Chapter 9 — The Ones Reality Forgot
Kaosu had never been afraid of someone's hand before.
That bothered him almost as much as the hand.
The place where his manifestation had stood was empty.
No smoke.
No red fragments.
Nothing left for Kaosu's Chaos to inherit.
That was the problem.
His manifestations weren't bodies.
They were consequences.
An attack failed here, so another began there.
One accident became the cause of another.
Veydras had touched that chain—
and made the chain forget it was one thing.
Kaosu took a step back.
"No."
Raiyo glanced toward him.
Kaosu barely noticed.
"That's not how that works."
Veydras flexed his fingers.
The pale skin around them flickered.
Kaosu's voice lowered.
"That wasn't matter."
Veydras said nothing.
"That wasn't a fucking object."
Still nothing.
Kaosu looked toward the place Aoikishi had disappeared.
"Aoikishi?"
No answer.
A Corps soldier behind them shouted.
Everyone turned.
The white instability had reached the command relay.
Binary structures along the battlefield were losing synchronization one after another.
A rifle became three overlapping rifles.
A shield folded through its owner.
A transport marker began pointing toward four different extraction points.
Far beyond the plaza, a blue line flashed.
Aoikishi was dealing with it.
Which meant—
he really wasn't coming back yet.
Kaosu swallowed.
"Okay."
Nyxus looked at him.
Kaosu pointed toward Veydras.
"I officially don't like him."
Raiyo wiped blood from his mouth.
"You liked him before?"
"I respected the aesthetic."
"That is not better."
Yamiya wasn't listening.
She was watching Veydras.
His outline looked wrong in a way she understood too well.
Not glitched.
Not exactly.
Misplaced.
Like reality knew he was standing there but had never received instructions explaining why.
Veydras looked at her.
Yamiya froze.
For one second, neither moved.
Then the Corps commander made the worst decision available.
"ALL UNITS!"
Binary weapons formed.
"FIRE!"
Raiyo turned.
"You idiot—"
The plaza became white.
One hundred rifles fired together.
Veydras raised one hand.
The first blast touched his palm.
Its edge whitened.
The instability spread backward through the projectile.
Then into the next.
Then the next.
The entire volley lost agreement.
Some blasts widened.
Others collapsed.
Three simply stopped existing as attacks and became harmless light.
Kaosu stared.
"Stop shooting him!"
The commander ignored him.
"SECOND VOLLEY!"
Kaosu snapped toward the Corps.
"ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID?"
Raiyo looked at him.
"That answer is becoming available."
Veydras lowered his hand.
His breathing had changed.
Not tired.
Angry.
The next volley formed.
Veydras touched the ground.
The Corps formation lost its floor.
Not physically.
The stone remained.
Its position did not.
Soldiers stumbled as the ground beneath their left feet existed an inch lower than beneath their right.
The second volley scattered into the sky.
The commander fell.
"RETREAT!"
Raiyo raised an eyebrow.
"Excellent adjustment."
The Corps ran.
Nobody in ACT stopped them.
Within seconds, the battlefield emptied.
A hundred and fifty soldiers had invaded.
Now the five people remaining wanted desperately to follow them.
Nyxus looked at the retreating formation.
"Should we go too?"
Kaosu answered immediately.
"Yes."
Raiyo answered at the same time.
"No."
Kaosu stared at him.
"Your sword fucking disintegrated."
"Yes."
"He just killed something that technically wasn't alive."
"Yes."
"And your conclusion is stay?"
Raiyo looked toward Veydras.
"My conclusion is running from somebody who attacks relationships involving distance may be optimistic."
Kaosu opened his mouth.
Closed it.
"…I hate when you're useful."
"Frequent problem."
Veydras started walking toward them.
The jokes stopped.
One step.
Then another.
The ground under each foot turned pale after he left it.
Kaosu's red aura returned.
Weaker this time.
Not from exhaustion.
Hesitation.
Raiyo noticed.
So did Yamiya.
Kaosu noticed them noticing.
"Don't."
Nobody said anything.
"I'm not scared."
Nyxus tilted his head.
"You announced that without being asked."
Kaosu turned.
"This is not the fucking time, Nyxus."
"Usually when people announce—"
"NOT NOW."
Veydras stopped twenty feet away.
His voice came out rough.
Almost painful.
"Where is the man with the rod?"
Kaosu pointed toward the Corps network.
"Fixing what you did."
Veydras looked toward the distant blue flashes.
Something unreadable crossed his face.
"Of course."
Yamiya finally spoke.
"What does that mean?"
Veydras looked at her again.
"That people always try to repair the symptom."
"And what's the disease?"
His eyes moved over the battlefield.
The broken Corps weapons.
Kaosu's red energy.
Raiyo's remaining swords.
Nyxus holding a bun like this was somehow still a normal morning.
"Everything that keeps pretending this is working."
Kaosu's jaw tightened.
"Oh, great. He's philosophical too."
Raiyo glanced toward him.
"You're afraid of vocabulary now?"
"Shut up."
Veydras resumed walking.
Raiyo drew.
Three swords remained.
Kaosu stepped beside him.
His hands shook once.
He closed them into fists before anyone could see.
Yamiya saw.
She said nothing.
Raiyo lowered his stance.
"Kaosu."
"What?"
"If he touches you—"
"I know."
"You clearly didn't ten minutes ago."
Kaosu looked at him.
"If I die, you're not getting my chair."
Raiyo's mouth twitched.
"There he is."
Veydras was ten feet away.
Nyxus took another bite.
Everyone looked at him.
He stopped chewing.
"What?"
Kaosu stared.
"You're eating."
"I'm stressed."
"You always eat."
Nyxus looked genuinely offended.
"I'm very stressed."
Veydras's attention shifted toward him.
Nyxus slowly lowered the bun.
"…Shit."
Veydras changed direction.
Straight toward Nyxus.
Kaosu stepped in front.
"No."
Veydras stopped.
Kaosu's red threads rose.
This time, none formed manifestations.
He didn't trust them anymore.
Veydras looked at him.
"You moved."
"Observant."
"You're afraid."
Kaosu's face hardened.
"No."
Veydras took one step.
Kaosu did not.
That was the important part.
Veydras took another.
"You should be."
Kaosu punched.
Veydras tilted his head.
The fist missed.
Not because Veydras dodged well.
Because Kaosu's shoulder twitched at the last instant.
Fear had changed the strike.
Kaosu knew it.
His expression broke.
Veydras reached for him.
Raiyo appeared between them.
"Microcut."
The relationship between Veydras's hand and Kaosu's chest vanished.
The fingers passed beside him.
Raiyo grabbed Kaosu's collar and cut the distance to Yamiya.
Both men appeared beside her.
Kaosu shoved him away.
"I didn't need—"
"Yes."
Raiyo drew another sword.
"You did."
Kaosu actually shut up.
That frightened Yamiya more than Veydras.
Veydras looked at Raiyo.
"Three left."
Raiyo's eyes narrowed.
"You counting my swords?"
"I'm counting your answers."
That one landed.
Raiyo did not reply.
Veydras moved.
Raiyo cut the distance between them.
Nothing.
Veydras destabilized the distinction.
Far and near flickered.
Raiyo suddenly stood directly in front of him.
His eyes widened.
Veydras touched the sword.
Raiyo released it instantly.
The weapon whitened before it hit the ground.
Two swords left.
Raiyo backed away.
Kaosu looked at him.
"No insult?"
"Working."
That answer terrified him too.
Yamiya raised one hand.
Her outline flickered.
The space between Veydras and ACT simplified.
Twenty feet.
Ten.
Five.
One—
Yamiya forced it outward again.
The distance became twenty.
Veydras stopped.
For the first time, he looked surprised.
Yamiya felt it.
That strange recognition again.
Veydras stared at her.
"You."
Yamiya's breath caught.
"What?"
His head tilted.
"You feel wrong."
Kaosu stepped forward.
"Great fucking pickup line."
Yamiya shoved him backward without looking.
Veydras ignored both of them.
"Reality doesn't know where to put you."
Yamiya's heartbeat changed.
He raised one hand.
"Neither does it know where to put me."
She forgot about the fight.
For just one second.
That was enough.
Veydras disappeared.
Not speed.
The boundary between where he had been and where he intended to be destabilized.
He appeared in front of Nyxus.
Nyxus froze halfway through lifting his bun.
Veydras studied him.
Then his expression changed.
Confusion.
"You too?"
Nyxus swallowed.
"Me what?"
Veydras leaned closer.
Nyxus leaned backward.
"You don't resolve correctly."
"I get that a lot."
Veydras raised his hand.
Nyxus stopped joking.
Kaosu tried to move.
His leg slipped on destabilized ground.
Raiyo cut distance.
The route broke before it completed.
Yamiya reached for Reduction.
Too slow.
For the first time since ACT had formed—
everyone had an answer.
None of them worked.
Veydras's fingers moved toward Nyxus's forehead.
Nyxus stared at them.
"Don't worry," Veydras rasped.
His voice sounded tired.
Not cruel.
That was worse.
"I'll make this quick."
His hand came down.
CLANG.
A steel rod appeared between them.
Veydras's palm struck metal instead of skin.
The sound cracked across the courtyard.
Nothing moved.
Not the rod.
Not Veydras's hand.
Not even the dust around the point of contact.
Yamiya's breath broke first.
"Aoikishi."
Kaosu nearly laughed from relief.
He didn't.
Aoikishi stood beside Nyxus.
One hand held the rod.
His coat was torn at one sleeve.
White instability crawled across the fabric and stopped before reaching his wrist.
He looked irritated.
Mostly at the timing.
"You lasted longer than I expected."
Kaosu stared at him.
"THAT'S what you have to say?"
Aoikishi glanced over.
"You're alive."
"BARELY."
"Then my assessment was accurate."
Raiyo exhaled through his nose.
"I see where Nyxus gets it."
Nyxus slowly stepped away from Veydras's hand.
"I would like everyone to appreciate that I almost died before finishing this."
He held up the bun.
Kaosu looked ready to kill him himself.
Aoikishi pushed lightly with the rod.
Veydras's arm moved.
Just an inch.
But it moved.
Veydras looked at the rod.
Then at Aoikishi.
"You stopped it."
"I redirected it."
"You shouldn't be able to."
Aoikishi smiled.
"People tell me that often."
Veydras pressed harder.
The rod remained.
Aoikishi's eyes sharpened.
"You're strong."
Veydras's expression did not change.
Aoikishi tilted the rod against his wrist.
"But strength is raw noise until it's refined."
Veydras went still.
Kaosu recognized the tone.
Teacher voice.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me."
Aoikishi ignored him.
He looked directly at Veydras.
"You destabilize everything you touch."
Veydras's jaw tightened.
"You reach for a structure and make all of it uncertain."
The rod tapped his wrist once.
"You're using a catastrophe where a cut would do."
Raiyo's eyebrows rose.
"Careful."
Aoikishi continued.
"You could be precise."
Veydras stared.
For the first time, anger gave way to something else.
Interest.
He hated that.
Aoikishi noticed.
"Join us."
Kaosu threw both hands into the air.
"NO."
Yamiya looked at him.
"You joined after destroying a village."
Kaosu pointed toward Veydras.
"HE HAS DEATH HANDS."
Raiyo looked at Kaosu's fists.
"You destroyed a moon."
"That moon was being difficult."
Nyxus nodded.
"Context matters."
Veydras looked between them.
Something in his face almost broke.
Not amusement.
Not yet.
Something older.
"You think you can fix me?"
The courtyard quieted.
Aoikishi lowered the rod slightly.
"No."
Veydras had not expected that.
Aoikishi continued.
"I think 'fix' is what frightened people call making somebody easier to understand."
Yamiya looked at him.
Veydras did too.
Aoikishi held his gaze.
"I can teach you control."
"That's fixing."
"No."
Aoikishi looked toward the pale fractures crawling across Veydras's fingers.
"That's giving you a choice."
Veydras's expression twisted.
A small, ugly smile appeared.
"Some things are better left broken."
His eyes had gone glassy.
"And I…"
He raised his hand.
"…am proof."
Yamiya saw what he was about to do.
"No!"
Veydras's palm struck Aoikishi's face.
Static screamed.
Kaosu stopped breathing.
Raiyo's hand tightened around his sword.
Nyxus dropped his bun.
It hit the dirt.
Nobody noticed.
White instability crawled from Veydras's palm—
and stopped.
Aoikishi stood perfectly still.
Veydras's smile vanished.
Aoikishi blinked.
"Hm."
Veydras stared.
Aoikishi reached up.
He took Veydras's wrist.
And calmly removed the hand from his face.
"You have good grip strength."
Kaosu's knees nearly gave out.
"That's it?"
Aoikishi looked toward him.
"What were you expecting?"
"YOUR HEAD TO FUCKING DISAPPEAR."
"Reasonable."
Veydras pulled his wrist free.
For the first time—
he looked uncertain.
Aoikishi pointed toward ACT Headquarters.
"Remember Zone 404?"
Nyxus raised a hand automatically.
"I hated Zone 404."
"I know."
Aoikishi looked at Kaosu, Yamiya, Raiyo, then Nyxus.
"You have been living inside instability since the day you arrived."
Kaosu stared.
"The loops."
"The repeating rooms."
Yamiya understood.
"The base forces us to continually correct our own relationship to position."
Aoikishi nodded.
"And identity. And sequence. And continuity."
Raiyo looked toward Veydras.
"So we've been resistance training."
"Without knowing it."
Kaosu looked offended.
"You tricked us into training?"
Aoikishi smiled.
"You wouldn't have agreed."
"That is not the point."
"It is approximately the point."
Nyxus slowly picked his bun off the ground.
"So every time the bathroom sent me into the kitchen—"
"Training."
Nyxus stared at him.
"You owe me years."
Aoikishi turned back to Veydras.
"They survived your touch earlier because they've spent months learning to remain themselves while reality disagrees."
Veydras looked toward Yamiya.
Then Kaosu.
Then Raiyo.
His eyes settled on Nyxus last.
"Remain themselves."
Aoikishi nodded.
Veydras looked down at his own hand.
It flickered.
Pale.
Solid.
Static.
Solid again.
His voice lowered.
"You see it."
Aoikishi's smile disappeared.
Veydras held up his hand.
"Even my own existence rejects me."
The sentence hit Yamiya harder than the fight had.
Because she understood it.
She stepped forward before thinking.
"What's your full name?"
Veydras looked at her.
For several seconds, he said nothing.
Then—
"Veydras Miekō."
Yamiya forgot how to breathe.
Kaosu looked from one to the other.
"Miekō?"
Raiyo's gaze sharpened.
Nyxus stopped cleaning dirt from his bun.
Yamiya whispered the only thing she could think of.
"That's my name."
Veydras stared at her.
And for the first time since entering the battlefield—
he looked afraid too.
I have to go.
We will meet again.