Kael stepped out of the Legacy Chamber, the cool air of the corridor doing little to ground him. His thoughts still carried the weight of the experience—fragments of knowledge, realizations yet to settle. The simulation had ended, yet something about it clung to him, as if the echoes of what he had seen refused to fade.
The doors slid open with a quiet hum, revealing his mother waiting just outside.
She stood with the same quiet presence she always carried—not demanding, not distant, simply there. Observing. Understanding.
Kael had always known he took after her. Their stormy silver eyes held the same piercing depth, the same unshaken clarity. Even their expressions, subtle and restrained, mirrored each other. It was in the way she stood, in the way her gaze carried weight without the need for words.
For a moment, they simply looked at each other.
Then, she spoke.
"Come," she said, her voice steady. "You should rest."
Kael hesitated, his mind still sifting through remnants of the simulation, but he nodded. He had no reason to refuse.
---
A Meal and the Dream-Weave
The dining hall was quiet, a contrast to the grand gatherings it often hosted. Tonight, it was just the two of them.
His mother had prepared the meal herself—simple yet rich in flavors, carrying a sense of home. Beside his plate, she placed a small vial of shimmering liquid.
"Aiding introspection," she said lightly, as if it were nothing more than an extra seasoning. "You've had quite the day."
Kael didn't question it. He trusted her.
The AI, Zappy, silently ran an analysis as the unfamiliar compounds entered his bloodstream. Non-harmful. Non-intrusive. Designed to ease the mind's resistance to self-reflection.
And so, it remained silent.
---
The Dream: Time's Unrelenting Flow
Kael hadn't expected to fall asleep so easily. He had only meant to rest his eyes for a moment.
Then, the dream came.
The city stretched before him—familiar, yet altered in ways he couldn't immediately place. The streets, the buildings, even the air itself felt subtly different.
Shops he once recognized were gone, replaced by unfamiliar structures. Paths that had once been lively now felt strangely distant. It was as if time had rearranged everything in his absence, shifting the world in ways no one had noticed.
But the people were what unsettled him the most.
He saw familiar faces, yet they were not the same. Someone who had once laughed freely now walked with quiet, restrained steps. A street performer he used to admire sat idly, his energy faded into something tired.
Time hadn't just moved forward—it had changed them.
Kael walked through the city, feeling a strange, heavy realization settle in his chest.
Time was merciless. It did not ask for permission. It did not announce its changes. It simply moved, altering everything in its path—people, places, even emotions.
For the first time, he truly understood that no matter how much one tried to hold onto a moment, time would always pull it away, reshaping it into something else.
It wasn't cruel. It wasn't kind.
It simply was.
And that, perhaps, was what made it terrifying.
---
Awakening and the Gift
Kael woke up with the weight of the dream still lingering in his mind.
His mother was waiting. She said nothing about the dream, but something in her eyes told him she knew.
She gestured toward something outside the estate.
A sleek, futuristic motorbike stood waiting for him, its metallic frame reflecting the city's lights. It wasn't just a vehicle—it was a masterpiece of technology and design, crafted for speed, exploration, and precision.
"A gift," his mother said. "From your father and me."
Kael ran his hand over the smooth surface of the bike, feeling the subtle hum of energy within it.
A machine built not just for transportation, but for something more.
He looked back at her.
"...Thank you."
---
The City's Truth and the Realization
The city was alive in ways most wouldn't notice.
As Kael rode through its streets, the speed of vehicles far exceeded normal comprehension, yet everything functioned seamlessly. The world had adapted, evolved. Automated systems guided the flow of traffic, hidden structures lay beneath the surface, and technology seamlessly intertwined with everyday life.
And yet, as he passed through familiar streets, that same feeling from his dream returned.
People had changed.
The city, for all its advancements, could not stop time's influence.
A man who once spoke with boundless optimism now carried a quiet exhaustion. A child who used to run through the streets freely now walked with a cautious gaze.
Kael's grip on the handlebars tightened.
Time was merciless.
It didn't just alter the world—it altered the very essence of those who lived within it.
And as this realization fully settled into his mind, something inside him shifted.
A pulse ran through his body.
Then—crack!
Power surged through him, shattering the barriers of his Tier 1 Mortal Awakening. He didn't just advance—he tore through three stages at once.
The sheer force of his breakthrough rippled outward, disturbing the world around him. The air vibrated, space itself warping under the sudden influx of energy—
And then, without warning—
Everything stilled.
---
The Parallel Reality
A presence hidden in the city's shadows moved.
The bodyguard, unseen but ever-watchful, acted instantly.
With a single movement, precise beyond normal perception, he transported Kael into a parallel reality—one that overlapped with the real world, yet remained unseen by ordinary eyes.
The city continued as if nothing had happened. The vehicles maintained their flow. The people went about their lives, unaware that reality itself had shifted.
Kael, however, was no longer in the world he thought he was.
Zappy detected the anomaly. The subtle distortion in space. The hidden intervention.
Yet, once again—
It remained silent.
---
Unseen Boundaries
Kael, unaware of the shift, continued his ride through the city.
The weight of his realization still lingered, but something felt... different.
The air. The sounds. The way the world reacted to him.
But he didn't dwell on it.
Meanwhile, Zappy watched.
It understood what had happened. It understood that the guard had concealed the breakthrough, shielding it from unwanted attention.
But it chose silence.
Observation: User's breakthrough concealed.
Protocol: Maintain observation.
User's awareness of reality shift: Minimal.
Kael had unknowingly stepped beyond the boundaries of what he once knew.
And soon, he would realize—
He was no longer in the world he thought he was.