The sun hung low in the sky, casting long shadows across the park as Zazm Mystic made his way to the designated meeting spot.
His slightly long hair flowing across his neck, his dark eyes somehow looked even darker in the bright sunlight. He still remembered the events of yesterday but he had masked his turmoil with a carefree smile, but inside, a storm raged.
The memory of the man saving the woman with fluctuating threads haunted him, gnawing at his conscience. He had convinced himself that he wasn't a hero, that he couldn't save everyone. But the guilt still lingered, a heavy weight on his chest.
Earlier that day, Zazm had received a call from Jahanox, his best friend and partner in mischief. The urgency in Jahanox's voice had been unmistakable.
"Zazm! Where the hell are you? You better not be ditching me again! This is important!" Jahanox had barked through the phone, his tone a mix of annoyance and concern.
"Relax, Jahanox. I'll be there," Zazm had replied, trying to sound nonchalant. "What's so important anyway?"
"Just meet me behind the park. And don't make me wait!" Jahanox had hung up before Zazm could respond, leaving him with a sense of foreboding.
"This bastard, can't he just say what is it..." Zazm rubbed his neck in irritation before finally deciding to hurry up to meet up.
As he approached the shady area behind the park, he spotted Jahanox leaning against a tree, arms crossed, his expression serious.
Next to him stood a man with blank white eyes, his expression vacant, as if he were a mere puppet on strings. Zazm looked at the puppet and his eyes widened with surprisem
"Look who finally decided to show up!" Jahanox called out, his voice dripping with mock and anger. "So Zazm Mystic... Do you mind explaining where you were yesterday?"
'Fuckk... I forgot to think of an excuse' he let out a small laugh, "Well...just some things happened here and there."
Jahanox approached Zazm his eyes gleaming with suspicion, Zazm looked at him with his usual carefree demeanor and raised his hands signing his friend to listen to him.
"But anyways who's that?" Zazm asked looked behind him to the man with a slight smile, "Is he your.... Boyfriend?" Zazm looked down his chin where rested a fist.
"Go on complete what you were saying." Jahanox said in a threatening tone. "Haha... I was just joking..." Zazm let out a nervous laugh.
Jahanox lifted his hand, "it's a serious matter Zazm, this man he is weird." Zazm's eyes darkened his gaze cold, "He isn't a human Nox."
Jahanox looked back at Zazm in a surprised way he tilted his head in confusion, "What do you mean?"
Zazm let out a small mischievous chuckle, before pointing to the man, "This guy... He had no threads flowing out of him."
Jahanox's eyes widened in surprise, "No way in hell... I thought he was wierd but this.." he paused before putting his hand on his chin, "I never expected that."
Zazm rolled his eyes, the familiar banter easing some of the tension in his chest. "Yeah, well, where did you find this guy from?"
Jahanox chuckled, his eyes glinting with mischief. "Oh, this guy? He was shouting all sorts of nonsense in the middle of the road. Something about not being from this world. So, naturally, I had to mind control him. You know how it is—just a regular Tuesday for me."
Zazm stepped closer, his curiosity piqued. But as he approached the man, a chill ran down his spine.
He froze, his heart racing even more. There were no threads flowing from the man's body--nothing at all. It was as if he were a void, a non-entity in a world full of vibrant life.
"Uh, Jahanox?" Zazm said, his voice barely above a whisper. "I think it's good you bring him here. It's extremely weird he looks like a normal human but he isn't."
"Yeah, I noticed that too," Jahanox replied, his playful demeanor faltering for a moment. "he was acting weird, so I thought it was worth checking out."
Jahanox came forward and said, "I asked him several questions yesterday. Since a certain someone ditched me." He said in a mocking tone.
"Can we forget that... Please" Zazm apologized to Jahanox before asking, "Anyways what did you find out?" Jahanox said a smile appearing on his face.
"Why don't you find out yourself? I have ordered him to answer all your questions." A hint of mischief in his eyes.
Zazm shook his head, trying to shake off the unease. "What's your deal, man?" he asked the stranger, forcing himself to sound confident. "Where are you from?"
The man blinked slowly, his expression unchanging. "I am not from here," he said, his voice monotone. "I do not know how I got here."
"Great, a mystery wrapped in an enigma," Zazm muttered, glancing at Jahanox. "What do you think?"
Jahanox shrugged, his expression serious. "Who knows? I thought he was just joking or he lost his memory or something. Since, I'm controlling his mind he has no choice, he has to tell the truth."
He paused before glancing at Zazm, "But now you are saying he isn't even a living creature.."
Zazm nodded, "let's find you" stepping closer, studying the man's blank eyes. "Can you tell us anything else? Anything at all?"
The man remained silent for a moment, his gaze unfocused. "I do not know. I was… somewhere else. Now I am here."
"Fantastic," Zazm said, frustration creeping into his voice. "So you're just a lost soul with no idea how you got here. That's helpful."
Jahanox leaned in, his curiosity piqued. "What were you doing before you ended up here? Do you remember anything?"
The man shook his head slowly, his expression still devoid of emotion. "I do not remember."
Zazm felt a mix of irritation and concern. "So, you're just a blank slate? What's the point of mind-controlling someone if they can't even tell us what's going on?"
Jahanox looked at Zazm, "He isn't lying what he says is true.
Zazm crossed his arms, a playful glint returning to his eyes. "Maybe he's just a really bad conversationalist. You know, like you when you're trying to flirt."
Jahanox shot him a glare, but the tension in the air was palpable. "Zazm, it's a serious matter. He looks like a human but he isn't one."
Zazm paused before looking back, "Forget human he isn't even a living creature."
Jahanox again shot him a glare, but the tension in the air was palpable. "This isn't a joke, Zazm. We need to figure out what's going on here."
Zazm shrugged, his playful demeanor still intact. "Alright, Mr. Serious. Let's dig deeper. Hey, you!" He pointed at the man with the blank eyes. "What's your name?"
The man blinked, his expression still vacant. "I do not have a name."
"Great, just what we need--another mystery over another mystery," Jahanox muttered, running a hand through his hair in frustration. "What do you mean you don't have a name? Everyone has a name."
"I do not require one," the man replied, his voice flat. "I exist to observe."
"Observe what? The local delicusies?" Zazm quipped, his grin widening. "Or maybe you're just here to critique our fashion choices?"
Jahanox shot Zazm another warning glance, but the man remained unresponsive, his eyes still blank. "What do you mean by 'observe'? What are you observing?" Jahanox pressed, trying to extract any shred of information.
"I observe the world," the man replied, his tone monotonous. "But I do not understand it."
Zazm felt a wave of frustration wash over him. "You're not helping! You're just standing there like a statue. Can't you at least tell us what you were doing before you ended up here?"
"I was… somewhere else," the man repeated, his voice devoid of inflection. "Now I am here."
"Somewhere else," Jahanox echoed, his mind racing. "What does that even mean? Are you from another dimension? A different planet?"
"I do not know," the man replied, his expression unchanging. "I do not have that information."
Zazm leaned back against the tree, crossing his arms with a smirk. "Well, this is riveting. I can see why you wanted to drag me out here, Nox. Nothing like a good old-fashioned existential crisis to brighten the day."
Jahanox sighed, but he couldn't help the hint of a smile that tugged at the corners of his mouth. "You're impossible, you know that?"
"Now, let's get back to our friend here. So, you don't know how you got here, you don't have a name, and you're just a blank slate. What's your purpose?"
"I do not have a purpose," the man said, his voice still flat. "I exist to observe."
Zazm sighed, feeling the weight of the conversation pressing down on him. "This is going nowhere.Nox, what do you think we should do with him?"
Jahanox tapped his chin thoughtfully. "Well, we could always take him to the nearest lab and let them poke and prod at him. Or we could just leave him here and let him figure it out on his own."
"Very funny," Zazm replied, rolling his eyes. "But seriously, we can't just leave him. He's… different. There's something about him that feels off."
"Yeah, like he's a walking, talking question mark," Jahanox said, his tone light. "But you're right. We should probably keep an eye on him. Who knows what kind of trouble he could get into?"
Zazm expression suddenly became serious all his earlier playfulness gone, "Lets see what will happen"
With that Zazm started moving closer to the man, Jahanox's gaze followed him but he didn't move from his place.
Zazm put both his hand in the air before tightly grabbing the man's neck, he started strangling him. All the veins on his arm burst out because of the strength he was putting in, his muscles stretched.
"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?" Jahanox screamed running towards Zazm and trying to loosen his grip, he looked at Zazm's eyes that were now hollow. Jahanox understood what it meant, "YOU IDIOT WHY DO YOU WANNA KILL HIM"
Zazm finally removed his hands from the man's neck, Jahanox looked at the man and his gaze widened in surprise there was a huge round mark on his neck, it was more like a scar that got there from strangling.
Zazm stopped before speaking in a low voice, "I thought the threads could be wrong and perhaps this man was alive, just with no threads, but he is not a living creature."
Jahanox grabbed Zazm by his collar, "Were you out of your mind there?"
Zazm removed his hands going closer to the man, "See this Nox." He said with his same playful smile. He asked the man, "Are you a robot?"
The man nodded, "Yes, I believe that's what I was called a long time ago."
Jahanox's gaze widened in disbelief, "That means? He is from future....?"
Zazm shook his head, "No he isn't, I'm sure of it." Jahanox looked at Zazm his gaze demanding answers, "Then what? What else do you say?"
Zazm sat down on a nearby bench and looked at the empty park, there wasn't even a soul in the sight. He was at such a corner of the park.
He finally spoke his tone low, "He himself said that he is a robot made to observe, didn't he?"
Jahanox nodded and Zazm continued, "Think about it, if he is a robot whose purpose is just to observe. That means there would be a reason for him to come to the past. And a robot such that wouldn't happen to forget everything randomly."
Zazm looked at surprised Jahanox, "The reason he doesn't know where he is or why is he here or how. Is simple it's because heself doesn't know it. Meaning there is something else that happened."
Jahanox rubbed his temples before sitting next to Zazm, "You make my brain hurt.. then what? Where is he from, what is he doing here if he isn't from the future?"
"Perhaps... he is from a different timeline.... now now before you say anything allow me reason with you." Zazm said before looking at the man.
"Timelines move differently perhaps like a straight line. A single of our discussion causes a new timeline to be formed. Like whether to attend class today or not.
In one timeline you decided not to attend the class while in other you decided to attend it. The closer the timeline, the more similarities it will bear to the timeline it originated from.
Same goes for this... timelines also moved in different time zones. Perhaps in one timline mobile phones were invented in 1200th century, leaving more room for development and creating an alternate branch.
Being far more into the future than us. Just like this there will also be a timeline somewhere where humans doenst exist, or have cat ears, or even talking cars exist."
Jahanox looked at Zazm his mouth dropped open, "But isn't all those just theories and stuff?"
Zazm let out a small laugh, "By that logic, powers are just a fantasy aswell but here we are controlling minds and stuff. That means we will have to eliminate the possibility of 'What if' in our books."
Jahanox leaned back oh his bench, "What do you mean?" he asked Zazm genuinely curious to which Zazm simply shrugged, "We will have to hope, investigate everything we know and believe."
Zazm paused before saying his expression getting serious, "But for a robot from another timeline to come here... it isn't a good sign."
Zazm continued to explain all this Jahanox while the lonely robot stand in the corner listening to them, his mind still in control and his gaze still white. But what Zazm told Jahanox shocked him entirely.
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