While chaos brewed at the factory and Rey lay unconscious in his room, another tale was unfolding elsewhere.
In a modest apartment across the city, a young man twisted and turned in his sleep, his brow deeply furrowed, sweat dampening his sheets.
Suddenly, he jolted awake, gasping for air as if he had surfaced from a nightmare too real to be imagined.
He stumbled toward the bathroom, splashing water on his face before meeting his own haunted gaze in the mirror.
Dark circles framed his eyes.His name was Evan.
"Why is this happening to me?" he whispered, his voice shaking. "Why, God? Why?""It's been fifteen days. Fifteen damn days of the same nightmare…"
He punched the sink lightly, exhaling in frustration.
"Maybe I should see a doctor. But how? I've barely got money left. The orphanage allowance is nearly gone, and the next one isn't due for five more days…""I'll have to endure it."
Muttering to himself, he returned to bed, barely shutting his eyes before the dream consumed him again—this time uninterrupted until dawn.
At 6:30 AM, Evan got up, completed his chores like clockwork, locked his door, and headed to school.
At the entrance gate of Mystic High, he found James waiting amid the buzz of arriving students.
"Yo, where's Rey?" James asked, scanning the crowd.
"No clue. Maybe he went in already?" Evan replied.
After waiting a few more minutes, they gave up and headed to class.
Meanwhile, back in Rey's room, all was eerily calm.
He stirred slowly, eyelids fluttering open. The vivid dream still lingered, etched into his mind like smoke after a fire.
"Thank God… it was just a dream," he muttered, trying to brush away the odd, foreign memories clawing at the edges of his mind.
Then—
"Well, looks like the brat's finally awake."
The voice echoed like a ghost in the room.A translucent figure shimmered into existence.
It was Aiden.
"About time," Aiden said. "You've already assimilated 10% of my memories from Earth, so your headache was well-earned."
"HUH? AHHHHHH!"Rey tumbled off the bed in a panic. "Why the hell are you here now?!"
"You really don't get it, do you?" Aiden said with a huff. "I need your help. You've been chosen."
"I don't want to be chosen!" Rey snapped. "Get out!"
"Boy, why don't you understand?" Aiden's voice turned low. "I need your help to find my comrades… and to reach the—"
He paused.
"Huh… looks like some kind of restriction stopped me again."
Then he grinned darkly.
"But let me make it clear—you will help me. Or… let's just say, it'll be unpleasant."
"You can't harm me," Rey said firmly. "So don't bluff."
"Can't I?"
Aiden's smile faded, and a cold silence filled the room.
With a flash of inspiration, Rey grabbed a glowing, semi-spherical object from his desk—the very one Aiden had used before—and hurled it out the window.
SLAM!
The window shut behind it, and Rey let out a sigh of relief.
But Aiden… was still there.
Except now he floated mid-air, smaller, genie-like, with a semi-transparent tail swirling beneath him.
"Nice throw," he laughed. "Too bad it didn't do squat."
A voice echoed from outside:
"WHO THE HELL THREW THIS AT MY HEAD?!"
Rey blinked.
"Wait, you're not tied to that thing?"
"Oh, you sweet summer child," Aiden smirked. "Time for a flashback."
A Few Hours Ago...
As Rey collapsed from the intense head pain, Aiden remained conscious.
Knowing Rey wouldn't willingly cooperate, Aiden took action.
He retrieved a strange, crystalline orb glowing with divine energy and pressed it against Rey's forehead.
It shimmered briefly—then dissolved.
Suddenly, a synthetic voice echoed in Rey's unconscious mind:
Then came another alert:
<1%... 8%... 48%... 79%... 91%... 100%>
Flashback End.
Rey sat on the floor, frozen.
Then—
"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING TO ME?!"He screamed, gripping his hair in utter disbelief.
Leave a comment below if you enjoyed the chapter or have suggestions! I'm always looking to improve with your help. See you in the next one.Have a great day, everyone!