Inside the room was the strange sight of bare ground, grass growing next to a tree stump. He shed a tear seeing the spot. This tree was planted just before he set out on his journey and when he came back it was fully grown. It was that such tree that fed him while he contemplated.

Even though he knew that was the way of the world it still hurt seeing the passage of time. Even if the grass was exactly as he remembered.

Seating himself on the spot he sat so long ago he meditated. But in doing so the System was ejected from the location instantly clearing the storm outside. The system was frustrated with this Unknown Entity as it reached out and labeled the entire island as 'Nexus of Balance' Strangely it found that Nexus was a designation it had, it was just rarely used. Never before had it been used on a world without magic.

But they were places that the energies of the world came together and back out again. The regulation for handling a nexus was to work around it, so finding nothing else to add to this Unknown Entities addition turns it's attention into the next stage.

Prometheus wasn't having an easy time of it. After promptly kicking out the system and looking out he found that this system was bigger than the world. It had the entire universe. This wasn't just an otherworldly invasion, but rather another universe intruding. "No wonder my words to Lex didn't have any repercussions. I was actually helping the world correct the balance and should have said more..."

He sighed at the way things turned out. There was nothing to be done, but ride out the storm. Both literal and figurative.

The System had started making moves now the last area of earth had been designated. He sighed as he realized the world had given up resisting and so sent him here while creating as much chaos for this new system as possible. A Nexus of balance couldn't be destroyed by such a pure imbalance. It was one of the enigmatic mysteries balance can't exist by itself it needs a little stir every once in a while. So the imbalance just helped it correcting the flood of chaotic energy the world was now letting out.

Breaking out of his meditation he saw the room had changed. Where as before it was just an unlit room now it was a much larger one and the old room walls were now glass or some other transparent material.

He looked through the glass. What he saw confused him. The massive imbalance of energies kept in order by the system letting them harness these energies without worry of suddenly combusting themselves or freezing their feet to the ground.

To him it just looked wrong. Like as if all his work at maintaining the balance of his life was just a joke.

The anomaly of him being awake must have been noticed. As soldiers strolled in. Different from last time. His mind stuttered a bit when he saw ten years had passed. The world kept him here for some reason. One or two years would have been enough but ten years? Something was strange about it.

But there was nothing to be done. It had happened. He stretched feeling hungry. "Hey, does this dome have any way to get food in? I'm hungry."

Then the man stood.

To the scientists it was like watching horror as the unchanging man who radiated no energy stood and spoke through a soundproof barrier the system labeled as a world barrier. And as the man's hand stretched out and tapped the glass the world gave it's last 'fuck you' to the system by unleashing the 'Unknown Entity - Prometheus' from the 'unbreakable' prison it crafted around him.

There wasn't an explosion that one could see but the world took on a fundamental more chaotic change when the Nexus of Balance was destroyed by the world itself.

And consequently that resulted in the unbreakable world barrier around Prometheus to shatter into dust and vanish. "Uhh- I swear that wasn't me... I just touched it."

The precarious balance that the world had been spinning on top of for the past... ten thousand or so years had just been removed. And now we were a spinning ball that just fell off the metaphorical table.

Despite his words he was actually incredibly shocked. He didn't know how the world did it, but the nexus of balance of the world was destroyed. A massive middle finger to the order brought by the system.

He let the swarm of magical soldier carry him away. Straight into an interrogation chamber. He sighed at the strange sensation of being the center of attention. In such a world of balanced extremes his own balanced calm was like a beacon.

Eventually they sent in the interrogator. Prometheus frowned at the mix of energies in this man. The order of the system evident but ontop of that even more order of his personality.

This was going to be a while...

"So... Prometheus." He waited, it was strange to hear someone address him by that name again after so long.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Everyone who called me that is long dead now, please just call me George."

The man apparently, trusted the system though and refused. "So, Prometheus. How exactly did you get out of your prison?"

"Well. I was dragged out."

The man frowned back at Prometheus. Apparently whatever he was fishing for it wasn't that. "Just tell me how you destroyed the barrier that was set up by the system itself."

"I didn't." Prometheus laughed inside. People like him were great to mess with.

Slapping the table he stood shouting at the unphased man. "Don't give me that! That barrier was UNBREAKABLE! Nothing could have broken that."

Smiling the reply he got only infuriated him more. "And yet it broke still. Not very unbreakable..."

With that soldiers rushed in replacing the angry man with another less angry one.

This one seemed more flexible. He even brought doughnuts.

They smiled at each other for a long time no one saying anything. Until Prometheus looked around exaggeratingly and asked "Aren't you supposed to have coffee for this?"

That one line was enough to let this man know he had no way to get anything out of him. So he just asked the questions.

"Alright. How did you get in here? Walked... Ok..." He wrote down every reply knowing that were all useless answers.

Many questioned passed until eventually they got to

"Did you speak to anyone?" Prometheus frowned. He had in fact talked to at least one person, a few if you count the simple greeting at the elevator.

But this let him know that these people. They weren't the same guys that ran the facility when he started the meditation. Frowning at the man who looked up confused why the answers stopped coming.

With a serious look he spoke. "I did speak to someone. I wish to see her again. What was her name... Lucy? I think. She was Seven when I got here. We had an awesome tea party in her room with her stuffed animals for a few hours before I tucked her into bed."

This was useful to the interrogator. He was furiously writing this down. But stopped at the man's next words. "No more questions will be answered until I speak to Lucy."

To his credit he tried to get him talk. But he wasn't even getting his useless answers.

Frowning back at the serious Prometheus he shook his head.

Hours passed and no one else entered the room. The silence was broken by Prometheus speaking up. "I'll tell you how the barrier broke if you bring Lucy here."

He smiled to himself watching them through the walls. But inside he was angry, he had a hunch and it wasn't a pretty one.

These human's weren't from earth. That would explain the ones guy's extreme trust in the system, he probably grew up with it.

It was confirmed when Lucy was brought in. She looked confused at being brought here but instantly recognized the man. "Ah! it's you! George!"

She smiled at him but halted her smile as the system informed her of his identity. 'Unknown Entity - Prometheus'

He was looking at her energies. It was true. Those men, most of the soldiers were all not of this world. It was all there in her, that touch of the chaotic balance that had made up the world previously before the world was locked up.

Prometheus was contemplating, with the nexus of balance gone there was no place on earth that was free from the system now. The world was entirely gone in all it's chaotic balance. Now it was replaced by the system. That got him thinking... He was free now to do whatever he wanted... No counter balance to his actions. That was why the world set him free now.

A little reminder to the world about being human. The last Center of balance that could never be turned over because there was no more balance to be had.

The shaky voice of Lucy sounded drawing Prometheus out of his thoughts. "You- You are. Him? The Prometheus?"

He smiled at her, mainly because of the frantic confusion of those behind the glass.

"That was a long time ago. Just call me George.... Coffee?" He was suddenly holding the glass out to her.

As a test to his theory he made a cup of Coffee. Generally if he had done this before it would resulted in a coffee that was literal poison to those who drank it. Not just Coffee, but anything he made.

He tried not to think about the time he gave someone and apple only for them to die in one bite. Or the stories that spawned from it saying that one apple killed so many.

But now it was coffee. Good old normal coffee.

To make it even funnier the System couldn't even designate it as it was filled with his energy.

Lucy blankly took the cup and sat in the chair shaky. "But- You- How-"

"How old am I? Very. Now drink."

He watch the swirling balanced energies merge with her own. Strengthening both the System order energies and the chaotic power the world left everyone before it passed.

Her eyes widened as the system was telling her of the benefits of the drink.

Smiling at her Prometheus spoke. "Yes, it's good no?"

However his smile dropped and he spoke quietly. "If I were you I would get off this island as quickly as possible. These guys are definitely up to no good." He saw the unconscious flex of her power, no doubt her power to see glimpses of the future gave her some vision at my words.

Taking that as a que she went to put the glass down but found that the cup never existed. So she just stood up and left accepting his warning.

"Alright, now your one piece of truthful information from me. I did not break the barrier. The world did."

The door burst open after his words the inflexible man was back. "That's not possible the world can't-"

A glare sent his way shut him up. "Of course the world can't when it's killed by your system. In it's last act it destroyed the prison the system set up around me while I was meditating."

Prometheus stood. He was angry at everything, it felt like his closest friend had just died again. To that end for the first time in... how long? He used the powers to take that step outside.

It was a literal single step. As if the ground was already under his feet when he moved forward. He glanced back spotting Lucy making her own escape, the system giving order to the small flashes of futures she saw. To help her out with the escape he poked a finger in the air. From his gesture a camera that would be pointed in her path was now subtly facing a different direction letting her pass undetected.

With that Prometheus stopped flexing his powers and turned towards the sea, now calm with gentle waves beating on the shore.

The alarm in the compound sounded again but he was already walking the waves, he didn't have the world's balancing guidance to lead him. But he did have his own instinct for finding trouble right now that place was back at his house. He wondered if it would still be his? Or if someone had taken it and sold it in the last ten years he was gone.