Joe: Our client today is an elderly woman who fears getting mad by a chronicle disease she has, and we are being paid 100♧(approximately 1000 dollars in today’s currency)

Aiko: that's way too low, just our servers cost more than this

Joe: I know but I accepted this mission because it's an elderly woman with almost no creativity so it will be easier than the last time

Fabricia: Guess I'll have some skulls to crash today

Joe: and Prof is coming with us today

Prof: alright I'll do my best

Joe: one thing you should know, we don’t use our real names in the CC

Prof: oh, I didn’t know that, why do you guys do this

Joe: it’s just tradition, from the old ESON group, nothing really special about it, my name in the CC is Tactical

Fabricia: Mine is the queen of the seven seas or just queen

Aiko remains in silence, not wanting to speak

Joe: anyways let’s get going

Then Fabricia, Joe, and Prof go to the bus stop and wait for a while

Prof: The ESON do their mission by bus... really?

Joe: we're saving money to buy a car so... that's how we do things

Subway music is playing in the background and there is almost no one on the bus

Fabricia: So punk, what's your powers?

Prof: You mean... the CA?

Joe: Oh yeah, I forgot to ask you about that

Prof: my power is to manipulate the laws of physics in the CC, but it's very limited I can only boost my speed to 100 for a few seconds, anything more than this would fry my brain

Joe: So how did you do against Santa?

Prof: ... I wanted to show off a bit

Joe: I see…

Prof: anyways, I can make myself faster, stronger, etc, create gravitational pulls, and change the mass of a body, of course, this is very limited and can fry my brain so I try to go as easy as possible, but my Triumph is the ability is to manipulate the physics of the cognitive world as I like

(Triumphs, an extraordinary ability possessed by every user of cerebral augmentation (CA), allows individuals to access immense power by utilizing their full cognitive capacity. However, this power comes with a significant risk—cerebral overload, which could prove fatal to the user. Each Triumph is unique, offering a diverse range of abilities and potential outcomes.)

Fabricia: do que caralhos você ta falando? (wtf are you talking about?)

Joe: yeah, that sounds complicated

Prof: for example, if you fall from 10 meters on solid ground you will break your legs, but in the CC our resistance is often strengthened and can resist a lot more impacts and damage, so for example, if we are fighting someone very fast, I can simply change physics to make his leg break with the impact of running so fast, by using newton's third law

Fabricia: ...

Joe: ...

Aiko in a video call: You dumbasses, summing up, he can make our enemy significantly weaker

Joe: Oh it makes sense

Fabricia: I don't understand a single thing but I think that this is good

They get off the bus and are in the rich area of Neo Polis, the main streets are clean and beautiful, but if you turn your head towards an alley, you’ll see poverty and misery. They start talking

Fabricia: IT’S SOOOOOO HOOOOT

Joe: fr, I didn’t know that today was going to be so hot

They notice that prof keeps walking with still a bunch of clothes, and somehow an unfazed facial expression

Fabricia: Tu não sente calor não? (You don’t feel hot, do you?)

Prof: well… w-where I’m from it’s very hot so I'm used to it

Prof says that nervous like he is hiding something.

An explosion happens nearby, they hear screams, and suddenly Prof is gone

Joe: WHAT TH-

Fabricia: HEY, WHERE DID HE GO

Aiko (vc): I TOLD YOU GUYS THAT HE WASN’T TRUSTFUL

The POV changes to Prof’s

(Voice inside prof’s head): KILL THEM ALL

He is at the explosion area, he sees thieves with loads of money trying to go to a van, he approaches them walking very slowly and almost looking like a zombie whispering

Prof: kill, kill kill

Thief 1: who the fuck is this guy?

Thief 2: idk?

Thief 2 points his gun at Prof and shoots while he sees Prof walking very slowly towards them

At Prof’s pov, everything is slow, almost like he is in a flow state, after this, he dodges the bullet

Thief 2: what t-

Prof runs and punches the punk, making his head explode, the other 2 thieves get scared and they enter in a white van driving away, leaving the money behind.

Thief 3: phew, I thought we were done for

A voice comes from the car’s ceiling. Prof breaks the car’s ceiling, grabs the head of the driver, and smashes it into the steering wheel, then he breaks the windshield, grabs the steering wheel, and makes the car fall into the main river of Neo polis. After this we see Prof in the distance, looking at the river.

The POV goes back to Joe and Fabricia

Fabricia: fuck that guy, we’ll do the mission on our own

(Joe): something doesn’t feel right, why would he run for no reason at all

Fabricia stares at Joe as he keeps thinking

Fabricia:helloooo? Earth to Joe, wake up

Fabricia then slaps Joe’s back with a lot of strength, she keeps her smile like it was a weak slap, and she does this with a friendly intention

Joe: oh, I'm sorry, we should keep going

They go walking until they reach a very chic asylum, there are a lot of cameras and guards close to the building. Joe knocks on the door and a nurse appears

Nurse: oh, you’re the Eson group?

Joe: yes, we’re here for-

Nurse: I know, please hurry

Joe and Fabricia stroll down the hallway until they spot a weary blind woman in a wheelchair. Her fatigued eyes, trembling arms, and slender legs suggest she hasn't been sleeping well.

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Joe: Hello, Lyla. We're here for your CC appointment.

Lyla: *pauses* "D-do what you must.

Joe remains composed, while Fabricia struggles to hide her apprehension.

Joe and fabricia put their headsets and put a special headset in the head of Lyla

Nurse: where should I place this other headset?

There is an extra headset that was supposed to be Prof’s headset

Joe: You can place it close to me

Nurse: ok

Joe hears the nurse placing the headset close to him. They enter the CC, first, they fall into what seems, an endless void, until a giant glowing eye appears and they fall right into it, they see themselves in a dark room, with absolute zero light..

Tactical: This one’s different from the others. Some light, please

Queen: Right away

Queen summons a flying glowing jellyfish that lights the way ahead.

Aiko(vc): These readings…. It can’t be

Tactical seems worried

Tactical(vc): What is it, Aiko?

Aiko: THAT’S A SPECIAL CC

After Aiko says this they both start to feel sick and fall to the ground, a giant humanoid-like thing appears on the horizon, filling the place with a lot of red flashy lights coming from all directions. They can’t move and are immobilized by the presence of the creature

Tactical: AIKO, SHE IS A SPECIAL ONE ISN’T IT?

Aiko(vc): YES, HER COGNITIVE WORLD IS LIKE THIS DUE TO HER NEURAL DISEASE

Quenn: shit… if Prof was here…

they both feel like something is physically and mentally entering their heads and brains, almost altering their memories

Tactical: QUEEN, RESIST IT, YOU CAN’T GIVE UP NOW

Queen: I… I-I I CAN’T

She says this while having her head engulfed by a dark substance with faces on it. Her head is completely submerged by the substance, and she suddenly gets up with a weird body language

“Queen”: That’s right I should’ve died with my parents

“Queen”: You’ve been a terrible father, I hate you Joe

A flashback starts. Joe and a soldier are inside a destroyed house that is located in a vast desert, that once was a beautiful forest, lots and lots of corpses are near them, the soldier is heavily bleeding and is dying on Joe’s lap, they hear a lot of noise, sounds of grenades, gunfires, tanks, etc, as the soldier bleeds, Joe starts to talk

Joe: stay with me PLEASE

Soldier: Guess I wasn’t able to keep my promise…

Joe: DON’T SAY THIS, WE ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS

After he says this, a giant robot appears behind them. A childish female voice is coming from the robot with a sarcastic and jokester tone

Robot: Ohhh, you’re so pitiful, I almost feel bad for you, well, time to die.

Joe looks with a hatred expression at the robot and with a strong voice he says

Joe: WE ARE GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE. YOU HEAR ME? STUPID ROBOT

The robot hesitates, almost like it felt…. fear?

Joe proceeds to look at the Soldier again, but now with a tearful and sad expression

Soldier: You better keep your promise, you hear me?

Then the Soldier proceeds to throw a P.E.M (a device that shuts down all the electronics), and the robot shuts down, falling into the ground

Soldier: Now go, this is your chance

Joe: But…

Soldier: DON’T HESITATE, DON’T WASTE MY LIFE, MAKE GOOD USE OF IT AND LIVE WITH HONOR

Soldier: This is our promise now…. ok?

Joe: I-

Joe is interrupted by the sounds of the robot being turned on again and starts to get up

Soldier: GO, GO, GO,

Joe jumps through the broken window and proceeds to run with tears and hatred in his eyes, he feels his heart heavy, every part of him is shaking, the fear of the tomorrow, the fear of never seeing his friends again. He is feeling all of this while he sprints through the desert in the hope of seeing him again… A laser passes right through Joe’s right arm, cutting it from the elbow below, he falls to the ground, but in a glimpse of an eye, he gets up again, he will not give up that easily, he keeps running and the flashback ends….

The dark substance tries to engulf Joe’s head, but then it suddenly evaporates. Joe is unfazed, and suddenly he remembers the war he participated in a long time ago, even before him having his CA, the friends he lost, the one he once loved, and the arm that was taken away from him… he will never let that happen again, he won’t see Fabricia that is a daughter to him being engulfed by the darkness that he felt during and after the war

“Queen”: Wh-what? why… How are you getting up?

Joe: My name is Joe Marshton Adler, I’m a loving father, a protector of the weak, I train my body and soul to protect the ones I couldn’t protect in the great war…

Joe: I am the defense, the strength. I AM THE ONE WHO HOLDS THE UNBREAKABLE SPIRIT, AND I’M NOT LETTING ANYONE SAY THE OPPOSITE OR HURT MY TEAMMATES(family)

“Queen”: YOU THINK YOU CAN BEAT ME? YOU’RE IN MY DOMAIN, I AM GOD-

After “Queen” says this, Joe’s body ignites on an orange and red flame, the heat and the light are so strong that obfuscate the light of the humanoid being, and then it stabilizes, then the “queen” substitutes her arm for a claw of a mantis shrimp, after this she shoots a projectile of air on Joe. Joe simply thug's it out like a champ and doesn’t even move

Joe: My CA, known as the Unbreakable Spirit, ignites flames of determination within me, representing my unwavering determination to protect and care for others, forged in the aftermath of war. These flames briefly reinforce all my muscles, making me invulnerable to physical attacks in a fraction of a second. With precise timing, I can deflect and withstand any assault, harnessing the strength of my spirit to endure and prevail.

Queen keeps shooting at him, but he is menacingly walking towards her slowly…

“Queen”: DIE, DIE, DIE

Joe: Attacking me is futile, you’re not on my level

When Joe gets extremely close to Fabricia, she tries to jump but can’t

The darkness that is engulfing Fabricia’s head opens a little, Joe is only able to see her tearful eyes behind the darkness

Queen: Help me father… please…

“Queen”: THE BODY IS NOT RESPONDING TO ME?

Joe then grabs the darkness and pulls everything away from Fabricia, the darkness tries to climb through his arm but rapidly vanishes by the flames of Joe’s body, after this Fabricia is released from the humanoid domain. Fabricia then falls to the ground exhausted, but before she passes out, she summons a mantis shrimp claw, next to Joe.

Joe: Alright, I will finish this

Joe then holds the mantis claw and points at the humanoid, suddenly he starts to talk.

Humanoid: H-HOW? MY MIND CONTROL SHOULD BE ABSOLUTE

Joe: I’ve been through everything in my life, my experiences made me unbreakable.

Joe then prepares the attack, he combines his CA with the mantis shrimp claw, making the claw ignite on an orange fire, and a sphere of flames is formed, getting bigger and bigger

Humanoid: YOU WON’T DO THAT

The humanoid then tries to stop Joe from launching the projectile, but an invisible wall stops him

Joe: I knew it, you’re defenseless without someone to control isn’t it?

Joe: Begone.

Then Joe shoots the flame, lighting all the place with its orange color, then when it reaches the humanoid, it’s a critical hit on its head, passing right through it like it was a bullet passing through paper. It never stood a chance.

Aiko(vc): HOLY SHIT, THAT WAS FIRE

Joe then proceeds to go after Fabricia, everything starts to glitch, and the glowing eye appears in the distance. Joe then holds Fabricia on his shoulders and runs towards the eye, leaving the CC. As he removes his headset, he looks at his wedding ring on his right hand.

A few hours pass by, it's raining and it’s nighttime, Prof is sitting on the ground in a back alley with a pink neon light above coming from a light pole. He is visibly tired, exhausted even, after some time Prof can hear a female voice in the distance.

Female voice: I finally found you

Aiko appears in the distance, and Prof barely has the energy to talk, as she comes close to Prof something happens. She points a gun at his head with a dead serious face

Aiko: You’re hiding something from us, aren’t you?

Prof is still on the ground, he didn’t move a single muscle until now

Aiko: The explosion close to the bus station was you, isn’t it?

Prof: …

Aiko: I also received a reading of an entrance in an alternative CC, that wasn’t from our client… This was also you isn’t it

Prof: …

Prof then proceeds to get up shaking a lot but falls again, he starts to take off his clothes very slowly, he is so weak that it looks like even a small breeze would kill him…

Aiko: WH-

Prof then finishes taking all of his clothes off, revealing a really strange body

All of his body is clearly cybernetic, every part of him is synthetic, and nothing is organic, as the lights of his chest start to fade, he starts to talk in a very weak voice

Prof: I’m sorry that I lied… I-It wasn’t my intention

Aiko: H-How..?

Prof: The same as you, I noticed the moment I saw you sleeping on that futon… You’re just like me… Aren’t you?

A white light shines through Prof’s chest, and Aiko’s body responds with a blue light coming from her chest, almost like there is a connection between them. Aiko was surprised and had never seen that before, she didn’t know that her chest was able to shine with such a beautiful color

Aiko: W-what?

Prof: I knew It…

Prof: I was a very sick kid, so sick that I had no salvation, so my parents decided to replace all of my organic body parts with synthetic ones. I suppose your story is different, your… Eyes… they tell something different from whatever I’ve seen

Prof: I-I’m sorry that I lied. If you want to kill me, do it, I am pathetic, someone who can’t even control their instincts and kill others because of It… That’s not what my mother teached me… If I’m not even able to do the only thing that was teached to me In my life… I’ve failed

Prof starts to glance at the floor, with all of his body relaxed, he accepts his fate

(Aiko): I can’t believe I’m gonna do this

Aiko then proceeds to carry Prof on her shoulders, unfortunately, she is so small that his legs drag into the ground, she is putting a lot of effort into carrying him.

Prof:W-hy?

He says with a tremble and confusing voice

Aiko: Just shut up, I’m taking you home

These words echo into Prof’s head

(Aiko):Why am I even doing this? He’s nothing to me, just a stranger who keeps lying all the time…

Prof: Aiko

Aiko:?

Prof:Thanks

Aiko:... Y-Youre welcome

They walk silently through the alleys of Neo Polis, their chests keep glowing with their respective lights as Aiko carries Prof. They go to a bus stop and a bus appears, they pay and enter the bus. They keep themselves in silence until they arrive at the base. Aiko then opens the door with a kick which scares Joe

Aiko: we’re home