Beep.Beep.Beep.
Kael flinched. Not because it was loud—just... there. Constant. Sharp. Like it was tugging on something inside his skull.
His eyes were still shut. Heavy. Dry. But the beeping wouldn't let him drift back. Something felt wrong. Not pain—at least not yet. Just wrong.
He opened his eyes.
White light burned through his vision. He winced and turned his face to the side. His neck hurt. His back was stiff. Everything smelled too clean—sterile, like bleach and old metal.
He blinked.Once.Twice.Still didn't make sense.
A ceiling. White panels. A slow-moving fan overhead.This wasn't home. It wasn't his barrack either. And definitely not the last place he remembered—whatever that was.
Kael sat up. Slowly.
The sheet slid off him, cool air hitting his skin. He was shirtless. His chest... marked. Lines—no, cuts. Some were still red. A few had faint glows, like light trying to escape from underneath his skin.
He stared at them. Then touched one.It didn't hurt as much as it should.More like a throb, like something healing... or alive.
"What the hell is this…" he muttered.
His voice cracked. Dry throat. Tongue heavy. He looked around, slower now. Wires trailed from his arms to machines beside the bed. Monitors blinked quietly. One of them was tracking his heartbeat. That stupid beep.
He reached up, rubbing his forehead—and froze.His fingers brushed something. A small bump. Warm. It pulsed, faintly. Like it had its own rhythm.
For a moment, he just sat there, hand still pressed to the side of his head.
This isn't a hospital.No nurses. No windows.And definitely no explanation.
His heart started racing. He pulled the wires off, one by one. The beeping sped up. The monitors flashed red for a second before shutting off.
Kael swung his legs over the bed.They felt… shaky. Like he hadn't stood in days.
Or weeks.
"Where am I?" he whispered again.No one answered.
He pushed himself off the bed. His feet hit the cold floor. His body trembled—not from fear, but from unfamiliarity. Like it didn't belong to him anymore.
He stumbled toward the door.But before he could reach it, the lights above him flickered.
A soft hiss echoed from the ceiling.
Then—A voice. Mechanical. Calm.
"Subject-47 is conscious. Initiating Stage Two."
Kael froze.
Subject-what?
Whirrrr.
The room reacted. A holographic display burst into life beside the bed, flooding the space with blue projections.
SUBJECT ID: 001STATUS: REBOOT SUCCESSFULVITAL SIGNS: STABLESYSTEM SYNC: 62%ERROR: DIMENSIONAL LOOP DETECTED
"What the hell…?"
His voice cracked. It sounded wrong—older, deeper, almost distorted. Like two voices overlapping: one human, one synthetic.
"Welcome back, Kael," a smooth, female voice chimed through the speakers. "You have survived the first fracture."
"I didn't... die?" he murmured.
Another flash of memory. Blood. Screams. Fire raining from the skies. His own body—broken, pierced with metal.
He had died.
But he was here.
Alive.
Or something close.
He swung his legs off the bed and stood shakily. The floor felt too real. Cold. Solid. His hands clenched. Muscles obeyed. Breath fogged the glass.
Everything screamed: this is reality.
But deep in his gut, something screamed louder: this is a lie.
Somewhere Else…
On the other side of the mirrored glass, two figures observed him.
"He stabilized faster this time," said the tall one in a lab coat, tapping on a holopad.
The other, dressed in black armor, didn't respond immediately. His visor glowed faintly red as he stared at Kael through the one-way panel.
"How many loops is this?" the soldier finally asked.
"Nine. Maybe ten," the scientist said. "We stopped counting after seven. But the fracture's widening. If he glitches again…"
"Shut it down?"
The scientist hesitated. "We can't. Not yet. He's… merging."
Back to Kael…
Kael stepped into the hallway. No alarms. No guards. Just an endless stretch of metal corridor and flickering lights. He moved like instinct guided him, muscle memory built on a life he didn't remember living.
Then—
SCREECH!
Something metal clattered behind him. He spun around. Empty.
Except…
A child.
A girl.
Wearing a torn red dress, barefoot, standing at the end of the hallway. Her eyes glowed the same blue as the system console. And then—she was gone. Just like that.
Kael's breath hitched. "Not real…"
SYSTEM ERROR: MEMORY INTEGRATION INCOMPLETEWARNING: SUBJECT IS EXPERIENCING REALITY BLEED
The voice echoed in his mind now. Not from speakers. Inside him.
He clutched his head. "Make it stop!"
Initiating Memory Sync in 3… 2…
A flood. Images. Flashes.
A battlefield.
Blood on his hands.
A woman crying his name.
"Kael, run! They're coming—"
Then silence.
He was on his knees, gasping. The walls around him blurred for a second—metal became stone, the hallway twisted like a funhouse mirror glitching out.
FLASH GLITCH: Old World (2.7 seconds)
He was back in his old world.
Just for a moment.
Mountains. Ruins. The scent of ash and old war. Someone behind him shouted: "Commander Kael! They're breaching the east gate!"
His heart leapt.
He turned—and he was back in the sterile hall.
Panting.
Alone.
Sweat dripped down his temples.
"I'm glitching between worlds…"
Moments Later
He found a room labeled Simulation Core. Inside was a massive chair—straps, wires, and something like a halo hovering above it.
Something told him to sit.
And he did.
The moment he sank into the chair, metal clamps locked around his wrists.
"Kael Evernight," the voice purred in his mind.
Synchronizing past with present…Decryption key accepted…Accessing power archive…
A surge exploded through his spine. Pain. White-hot. Like his entire body was being downloaded.
He screamed. And as he screamed, he saw—
His own death.
But it wasn't a battle.
It was an execution.
He saw faces. People he trusted.
Stabbing him in the back. Injecting him with code. Burning out his mind.
"Traitors… you betrayed me…"
And then, in the memory, a child's voice whispered:
"Kael… what if you became more than just a man?"
The pain stopped.
The voice returned.
SYSTEM INTEGRATION COMPLETEERROR: SUBJECT POWER LEVEL UNREADABLEERROR: GLITCH PRESENT IN WORLD STABILITYINITIATING GOD PROTOCOL—DENIEDUSER OVERRIDE—ACTIVATED
Kael's eyes snapped open.
Blue flames danced in his pupils.
He didn't know what he was.
But he knew what he wasn't anymore.
A puppet.
Cut to the Present Moment
He stepped out of the simulation room and into an open hall—a glass dome above showed endless stars swirling like a galaxy on repeat.
He walked to the center and lifted his hand.
The air shimmered.
Time slowed.
Reality bent.
And for just a second—
He glitched.
Back into his old world.
Standing in the ruins of his past, staring at a monument of himself.
Dead.
The name engraved: Kael Evernight – Betrayer.
He whispered, "They called me the villain…"
He turned.
"I'll show them what a villain can really do."
[To be continued…]