A sliver of pale light crept across the room as Kairo blinked awake. Above him, the ceiling wore a dull, grainy haze.
Outside, voices roared.
Up he rose on the narrow bed, ears tuned. Down the packed earth path came a rush of footsteps. Wheels groaned under heavy loads. Laughter bounced between small voices. Orders boomed from deep throats.
"The Abyss is giving out gold today!"
"I heard the treasure is enough to feed a village for ten years!"
"Hurry, or others will take it first!"
Running fingers across tired skin, Kairo listened. Whispers had crawled through streets since last moon. A stone, bright and strange, turned up by the cliff. Not long after, someone else dug into soil and pulled out metal rings stacked like bones. Word spread slow at first - then fast. Folks now swear the deep crack in earth coughs up treasure when it pleases.
Up he rose, moving slow toward the door. Thin frame, worn-out clothes - that was him. Not a soul claimed him, nor did any memory hold him close. Work filled the hours, then sleep, always returning to these four walls.
Maybe it was worth trying. He figured if death came, then so be it. Wealth would mean staying alive. That was how it stood.
Into the group he stepped.
Three hours passed during the walk. High above, the sun pushed heat down on everyone. People moved in groups, tied by blood or choice. Sacks swung from shoulders of older men, empty but full of thought. Ahead sprinted kids, arms out like wings, playing roles only they could see.
Stillness held him at the center. Not a word came from Kairo.
Midday brought them to the edge of the Abyss.
A split ran through the ground, jagged and shadowed, reaching wide into distances without end. Depth? Unknown. Voices dropped in never came back out again. Falling meant silence after.
Now, near the rim, torches stood where a person put them. Below, in that flickering glow, folks claimed to spot shiny rocks clinging to the cliff faces.
"Look! Gold!"
"I see it too!"
Forward moved the crowd. People pressed ahead.
Kairo meant to hang back, yet the crowd pushed forward, trapping him. Someone barged ahead without looking. Close by, a mother tugged her kid nearer the drop. Leaning out, hands stretched toward what lay below.
Then someone slipped.
A cry tore through the air. One person seized a limb - another followed close behind. Fingers closed around flesh once more.
Something snapped into motion right in front of Kairo - people dropping, fingers grabbing at air. A thick shoulder slammed into his ribs when he attempted to step back, knocking balance out from under him. The floor rushed up as his legs gave way.
He fell.
Noise filled his head like a scream without sound. Rushing dark shapes on either side - too fast to see. Down beneath, falling figures spun through empty air. One was someone tall in torn clothes. Another had long hair streaming behind. A child too small moved slowly, almost floating.
Kairo turned hard, one shoulder leading. A hand shot out, catching the man by the wrist - yanked him near. Down they went, crashing through others like layers of broken shields, each impact softer than the last.
It worked. Barely.
A thud echoed as he landed hard, mud splashing up around him.
A sharp ache burst in his thighs. From somewhere deep, a howl rose in his chest. Warmth spread across his tongue.
Among the shattered forms he stayed still. A few made sounds of pain. The rest said nothing.
Kairo attempted to shift - his legs refused. Blurry shapes filled his sight. Iron mixed with grit on his tongue.
After that, light appeared before his eyes.
A deep blue light filled the space. Not still, but moving - breathing almost. From a narrow split in stone it emerged, slow then sudden. This glow throbbed, just like something alive would.
He crawled.
FIRE BLAZED WITH EVERY INCH HE MOVED. PULLING HIMSELF FORWARD, HIS ARMS HAULED LEGS THAT WOULD NOT WORK OVER JAGGED ROCKS. ON THE DIRT BELOW, SWEAT BLEED INTO BLOOD.
Inside the crack he peered after arriving there. A moment passed before his eyes adjusted to the dark gap.
A shard of glass, maybe? Hovering without sound. Light pulses inside it - slow, then quick, like breathing.
Kairo watched it, silent for a stretch of time. A laugh followed after. It sounded cracked, soaked through.
"There you are," he whispered. "You bastard."
Wonder filled him at first. Tales claimed the Abyss swallowed souls like a tomb. Yet clarity came suddenly. This presence - this mechanism - existed long before names were given. It fed without noise. Power built in silence.
"I found you."
Fingers met the smooth surface of the stone. The moment they made contact, a quiet shift happened.
A flash burst inside his thoughts.
Flashes came first. Then sounds, sharp and sudden. Not voices - echoes, maybe. Time broke loose inside his head, pouring forward without warning. People dropped. One after another. The machine took what they had left. Everything made sense now: the whispers, the false promises. All traps. Every single one.
He screamed.
Fear ripped through him, voice breaking into a raw cry that shredded the air. The sound scraped out, relentless, tearing at silence till nothing remained but breathless echoes.
Something new arrived every moment. Not just facts - pieces of a machine clicking together. Growth wasn't gradual; it surged like roots cracking stone. Strength came from stillness, pulling power out of silence.
A stone came into Kairo's fingers. Lifting it, he set his sight on the crystal.
Burn it down. Finish what was started.
Down came his arm in a quick fall.
The moment drew still when the stone neared the glow - then nothing remained.
Floating above, the blue sky met his gaze as sight returned.
Above, clouds drifted without hurry. His neck itched where blades of grass brushed against it. Warmth spread across his skin from the sunlight.
Kairo sat up.
Down near the drop-off. Sky above. Everyone else had left. Fires burned out. Nothing made a sound.
Fingers caught his eye first. After that, the forearms came into view. Then down - past knees toward feet.
Stillness where scars should be. Silence instead of screams. A body unbroken, untouched by hurt.
"What…?"
On his feet now. Every motion flowed without effort. More powerful than he had been.
Down he stared, into the Abyss. Blackness there. Not a sound. Like it never occurred.
Was I gone? he said to the silence around him.
No answer came.
It started with a picture in his mind. That clear stone came next. Then - waves of knowing poured through. Sounds rushed back - the yelling, the look on those dropping bodies. What really happened settled again inside him.
"I touched it," he whispered. "I should be dead."
Funny thing, though - he breathed. Inside that skull of his, shifts took place. A different kind of knowing sat there now. As if a latch gave way behind his thoughts.
Footsteps crunched on gravel as he left the edge behind. Home pulled him forward, one step after another.
Thinking comes first. What I turned into demands clarity.
From somewhere back in the thick dark, a single flicker came off the blue crystal.
Words danced lightly at first glance.
CONNECTION RATE: 10%
GLITCH
GLITCH
ERROR
ERROR
404.