"I see someone!" Iseri scoped in some levels higher than where Omega was.

"Give me a detailed description," Machida pulled out his notes in his office.

"Long black hair, black eyes, possible scar on the left cheek. It's a woman that looks to be in her mid 20's."

"Good, now just keep an eye on both of them. Where's the woman headed?"

"She's multiple floors above the Omega, she looks to be going up."

"They must've met..." Machida cut off for a moment, "It's possible that she did something to him. Just keep an eye on him while I get the visual working."

Squish, squish, squish

Omega steadily made his way to the third floor while getting berated by unknown voices. He pulled at his hair, hoping to numb himself to their words. The blood was rising faster than expected. It was past his knees now, making it harder for him to move. He had to improvise. He searched his mind for any possible method of escape when he fell upon one memory.

The one comic book they had at the Hatchery! I never read it but it was about a superhero that could fly. If I use telekinesis...

Omega concentrated his thought on lifting himself through the thick, murky blood. With a gust of wind, he rocketed straight into the concrete ceiling head first. He winced at the pain, but when he opened his eyes, he was still in the air. He tried to control his levitation, jutting back and forth to get to the next floor. Bam! He bashed his head into the wall. He rubbed his forehead and thought, Wait, it doesn't really hurt...this must be what Uyama told me about. That must mean that I'm...scared?

Omega looked back down at the flood and chose to ignore it, continuing to float his way up the floors with newfound confidence. But it slowly faded with each floor he passed. It seemed like it'd never end. The blood was catching up to him. He groaned, "She lied to me! There is no end to this! What does she want from me?!" He came down from the air and onto his knees.

"You." A dark voice echoed from the floor above.

Omega's eyes shot up as a hand revealed itself on the railing.

"It's you. That's what she wants." The voice was unrecognizable, it sounded so unsympathetic.

"What?!" He questioned- but still couldn't see the full figure.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

"Are you really that oblivious? Can't you see? All of this is about you." The figure suddenly disappeared and reappeared in the floor as a shadow.

"I am you," the shadow skittered behind Omega, overtaking his own shadow," and you are me."

Omega's legs shook as he stood back up, looking around cautiously.

"I'm no cliche evil clone, or some sort of evil being inside of you. I'm not evil. That's what I'm not. We both decided that didn't we?"

"I don't kn-" Omega was interrupted.

"You don't know me? What about all those questions you ask me at night? "Who am I really?", who you are is. "Am I still going to be a nice person once I find out?", you can answer that on your own now. You know who I am, Omega. I'm the real you."

Omega's skin shivered as it suddenly grew colder. "You're afraid, aren't you?" The shadow came out of the floor and took Omega's appearance," You're afraid that your future self is this." The shadow held its arms out to show all of itself. "You're afraid this is the real you."

Omega drops to his knees again. The sloshing of blood grew louder and louder. "This can't be real..."

"Oh, don't do that look..." the shadow walked up and leaned over,"...you look so hopeless and defeated." Placing its hands on Omega's shoulders, it whispered in his ear," I actually feel...pity for you." The shadow's hands grabbed at his shirt from the shoulders and pushed Omega down, deeper, into the faster-rising crimson. Omega erratically fought its arms, but he couldn't stop it from dragging him into the abyss of blood. Now he was fully submerged in the red along with his true self. I'm dying. That's all he could think of as his shoulders were let go and he floated down into the chasm. Looking around him, he saw the severed arms, heads, and legs of his victims. He saw Uyama's head. Enjō's head. Their eyes were blank but somewhat revealing a dreadful face. No...that's not real. They're not dead. I'd never kill them. They're the only people-

Omega's eyes flared as he grabbed his shadow's arm. The blood in his lungs disappeared and he screamed at the top of them, "This is not real!". He dragged its arm towards him- and swung his fist into his face. Flying out of the disappearing sea of red, he fell onto the dry floor. The shadow thudded onto the floor, its jaw misplaced. It twitched before decaying into the floor. The shadow groaned angrily and slowly started to re-emerge as a silhouette again," This time, the shadow looked like it was leaking. Omega got off the ground and made his fists. "You're no one. You're a nobody! So..." Omega catapulted himself to the shadow with telekinesis and grabbed its face. The shadow's leaky eyes widened as it struggled to loosen his grip. Omega began to swing it around by the face," Get. The..." The shadow's yell was muffled by Omega's hand," Hell out!" Omega finally released its face into the ceiling. The shadow crashed through the ceiling, but it didn't stop there. One floor, another floor, and then another. Too many to count. It was beyond gone.

———

"Wait! Something's going on!" Iseri exclaimed through the headset.

"What happened now?!" Machida demanded.

"The woman looks frantic. Pacing and everything. Something must've happened."

"What about the Omega?"

"He's...smiling?"

Machida paused, "I don't know what's happening, but this situation might be going in the right direction. I've gotten the visual now."

"What should I do now? Should I go get the both of them, General?"

...

"General?"

Machida's voice was hesitant, "No. There's something else there. You have to stay where you are. If you leave, Iseri, I feel like we'll all regret it. Just keep watching."