"Kneel," Ian had said. I dropped to my knees upon his request.
"A Fractless Bears a Fractal for the First Time Ever in Melysian History. Isn't that a captivating title?" He slowly walked in our direction, following the dip of the bottom of the sphere. "After this all subsides, I'm planning to write a book about the experiences in my life as a controller on the sidelines. What you've accomplished today will be a chapter in that archive, Klyson."
I was nervous with emotion. After the shocking revelation in my previous encounter with Ian, I didn't know what to think of my role in Heathen anymore.
"I've executed dozens of HP Fractals upon your request, including those of my own former allies. I've fended off J from the Task Force, and even taken down Enzo, all in our defense. What more do you want from me, Ian? What more can I do for Heathen before it's considered enough?"
He scoffed. "Look around you, Klyson. Do you realize where we are?"
I glanced around the green domain, noticing that we were suspended high into the sky, overlooking the part of downtown Melysia that Soho and I were just in.
"Up here in Seris' Obelus, I got to watch your battle with Enzo take place from up above. I saw everything, from the massacre of both the proxies and Angels alike, to your near death by Enzo's flank. You speak as if you'd done it all on your own, when in reality, extenuating circumstances saved you at the very end. Plus, your accomplice over here helped you execute your strongest move. Something you failed to do in that previous war."
My eye widened upon hearing what he'd said.
'Previous war'...?
"You've reached a stage in your time with Heathen where you've finally shown sufficient promise to inherit the Null. And I'm sure that with Enzo's death, the inevitable is already on its way."
I understood what he meant. So I spoke it out. "A.X.A. has waged war against us."
"As expected. That should mean that the re-emergence of the Sin of Wrath is on the horizon."
His words enlightened what I'd misunderstood from what Michael had said prior.
"I have something on standby that you do not want to experience, Klyson Rainer… It will be a horror that you've never experienced in your lifetime."
With my decline in Michael's offer to rejoin A.X.A. and become an Overseer, he had threatened all of us with using the Sin of Wrath. I failed to realize it in that moment, and with that understanding, I may have just doomed all of us.
"There isn't much time left. You need to inherit the Null now, Klyson."
It seemed like I would live out my purpose for Heathen in the end after all. There was no way I would ever return to A.X.A, but there also wasn't much room to make my own decisions aside from Heathen's. The Null was inevitably my calling.
"To prevent a second-coming of the Filtering, and a possibility of the Shattering, you must use the Null to erase all Fractals in Melysia. Wipe away the century of curses A.X.A. has endowed onto all of us. You're truly the only one who can do it now."
My heart was beating rapidly. I could only stare at the green transparent floor as I compiled everything that'd accumulated until this very moment. It was in that instant when a memory of where this all started flashed through my head—the green sparks amidst the chaos of the Invidan War.
My spiral into this wicked life began the moment she appeared.
"Before I inherit the Null and sell my soul to you, Ian, please enlighten me with at least one more concern that's been eating away at me ever since it happened."
"What is it, Klyson?"
"Seris appeared that day of the Invidan War. Back then when I was still in A.X.A. Back then when I was still unawakened and weak as a Fractless. We were on the brink of losing that war, but she came at the exact moment we needed it. Now knowing her ties to you, I can deduce that it was all meticulously calculated, wasn't it? I know it wasn't just a coincidence." I locked a tight stare with Ian's eyes. "What was your involvement with the Invidan War, Ian?"
A latent smile grew on his wrinkly face. That alone was enough to answer my question, but he vocalized it anyways.
"There's no use left in hiding secrets like those, considering your current state. So, I'll fulfill that curiosity for you." Ian looked to his left, and I noticed that he was glancing at Seris who hovered in the air outside of the green domain. He nodded, and she nodded in return. In a sudden succession of green flashing lights, our sphere's position had changed to hang above another location. As I looked at the surroundings from where we stood suspended, my stomach twisted at the recognition of where we were.
"Does it bring back memories, Klyson?"
Seris had just transported us to a place all too familiar. We were overlooking the northwest frontier, where the Invidan War had taken place.
What…?
There were tremors in my hands. My assumptions were beginning to manifest as reality, and it was terrifying me.
"The same way I'd overlooked your battle with Enzo just now, I'd done the same during the Invidan War."
My voice was shaky. "You've been watching me ever since the Invidan War?"
"I've been watching you ever since before that, Klyson. The Invidan War was just an event to bring about what I expected of you."
"What the hell do you mean…?"
"Just like you'd said, it was all meticulously calculated. The Null has been complete for a long time already, but without a Fractless to inherit it, I was on the lookout for a heir. As you'd expect, I'd always had my eyes on Enzo. He was what I modelled the Null after. So even when he left Heathen to join A.X.A, I was waiting for the moment he faltered so I could take him back again. But then came another Fractless into the ranks of the Tenfold, innocent, unaware, and naive—a completely blank slate that I could draw my biddings onto. That was you."
I couldn't believe what I was hearing.
"Somehow, someway, I needed to convert you over to Heathen without giving myself away. But at the same time, I needed an Awakened Fractless to inherit the Null, which was a state you hadn't yet reached. Until then, I never knew exactly what'd activated Enzo's Fractless potential, but I assumed it was an event akin to what would cause a Fractal Activation. So I did the only thing I could think of in order to activate your own Fractless potential, which was to create a scenario that would put you in a situation where'd you'd need to adapt immediately."
My mouth hung open. His words passed through my head, and with delay, I processed them slowly and painfully. He was leading me on with words that could only make me assume the very worst.
"Are you telling me that the Invidan War was all just a scenario you curated?"
He nodded, and my heart strained.
"As always, you're keen on the senses, Klyson."
My mind had gone blank. My body had become frozen. My eyes quivered in place. My thoughts had dissolved. Everything, absolutely everything, was all curated from the very start. Like a puppet attached to millions of strings, I had been walking along a stage that'd been set-up, scripted, and directed by a single person behind the curtains.
"Invidan isn't a country. It's all made up. Even the name 'Invidan' is derived from my own name, 'Ian.' The onslaught of numbers from 'Invidan's army' were actually just some of my proxy colonies, situated outside of Melysia. The whole war event itself was just meant to put you in a position where you'd be forced to awaken your Fractless potential. I started off by getting rid of your allies, one by one, eventually placing you in a predicament where you had to adapt to the gravity of the situation. That's when you tried to execute your 'game-changing' plan, which I quickly shut-down."
That exact memory flashed through my mind. I knew exactly what moment he was talking about. When the borders of Melysia were only left with defense in the care of Emanuel, Cynthia, and myself, I'd come up with the idea to flank the Invidan army. But when I executed that plan, they were already expecting me, and I lost half of my infantry in that instant.
It all makes sense now. They were already expecting my flank because Ian could see everything from up here. None of it was a surprise to them. They were already looking my way.
"I expected you to awaken in that moment, Klyson. I wanted you to. I'd just shut-down your biggest game plan, and placed you in the most dire of all situations. You should have adapted in that very moment, became stronger, and overthrown my army to win the war. But you were too weak-minded. Instead of fighting for the chance to survive the moment, it seemed like you had just accepted defeat. It sent you and your allies into a spiral towards subjugation against my army, which is why Seris had to step-in and intervene at the very end. If my proxies had successfully breached the border during that war, it would have risked exposing Heathen entirely. So I had her clean up the mess at the last possible second, leaving you all with only questions and assumptions rather than certainty."
Everything had finally added up—the reason behind the failure in my plan during that war, and the reason behind the sudden appearance of the Sin of Discrimination when all hope had been lost. Those mysteries, embedded in the cloudy past, had finally resurfaced with horrifying clarity.
This whole time, I'd never made my own decision, ever.
At the point in which I'd thought my journey had just started, it'd actually just been set into motion by another man.
"Why…?"
"Hmm?" Ian didn't hear me.
"Why? Why do so much just to take away the little control I had over my own life?"
"Because you're Fractless, Klyson. Hadn't Enzo already told you before? You're one of a kind in a country full of Fractals."
I didn't know what to say.
As if there was already little to retract from my life as my own genuine experience, it turned out that nearly everything had been curated from the start. I was a puppet. I was a fraud. I was a nobody that had been forced into something out of my own will. If I could return to the regular, ordinary, introverted life of an unawakened Fractless, I would in a heartbeat. I never asked for these kinds of responsibilities, nor these burdens. I'd been cursed with a damned, wretched life.
I couldn't take it anymore.
"Fuck you, Ian."
The anger had swelled enormously from within. It was an uncontrollable rage.
"Fuck you to hell." I said it calmly, with peace and acceptance. "Fuck you all. Fuck all of you. Fuck everyone and everything. You've all used me as a tool. You don't see me as a person."
My breath had shallowed, and my heartbeat had slowed.
"That isn't true. If anything, I see you as the most important person in the world right now." Ian's words did nothing to reassure me.
"Because I'm the second-half to your overarching plan's tool." I scoffed, as tears swelled in my eye. "That Fractal of yours is pure evil, Ian. There's nothing else to it."
"Heathen is a necessary evil for the bigger evil that is A.X.A. You know that, don't you? With Enzo's death, I can already tell what's coming next. I'd warned you about this. It defines your role."
"What, that the Sin of Wrath is coming?" A horrible laughter suddenly erupted from within me. "That they're going to destroy everything? That they'll bring about a second-coming of the Filtering? Who am I to care about any of that anymore?! Who do you think I am!?"
"I think you're Melysia's savior, Klyson."
"With everything that this country has already done to me at this point, what mercy does it deserve?! Who am I to take on those heavy burdens!? I'm just some Fractless guy who's been forced into every direction he's ever taken! I'm a fucking victim!!"
"Don't act all innocent now. You have many victims of your own."
"While influenced by your Fractal! You think the original Klyson Rainer would have gone around murdering innocents? I couldn't even bear the sight of my own Angel units dying back then! This is all on you, Ian!"
"So what?" He crossed his arms. "You're barking but there's no fruit to it all. You think you can just step away from the stage I've set for you? Look around, Klyson. Realize the situation."
The enlarged, green domain of Seris encapsulated all of us, as we hung up in the windy sky.
"This is Seris' Fractal Box. All of our fates, including my own, are in her hands at the current moment. What makes you think that you can turn down this responsibility now?"
I was sent into a panic. The upfront, undeniable visualization and understanding that there was quite literally nothing I could do to fend for myself was overbearing. I was cornered as always. I didn't want any more of it all.
"End me at this point."
"That just sounds like I'd be doing you a favor," Ian scoffed. "You don't just get to walk away from all of this, Klyson. There is no easy way out for you."
"Then what?" I asked, impatient to continue living. I'd accepted by now that if I continued to live my life as a tool, whether under Heathen or A.X.A.'s control, then I would much rather move onto the next life instead.
"If you'd rather end your life than inherit the Null right now, then would you say the same for her?"
I saw Ian's eyes glance over to my right. Following that gaze, my eye was led to Soho.
Huh?
"You may no longer see value in your own life with these cold truths, but what about your accomplice's?"
"What are you trying to say…?"
"At the cost of you refusing to inherit the Null, what if I kill Soho instead?"
Ian's brute words wiped my state of despair away in an instant. No longer did I dwell on the lack of free will in my life anymore. Like a switch that had been turned on, my focus was immediately on what threatened Soho's safety. I quickly realized that my own choices in these moments would not only affect my own outcome, but hers too.
I need to protect Soho.
I could care less about my own life, but Soho's was important to me. She had a life worth living, no matter the circumstances. And after idling as I watched so many of my previous friends and allies fall already, I wasn't going to let it happen with Soho. I wasn't going to fail again.
Soho had become my sole focus.
"I'll do it then!" I blurted.
"Do what?"
I glared into Ian's eyes. "I'll inherit the Null."
"I know you will. This has been established already." He laughed faintly. "It seems as though you've lost your cold demeanor and harbored feelings for her, haven't you?"
I spared no response. Admitting to what he already assumed would only entertain him. I was done giving Ian satisfaction.
But I need to abide by his orders, in order to keep Soho safe.
I glanced in her direction, and she had drooped her hair over her face as if hiding in shame.
Why…?
Before I could call out to her out of concern, I was quickly reminded of the situation I was in.
"Stand."
My legs shot up and I was on my feet.
"It won't be long before they unleash the Sin of Wrath. Their special Task Force has been annihilated by Seris, and their First—Enzo—has been beaten by you. Their first two lines of offense are gone, which means before they step out themselves, they'll unleash the disaster first."
"They're willing to go that far…?" I recalled the offer Michael had made to me. I realized it was out of desperation. It had occurred to me just how badly they wanted to understand Heathen, Ian, and Seris.
But why…? Why are they willing to go this far for information like that?
"What kind of history did you have with the Overseers for them to throw everything they've got at you like this?" I asked Ian. "I know they gave you your Fractal, but why does it seem like they're out to get you?"
He gave me a discerning look. "You've read the history books, haven't you? The texts state that the Seven Sins have been dead. That's because decades ago, before A.X.A. took over as the political power, they aimed to eradicate the Seven Sins, save for Wrath. They succeeded, but they didn't know that I escaped with my life. I am a living contradiction to that very lie they've planted in everyone's minds. I also know the truth behind the Filtering, which they've played off as a natural event. The masses have no clue that it was A.X.A. themselves that caused that very catastrophe, and that they used a living Sin to do it. I am connected to all of their past acts of unjustification—I am the heir to their downfall. And you, Klyson, are the tool to make that happen. This is your inevitable role."
I sighed and stared at the ground. Everything, absolutely everything Ian had said to me until now was always meant to convince me to contribute to his endgame. From start until finish, he laid heavy burdens and responsibilities upon my shoulders to lift as the one chosen by him. Throughout all of this time, I believed in what he'd entrusted me. Without ever having carried an exclusive role in my life, I took what Ian gave me and ran with it.
"His victims are the people whose thoughts are already on edge. All he does is give the final push."
What Enzo had told me during our battle echoed into my mind. Back then, I was in a mentally vulnerable state, which allowed me to succumb to Ian's Fractal all the more. He had presented me with an open field, only to narrow it down to the hall it had become today. He calculated everything perfectly so that it would arrive to this moment. An awakened Fractless under his control, ready to inherit the Null and do his bidding against A.X.A.
Everything had gone perfectly according to Ian's plan. But there was just one thing.
Why do his words no longer bear weight?
From the moment I'd returned to face Ian once again, he scolded me, berated me, commanded me, and revealed to me. But none of what he said connected to me in the same way it had before. He didn't sound to me like the voice of absolute authority that had always plagued my mind.
Is this…?
It were as if he was just another regular person.
…what it feels like to no longer be affected by Ian's Fractal?
"Are you listening to me, Klyson?" Ian's voice grew. "Look up."
I cocked my head up to lock eyes with him, except it was out of fear rather than control this time. The stern, imposing authority that came with his commanding words spoken drove influence into my actions. However, they did not curate them.
I looked up because I chose to. If I wanted to, I could have just kept staring at the floor…?
My mouth must have hung slightly open out of shocking realization. The realization that I had a mind of my own. These ideas slowly crept into my head. The undeniable, unbelievable understanding that had just been revealed to me and me only.
It can't be…
I was no longer affected by Ian's Fractal, Control.