The sky was dark.
Not the darkness of night—the darkness of a world that had forgotten how to shine. Clouds hung low and heavy, bloated with something that wasn't rain. Insects crept beneath roots, their bodies glowing faintly, pulsing like dying embers.
Calvin sneezed.
His eyes opened. Wide. Confused.
Huh?
He scratched his head. Grass fell from his hair. Leaves stuck to his clothes. He rose up slowly, joints cracking, muscles screaming.
Then he stared around.
Huge trees. Wrong sky. The smell of blood and decay.
"Wait. What?"
He ran.
The underground hall was thick with whispers.
Hunters gathered in cliques—small circles of armor and suspicion. Their voices bounced off concrete walls, overlapping, colliding, growing into a dull roar.
"Imagine." A hunter leaned close to his companion. "Only those two new hunters survived."
"Right." The other hunter laughed—short, mean, no warmth. "I bet they ran for their lives. Hid in a hole somewhere while everyone else got slaughtered."
"Maybe." A third hunter joined the conversation. Her arms were crossed. Her eyes were narrow. "But I heard they had some kind of connection to the boss."
"That explains nothing." The first hunter spat on the floor. "Connections don't stop a rock worm."
"True."
A pause.
"But one thing I know for sure." The second hunter grinned. "Calvin is deeply traumatized by now. Probably crying like a baby."
The group laughed.
Tracy stood close by. Her hands were folded. Her yellow hair hung loose around her shoulders. Her face was blank.
She listened.
Then she sighed.
She turned away and left.
Kael sat on his stool.
The room was cold. White walls. White ceiling. White light that buzzed and flickered.
His face was pale. His eyes were distant. His hands rested on his knees, limp and heavy.
Pure pretense.
Percy stared at him from across the room. Then her gaze shifted to Calvin, who sat on a crate near the wall, weeping. Painfully. Openly. His shoulders shook with every sob.
"Wipe your tears." Percy's voice was flat. "Enough."
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Calvin wiped his face with his sleeve. His eyes were red. His nose was running. He looked like a child who'd been lost in a storm.
"So." Percy leaned back in her chair. "You two survived."
She looked at Kael, who seemed too stunned to speak. His mouth was slightly open. His eyes were unfocused.
Perfect act.
"He was unconscious when I found him," Calvin said.
His voice cracked.
He cleared his throat.
"Some hunters from Droller's gang had ambushed me and taken him. I woke up buried in grass. I searched for a long time. Then I found..."
He stopped.
"Go on." Percy leaned forward.
Calvin's breath shook.
"I found crushed humans everywhere. Bodies ground into paste. Blood sprayed across the trees. And Kael was there—fainted, laying on the ground."
His hands trembled.
"Droller," Calvin whispered. "Droller killed everyone."
Percy was silent for a long moment. Her eyes moved from Calvin to Kael. From Kael to Calvin.
Then she spoke.
"Calvin. Take him to his room. Let him recover alone."
Calvin nodded.
He stood up. Walked to Kael. Helped him to his feet.
Kael didn't resist. Didn't speak. Just let himself be led out of the room, down the hallway, through the sliding doors.
The perfect victim.
Minutes passed.
Kael sat on his bed.
The room was small. A bed. A desk. A mirror on the wall. A headset on the pillow.
He was alone.
His shoulders relaxed. His face shifted—the blankness fading, replaced by something sharper. Something aware.
Done with pretense.
He stared at the ceiling.
What is Crucify?
He called out in his mind. "Crucify."
Silence.
"Crucify."
Nothing.
Seems it only speaks during danger. Or when I manipulate. Or when I do something... crazy.
He sighed.
That was close.
He held his head. His fingers pressed into his temples.
Why? Why would it use her voice?
His breath shook.
Why Mara's voice?
He looked at the headset on the bed. Grabbed it. Put it on. His finger hovered over the play button.
"A person is standing at the door."
The AI personnel's voice was calm. Flat. Female.
Kael lowered the headset.
"Come in."
The door slid open.
Calvin walked in.
"Hey." His voice was soft. Careful. "Sorry to disturb you. But how are you doing? Is everything all right?"
Kael stared at him.
Then he smiled. Warm. Fake. Perfect.
"No need. I'm all right."
Calvin sat on the bed beside him. Not too close. Not too far. Just close enough to be human.
He looked at the white metal ceiling for a moment. Then he sighed.
"You know... sometimes I wonder if we humans have any value for each other."
He paused.
"We die like cattle in a pen. Slaughtered every day. But why? Pride? Hatred? What else?"
Kael said nothing.
Calvin kept talking. His voice was distant. Like he was speaking to himself.
"According to history, five thousand years ago, all humans lived on Earth. There were nations. Governments. At least there was unity back then."
He looked at his hands.
"But after we entered the interstellar age and discovered portals—the Blue of Mutated Class, the Spiral Elemental Portal, the Purple, and then the Black—we diverged. Went our separate ways."
His breath misted in the cold air.
"Now we have twenty races. Twenty distant races in other galaxies. That's who Geotequar citizens call aliens."
He laughed. No humor in it.
"Not knowing they were once humans like us."
Kael listened.
"Then four years ago..." Calvin's voice dropped. "I was eleven. Me and my brother were fighting. Stupid kid stuff. Then the explosion happened."
He stopped.
"No one knows its source. Even now. My father and my mom... nowhere to be found. The blood-soaked cyberpunk deep slums became a dead silent city."
Kael bent low. His forehead nearly touched his knees.
That explosion...
He stopped the thought. Locked it away.
Calvin rose up from the bed.
"Guy, I'd better not bring down your mood." He forced a smile. Weak. Wobbly. "Sorry."
Kael looked at him.
"Sorry," he muttered.
Calvin stopped.
His back was to Kael. His hand was on the door.
"I know it's hard, but..." Kael's voice was quiet. "Your brother. Is he alive?"
Calvin turned around.
He stared at Kael in silence for a long time.
Then he spoke.
"He's been in a coma for four years."
His voice was low. Barely a whisper.
"It's all my fault."
He walked away.
The door slid shut.
Kael's heart shifted.
Just for a second. Just a flicker. Something moved inside his chest—something that wasn't hunger, wasn't cold, wasn't the void.
Tears.
They slipped from his eyes. Silent. Smooth. Just like Chapter One.
His mouth was wide open.
"You didn't smile for me."
The voice made a scratch. Just a scratch. Just enough to remind him.
He tried to remember his past—but every time he did, his head ached. Sharp. Deep. Like a knife between his eyes.
He blinked to stop the tears.
They kept falling.
The only thing he kept hearing was her voice.
Mara's face. The two gaps in her teeth. Her fluffy brown hair. Her light brown skin. The way she said his name.
"Big bro."
Kael bent his head low.
Tears dripped onto the metal floor.
Plink. Plink. Plink.
Tracy walked outside.
The underground building rose behind her—concrete and steel, bristling with antennas. The sky above was the color of old bruises.
Her hands were in her pockets. White jacket pullover. Black joggers. Canvas shoes. Her chip glowed faintly on her neck. Her yellow hair gleamed under the dim light.
She spotted Kael.
He was sitting on a bench near the entrance. Black hoodie. Brown skin. Headset on his head. His eyes were closed. His head nodded slowly to a beat only he could hear.
She moved to his front. Waved her hand.
Signal.
Kael opened his eyes. Turned off his headset.
"Boss Percy is waiting for you on the road," Tracy said. "She's late."
Kael stared at her for a moment.
Then he rose up and left.
Tracy tilted her head. Watched him walk away.
Something about him...
She shook her head and went back inside.
"So." Percy's voice drifted out of the car window. "You're okay now?"
Kael stood on the roadside. His headset hung around his neck, glowing faintly. His boots were cracked. His hoodie was stained.
He stared at her.
"What are you up to?"
Percy smiled.
"Get in."
Kael walked around the car. Opened the door. Slipped inside.
The seats were warm. The engine hummed. The air smelled like leather and ozone.
"I hope you're growing fast," Percy said.
She didn't look at him. Her eyes were on the road.
"I just got started," Kael replied.
Hmm. Percy snorted. Soft. Almost amused.
She put the car in gear.
The engine growled.
"Kael."
He turned his head.
"The weak die." Her voice was flat. Matter-of-fact. Like she was discussing the weather. "Just like yesterday. Don't wait for a long time."
She stepped on the gas pedal.
The car boosted forward.
"It's a game of survival."
The wind roared through the open windows. The dead city blurred past. Neon lights bled across the wet asphalt.
Kael said nothing.
He just watched the world disappear behind them.
End of Chapter Ten.