Kei stepped forward, his heart racing with adrenaline and confusion. The clock in front of him ticked down, each second echoing louder than the last. A countdown—but for what?
The room felt different. Less like a prison and more like a testing ground. The walls flickered with erratic patterns, like code trying to stabilize but failing. Shadows danced across the floor, mimicking movements that weren't his.
"Is this part of the test?" Kei thought, gritting his teeth.
He reached out to touch the cold, metallic surface of the clock. The moment his fingers made contact, it shattered—disappearing into tiny fragments of light. A surge of energy shot through him, overwhelming his senses.
"What the hell…?"
The air shifted. His body was now thrumming with strange energy. It wasn't just the Neuromancerpower—this felt different. Unstable. Like something was seeping into him.
In the distance, the flickering walls began to solidify. A new figure emerged from the shadows—a woman, dressed in black armor, her eyes glowing a sharp blue, radiating with an energy that made the room hum.
"You shouldn't have done that." Her voice was a whisper that sounded like a command.
Kei instinctively took a defensive stance, his hands now sparking with fragmented time energy, the new power still unfamiliar.
"Who are you?" he demanded, his voice firm, though he could feel the weight of her gaze pressing down on him.
She tilted her head, studying him. "Does it matter?"
Kei's eyes narrowed. He didn't have time for games. Not anymore. Not with the clock ticking and The Faceless Man's cryptic warning ringing in his ears.
"You're not the first to awaken." She continued, her lips curling into a cold smile. "But you're the first to break through."
"What does that mean?" Kei asked, his chest tightening.
She stepped forward, her movements graceful, almost calculated. "It means you're not just playing the game anymore. You've unlocked something. Something important."
Kei clenched his fists. "What is it?"
The woman didn't answer immediately. Instead, she raised her hand. Blue energy shot from her fingers, wrapping around the room, distorting reality itself.
For a moment, Kei thought the world had collapsed. But instead of falling into darkness, he saw time fragments—shards of moments, both past and future, floating in the air around him.
"These are the pieces of the timeline, Kei." She said, her voice softer now, almost as if she was speaking to a child. "What you've broken is just the beginning. You'll have to control them if you want to survive."
Kei blinked, confused. "Control them?"
Before she could reply, a loud crackling sound filled the room. The clock on the wall—still ticking—suddenly shifted. The countdown had reached its final seconds.
And then, the world ripped apart.