far."

She sighed again, clearly deciding I wasn't worth the argument. Meanwhile, Ryo chuckled. "You're such a pain in the ass sometimes, man."

Before I could respond, the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. Students shuffled out of their seats, some relieved, others rushing to pack their things.

As I stood, Ryo clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Hey, we're hitting up the arcade later. You coming?"

I hesitated. The idea of mindlessly mashing buttons for an hour sounded appealing, but…

"Nah," I said, shaking my head. "Not today."

"Suit yourself," he said, already moving toward the door. "Try not to overthink yourself into an early grave, yeah?"

I let out a quiet breath, watching as my classmates faded into the crowded hallway.

A few minutes later, I was on the train home, staring blankly at the city lights blurring past the window.

Neon lights buzzed faintly as I walked through the corridors of Shibuya station, my reflection distorted across rain-slick pavement. It was late, but the city never really slept. The air smelled like damp concrete and fried street food, and somewhere in the distance, the deep thrum of a bassline pulsed through the walls of an underground club.

Just another night.

Another meaningless cycle.

I exhaled, shoving my hands into my pockets. The world had changed so much in just a few decades, but I still felt stuck. It was as if I was waiting for something—anything—to shake me out of this dull, empty haze.

That's when I heard it.

A sound like glass shattering in the night split the air. 

Screams rose, the station's alarms blared, and people scattered in panic. Amidst the frantic surge of bodies within the station, I found myself unable to move, caught in the midst of the chaos.

Within the station's dimly lit concourse, the air rippled—distorted as if reality itself were glitching. A jagged tear split the space between pillars and concrete, its edges pulsing erratically with unnatural light. And from that breach emerged something unspeakable.

A Cyber Aberration.

The moment I laid eyes on it, my stomach turned.

It was a human in the throes of transformation, caught in the brutal process of becoming something else entirely. Their features, once recognizable, were now a grotesque blend of writhing metal and pulsating energy, as if their very soul was being unraveled. The ground beneath them buckled, defying the laws of physics as if nature itself recoiled.

I should have run.

But my body refused to move.

The aberration's head twisted toward me, its shifting, featureless face locking onto my frozen form. Then, without hesitation, it lunged.

Time slowed.

No—time stopped.

Everything around me froze, the rain suspended in midair, droplets hanging like shattered glass. The neon signs flickered one last time and went dark, leaving only an eerie silence.

And then, from the corner of my vision, I saw it.

A blue butterfly, its wings aglow with a soft, otherworldly light, drifting slowly into the stillness. It fluttered closer, circling gently as if it held the key to this frozen moment. I felt its presence as a quiet whisper in my mind:

"All may seem lost, but if you can hear my voice, then there may yet be a possibility to change your fate."

My mind blanked.

Before I could comprehend the words, a wave of exhaustion crashed over me, drowning my thoughts. My vision blurred. My body… wasn't mine anymore.

Something else was moving me now.

My arm lifted. My fingers curled.

And then—

The world shattered.

With a force that seemed to defy nature, a surge that rippled outward, collided with the aberration. The world around us shuddered as time reversed for the creature.

The aberration convulsed as its body unraveled, its limbs snapping back at unnatural angles, its form glitching between past and present. It let out a distorted, agonized screech as it was forced into a previous state—an echo of what it once was.

It became nothing but a husk, a fragmented memory of itself.

I staggered, gasping as control returned.

I had control of my body again, and time resumed for the world once more.

My knees began to give out. My breaths came sharp and uneven, my entire body aching like I had just been thrown back into it after being absent for what felt like an eternity.

What the hell just happened?

The aberration twitched.

It wasn't dead.

Damaged and broken, it began to evolve

Its ruined form pulsed with data, twisting and reshaping into something even worse. It was adapting. Learning.

And it was pissed.

The air around it crackled as it prepared to lunge again—

And then it was gone.

No, not gone. Erased.

A deafening implosion detonated in front of me, the space around the aberration collapsing inward like a singularity. Reality itself folded in on the creature, swallowing it whole before snapping back into place.

I looked up to see a figure emerging from the shifting gloom—a girl whose presence cut through the disarray of the moment. Her form moved with an assured grace, clad in black attire, a cropped long sleeve and baggy pants. Her Silver eyes glowing faintly under the streetlights., and her jet-black hair framed a face of striking beauty. There was an unyielding determination in every step she took, as if the very fabric of space bent to her will.

"It's almost too easy sometimes," she says lightheartedly.

She surveyed the devastation for a fleeting moment, her gaze briefly catching mine—a lone figure amid the wreckage—

For a moment, I simply stood there, my heart pounding with a mix of adrenaline and a strange, burning hope

Then, as the crowd began to surge again, I heard a soft, cautious voice ahead of me

For a moment, I simply stood there, my heart pounding with a mix of adrenaline and a strange, burning hope.

Then, as the crowd began to surge again, I heard a soft, cautious voice

"Are you okay?"

I looked up into the dim light to see her pause, her eyes flickering with concern for just an instant.

"Yeah," I managed, my voice barely above a whisper.

She regarded me for a heartbeat. "I see. That's good," she said softly, before turning away without a further word.

As I was about to respond, her teammate suddenly interrupted.

"Sora, there's been another aberration nearby. We have to hurry."

"Got it," as she starts to leave.

For better or worse, I couldn't just let her go

A desperate hope surged within me—a belief that she might be the one to fill the void I had long carried. I tried to call out, but she was already fading into the crowd.

"Wait…"

I rushed after her, and finally at the station's exit, just as she reached the threshold of the neon-lit world beyond, I acted. Without fully expecting it, I felt the power welling up inside me—and suddenly, time halted again. The rain, the flickering neon, even the cacophony of fleeing voices—all froze in a timeless, silent tableau.

In that critical, suspended moment, I lunged forward and grasped her arm.

"I said, wait."

Then, as time resumed and the world surged back into motion, I looked up into her eyes. Wide with disbelief and shock, she stared at me, as if trying to understand the impossible contact between us.

And in that charged, fragile moment, our fates became irrevocably entwined.

It was clear that nothing would ever be the same again, and that the void inside me would be fixed with a world I could have never imagined.