The pre-dawn silence hung over the desert.
The cold still lingered, clinging faintly to the air before the sun would rise and burn everything without mercy.
Under a makeshift tarp, two metal cargo containers stood not far away—cold, solid, and unscarred.
Between them sat an improvised table.
And on top of it—a piece of a world that shouldn't exist here.
An open radio with exposed circuitry. A music player that had long lost its original form.
Wires, coils, and small components were scattered in an order only the person who built it could understand.
Tony stood hunched on one side, his hands moving quickly—precise, unwavering.
Across from him, Kuro remained as relaxed as ever.
Meanwhile, Xu Fu sat on top of one of the cargo containers, legs crossed lightly.
In her hand, a bag of snacks.
She chewed slowly, observing everything with little interest.
"…I'm starting to question my life," she muttered flatly.
Tony didn't look up.
"Welcome to the club."
Xu Fu clicked her tongue lightly but didn't continue. Her attention drifted back to the table—not out of interest, but because there was nothing better to look at in the middle of a desert.
At the table, Tony lifted a circuit board from the radio and pointed at a small coil with the tip of his screwdriver.
"We use this as the oscillator. We tune the frequency here."
A microphone cable was connected.
"Mic becomes the input. We overlay the signal onto the carrier—enough for an SOS."
Kuro nodded slightly.
"Range?"
"Bad," Tony replied flatly. "A few kilometers, if we're lucky."
No one objected.
Kuro simply stepped closer.
He raised his hand—and touched the exposed circuitry.
"Resurrection…" he murmured.
His circuit magic activated.
Prana flowed steadily into the system, entering the circuit pathways like a second invisible current—not just energy, but something that read and adjusted.
"Understanding structure…"
A brief pause.
"Strengthening composition…"
Tony stopped.
Not because he hesitated—but because he realized something was happening, and he didn't want to miss a single detail.
"…That's definitely not anything I recognize," he muttered.
He didn't interrupt. He just watched—sharp, calculating, trying to understand.
Kuro kept his focus on the circuit.
"If you don't know the shape of something, you can't fix it," he said calmly. "If you don't understand its structure, you can't strengthen it."
Tony exhaled slowly.
"…Sounds like philosophy."
"Close enough."
Prana seeped deeper—then stabilized.
Kuro withdrew his hand.
"Try it."
Tony didn't move immediately.
He stared at the circuit for a few seconds—searching for a trick, a loophole, something he could rationalize.
Nothing.
"…Fine."
He reached for the switch.
Click.
The circuit activated.
Static.
A harsh hiss filled the air—then gradually settled.
A signal appeared.
Cleaner than it should've been.
More stable.
And its strength… was absurd for something built from scraps.
Tony immediately went to work.
His fingers turned the tuner, his ears catching every microscopic shift.
"…Gain's increasing dramatically," he muttered. "And—"
He paused, eyebrows furrowing.
"…loss is almost nonexistent."
He shifted the frequency again.
The response remained solid.
No instability.
No distortion.
Tony fell silent.
"…That shouldn't be possible."
On top of the cargo, Xu Fu paused her chewing.
"…Oh," she muttered softly. "This is interesting."
Tony finally turned to Kuro.
His gaze was no longer just skeptical.
"…Seriously. What did you do?"
"I strengthened the electromagnetic field."
Tony stared at him for a few seconds longer than usual.
Searching for a joke.
There wasn't one.
He exhaled.
"…Of course you did."
He turned back to the circuit.
Testing it again—not to confirm it worked, but to find its limits.
"…The response is increasing," he said quietly. "As if energy efficiency is being forced upward… without any additional input."
He paused.
Then looked back again.
This time, serious.
"…That's not just 'assistance.'"
Kuro only gave a light shrug.
"Think of it as making it more cooperative."
Xu Fu went back to chewing.
"He didn't make it better," she said flatly.
She glanced at Tony.
"He just removed the possibility of failure."
Silence followed.
Tony didn't argue.
He simply connected the final cable.
"…Fine."
Click.
The circuit powered on, stable.
"…If this lets the signal reach further—"
He didn't finish the sentence.
He didn't need to.
Kuro gave a faint smile.
Under the simple tarp, a transmitter had finally been built.
Not just a device.
But the result of an odd compromise—between logic… and something that refused to be explained.
***
After a few moments passed.
Tony's eyes snapped wide open.
In a single heartbeat, his body jolted upright. His breathing was chaotic, nearly hyperventilating—like someone dragged out of a nightmare… or a miracle.
"—Haah… haah…!"
Then, suddenly—
"Yahahaha!"
His laughter burst out. Rough. Unrestrained. Slightly unhinged.
He stared into the distance, eyes narrowed against the morning light—then abruptly dropped to his knees, both arms raised high in a Y-shape.
On the horizon—a silhouette appeared.
The rhythmic thudding of rotor blades cut through the air, growing louder, closer.
Two U.S. military helicopters.
Dust and sand swirled violently as they approached, tearing through the silence of the morning.
Tony waved wildly.
"HEY! HEY! OVER HERE!"
A manic grin stretched across his face—a mix of relief, exhaustion, and something almost like disbelief.
Wind roared as one of the helicopters landed, blasting sand in every direction.
A few seconds later, a rescue team descended—five men, moving quickly and with trained precision.
At their front stood a lean man with dark skin and sharp eyes.
Colonel James Rhodes.
His military uniform was crisp, his posture rigid—but the moment he saw Tony, his expression cracked.
Relief.
And something more personal underneath it.
He approached, his steps slowing.
A crooked smile formed on his face—half sarcasm, half… relief.
"Having fun out here, Tony?"
Tony shrugged, forcing a tired grin.
"Oh, you know… same old."
Without much ceremony, they pulled each other into a brief embrace—rough, quick, but enough to say everything.
Still alive.
Still here.
When they finally parted, Rhodes noticed the other two figures nearby.
Kuro stood there casually, as if everything was just part of a routine. He raised a hand slightly in a light greeting.
Beside him, Xu Fu simply stood still—expression flat, eyes observing without any clear emotion.
Rhodes nodded politely toward Kuro.
Then turned back to Tony.
"So…" Rhodes raised an eyebrow slightly, "who are they?"
Tony paused for a fraction of a second.
His gaze shifted to Kuro.
Then to Xu Fu.
Something still lingered in his mind.
The way they appeared. The way they acted. The way Kuro… did things that didn't belong in any logic Tony understood.
And most importantly—they didn't look like anyone who "belonged" anywhere near here.
Not soldiers.
Not locals.
Not anyone that made sense to be in the middle of an Afghan desert.
Tony took a slow breath.
He wasn't going to start explaining "magic."
Not now.
Not in front of the military.
"…Good question," he muttered.
Then he shrugged, his tone slipping back into something casual—almost too casual.
"He…" he pointed at Kuro with his thumb, "has a situation pretty similar to mine."
A brief pause.
"Kidnapped."
He glanced at Kuro—just quickly enough for it not to look like confirmation.
"…And probably took a nasty hit to the head. Pretty bad, actually."
Rhodes narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Amnesia?"
Tony nodded.
"Something like that."
He added, half-joking:
"Lucky me, I still remember who I am. Him? Not so much. Just remembers his name."
A brief pause.
Then Tony continued, lighter this time:
"The other one…" he glanced at Xu Fu, "…is his partner."
Xu Fu didn't react.
She just stared back blankly.
Tony shrugged again, as if that alone was explanation enough.
"…Yeah. Bottom line—they helped me stay alive until you showed up."
______
Author's note:
Did you enjoy it? 😌
Don't forget to leave a comment, add it to your favorites, and give a Power Stone.
If possible, I'd also love to see your reviews✨