The chamber pulsed with chaotic energy. Thorne, his face a mask of furious determination, struggled to reassert control over the Project Chimera Core Unit, while Nightshade, Maya, and Nova pressed their attack with relentless abandon. Energy blasts and concussive waves slammed against Thorne's flickering shields, the air thick with the smell of ozone and the ominous hum of the unstable machine.
The resonance within me was still a painful thrum, but the raw energy outburst had created a strange feedback loop with the Core Unit. The younger version of myself trapped within its blue glow now seemed less like a prisoner and more like a distorted reflection, its flickering mirroring my own ragged breathing.
『Harem Streamer System: Resonance feedback loop established. Potential for synchronized energy manipulation: Emerging. Warning: Synchronization requires significant mental fortitude and may result in existential confusion.』
"Existential confusion?" I groaned, trying to focus amidst the chaos. "Isn't that just my default emotional state?"
Nightshade, noticing the strange connection between me and the Core Unit, yelled over the din, "Scott! What happened? Can you do that again?"
"I… I don't know!" I shouted back, clutching my head. "It just… happened! Like a really bad emotional flashback with added energy waves!"
Thorne, momentarily staggered by my uncontrolled outburst, regained his footing, his eyes blazing with a furious intensity. "You insignificant anomaly! You will not disrupt decades of research!" He focused his attention on the Core Unit, manipulating the energy tendrils to lash out at Maya and Nova, forcing them to retreat.
"We need to overload that thing!" Maya yelled, unleashing another powerful blast of cosmic energy.
"I'm trying!" Nova replied, her ethereal form flickering as she attempted to disrupt the Core Unit's energy flow with waves of disorienting light.
But Thorne seemed to anticipate their every move, his control over the machine's energy granting him a significant advantage. He was like a conductor leading a terrifying symphony of raw power.
The younger version of me within the Core Unit suddenly flickered violently, and a sharp pain lanced through my head, as if a forgotten memory was trying to claw its way to the surface. It was a fleeting image – a younger Thorne, his face less lined, holding a small device, and a feeling of intense fear…
『Harem Streamer System: Memory fragment detected. Potential trigger for synchronized energy manipulation. Recommendation: Focus on the emotional resonance of the memory.』
Focus? In the middle of a super-powered brawl with my mad scientist creator and a giant energy prison containing my younger self? Easier said than done.
But the pain was persistent, and the image lingered at the edge of my consciousness. Fear. My fear. And… a sense of defiance, even in that young, terrified face.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, I focused on that feeling, on the echo of that past fear and the flicker of defiance. I reached out with my own chaotic energy, not in a blast, but in a tentative wave, mirroring the pulsating rhythm of the Core Unit.
The blue light within the machine seemed to respond, its intensity fluctuating in sync with my own ragged breathing. The younger me within its glow seemed to… notice me, its indistinct features turning in my direction.
Thorne, witnessing this strange interaction, let out a frustrated roar. "What are you doing, Subject Omega?! Don't resist your destiny!" He tried to sever the connection, sending a surge of energy through the Core Unit.
The feedback was immediate and brutal. Pain lanced through my body, as if my very molecules were being torn apart. But within that pain, I felt a strange sense of connection to the younger me, a shared experience of Thorne's cruel manipulations.
And then, another memory fragment surfaced – the cold metal of restraints, Thorne's voice filled with cold scientific curiosity, and a surge of raw, untamed energy erupting from my younger self, pushing back against the confinement.
『Harem Streamer System: Synchronization intensifying. New skill unlocked: 'Reflective Pulse.' Description: Channel sympathetic energy to mirror and redirect external energy directed at the Core Unit. Warning: Requires precise timing and may result in severe energy backlash if mistimed.』
"Reflective Pulse?" I gasped, the name sounding both terrifying and potentially useful. Redirect energy… could I use Thorne's own power against him?
It was a desperate gamble, a leap of faith based on half-remembered trauma and the dubious guidance of a sentient streaming system. But with Thorne regaining control and Maya and Nova struggling against the Core Unit's energy tendrils, we were running out of options.
As Thorne prepared to unleash another devastating surge of energy, I focused all my will, all my pain, all my nascent connection to the younger me within the Core Unit. I channeled my own chaotic energy, attempting to mirror the Core Unit's pulsating rhythm, to create a… reflection.
The blue light intensified, and as Thorne's energy slammed into the Core Unit, a wave of my own chaotic energy erupted outwards, colliding with Thorne's blast. The impact was cataclysmic, a blinding flash of light and a deafening roar that shook the very foundations of the facility.
Thorne staggered back, clutching his chest, his face contorted in shock and pain. The Core Unit sputtered violently, its blue light flickering erratically. And within its glow, the younger version of me seemed to… fade slightly, its reflection becoming less distinct.
The risky gambit had worked… for now. But the chamber was still unstable, Thorne was still a threat, and the Project Chimera Core Unit was clearly far from being neutralized. The fractured reflections of the past had given us a momentary advantage, but the fight for the future was far from over.