Ethan blinked as the soft glow of the cube dimmed to a gentle pulse once more. He felt disoriented, his mind spinning with the images that had flashed before him—geometric landscapes, reshaped animals, humans linked into the system like living extensions of the cubes. His body was still tingling with residual energy, and for a moment, the world around him felt unreal, distant.
He turned to Jen, expecting to find her still standing beside him in the same tense silence they had shared before. But something was off.
Jen wasn’t just staring at him—she was staring past him, her face drawn and pale, her eyes wide with confusion and a creeping sense of dread.
“What’s wrong?” Ethan asked, his voice coming out in a hoarse whisper.
Jen shook her head slowly, glancing around the room as if seeing it for the first time. “Something’s… different. I don’t—” She broke off, looking back toward the entrance. The cold, sharp geometry of the cube still surrounded them, but there was a strange shift in the air. The quiet, steady hum had changed subtly, becoming sharper, more urgent, like a clock ticking in the background.
“Different how?” Ethan asked, his stomach tightening. The cube’s interior still felt like an alien machine—right angles, smooth surfaces, and soft light with no source—but he could sense the same shift. The atmosphere had altered. It wasn’t just inside the cube. Something had changed outside as well.
“We’ve been here longer than we think,” Jen said, her voice trembling slightly. “Look at the light. The angle. It’s brighter now.”
Ethan’s brow furrowed as he followed her gaze toward the entrance. At first, the light from the outside world hadn’t been strong enough to compete with the cube’s ambient glow. Now, though, as they stood staring at the entrance, they realized the sun was shining.
Bright, harsh sunlight poured through the opening, casting long shadows across the smooth floor.
“It’s morning,” Jen whispered, disbelief coloring her voice. “We’ve been in here all night.”
Ethan’s pulse quickened. That couldn’t be right. Inside the cube, time had felt fluid, like they had only been there for an hour or two at most. But now, as they looked out at the city, the soft blue light of dawn gave way to the rising sun. The world outside had moved forward without them.
“How long were we in there?” Ethan muttered, more to himself than to Jen.
Jen shook her head again, stepping forward toward the entrance. She raised a hand to block the bright sunlight, squinting as she tried to make sense of what had happened. “It felt like an hour. Maybe two. But… it’s been at least twelve.”
Ethan’s mind raced, the realization sinking in. The cube wasn’t just playing with the world outside—it was manipulating time. The thought sent a chill through him. What else had the cubes altered that they hadn’t yet noticed?
Before he could respond, a sudden flash of light appeared in front of him. The now-familiar translucent interface materialized in the air, but this time, it wasn’t just a simple message or prompt. This time, it was something entirely new.
A holographic display blinked into existence, projecting from thin air in front of both Ethan and Jen. The screen shimmered, and then text began to form, lines of information scrolling down in a cold, sterile font.
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USER: Ethan Reyes
STATUS: LINKED
Below the text, a series of stats began to populate the display:
* Physical Condition: 82%
* Cognitive Function: 97%
* Synchronization Level: 12%
* System Integration: Active
* Abilities: None unlocked
Ethan’s breath caught in his throat as he stared at the numbers. This wasn’t just a message from the System. It was his status—his stats, laid out like something from a video game. He felt a wave of disbelief crash over him. This was insane. And yet… here it was, plain as day.
Ethan looked over at Jen and the interface flickered again, and new lines appeared:
USER: JENNIFER (JEN) ANDREWS
STATUS: LINKED
Jen’s stats populated next:
* Physical Condition: 76%
* Cognitive Function: 94%
* Synchronization Level: 9%
* System Integration: Active
* Abilities: None unlocked
Jen stared at the display in shock, her hand hovering in the air as if she could touch the hologram. “What… what the hell is this?”
“It’s us,” Ethan said, though his voice sounded hollow, like he didn’t believe his own words. “It’s our status. Our stats.”
He couldn’t wrap his mind around it. This was something out of a simulation, a game. But the System was real. The cubes were real. The changes happening outside were real. And now, they were part of it—linked into the System, with stats to match.
Ethan’s eyes drifted back to his own interface. The number beside Synchronization Level drew his attention. Twelve percent. What did that mean? He wasn’t sure, but the word “synchronization” sent a shiver down his spine. It implied something deeper, a connection that went beyond the surface level. How much more integrated would they become as that number climbed?
“We’re linked,” Jen said, echoing the word with a sense of dread. “We’re connected to it. To the System.”
Ethan nodded slowly. “Yeah. But it doesn’t make sense. We don’t feel different, do we?”
“I don’t know. Maybe we don’t realize it yet.” Jen took a deep breath, her eyes fixed on her stats. “Abilities… None unlocked. What kind of abilities? And what happens when we ‘unlock’ them?”
The thought sent a fresh wave of unease through Ethan. The System wasn’t just passively observing them. It had plans for them. The cubes were changing the world, and now they were part of that change—whether they wanted to be or not.
Suddenly, the interface flickered again, and a new message appeared at the bottom of both their screens:
“NEXT OBJECTIVE: SYNCHRONIZATION TASK AWAITING INITIATION. LOCATION: CENTRAL NODE (2.8 KM SOUTH).”
Ethan’s heart sank. Another task. Another step in this twisted game.
“I don’t like this,” Jen muttered, her voice shaking slightly. “It’s pulling us deeper in. First, it syncs us, now it’s giving us objectives. What happens if we don’t follow it?”
Ethan didn’t have an answer. His gut told him that disobedience wasn’t an option. The System had taken control of everything—the cubes were everywhere, reshaping the world, and now they were inside it. Whatever force was behind the cubes, it wasn’t something they could simply avoid.
“We need to find out what this ‘Central Node’ is,” Ethan said, trying to focus. “If we can understand it, maybe we can figure out what the System wants.”
Jen let out a slow breath, then nodded. “Okay. But we need to be careful. We still don’t know how deep this connection goes.”
They stepped back outside, into the sunlight, blinking as their eyes adjusted. The city stretched out before them, eerily quiet. The cubes hung in the sky, scattered across the skyline like sentinels. More people were wandering the streets, staring up at the sky, their faces blank. Some had faint glows around their eyes, similar to what Ethan had seen before, evidence of their own connection to the System.
The cubes had changed more of the city overnight. Buildings had shifted—what once were towering skyscrapers now had smooth, unnatural edges, their structures bent into geometric shapes that defied conventional engineering. Trees had been reshaped into perfect spirals, their branches extending at precise angles. It was subtle but unmistakable—every corner, every line, was sharper, cleaner, as if the System was rewriting the world according to its own design.
As they made their way through the altered streets, Ethan felt the interface lingering in his vision, the translucent screen hovering at the edge of his sight. It was a constant reminder of the System’s presence, of the changes happening not just to the world, but to them.
“Do you think anyone else is seeing this?” Jen asked, her voice low.
“I don’t know. But it’s spreading,” Ethan replied. “More people are linking up, whether they realize it or not.”
They continued walking, the looming sense of dread following them with every step. The world was being rewritten, piece by piece, and the System had chosen them to play a part in it.
As they moved toward the next objective, the question burned in Ethan’s mind: how much of themselves would they lose before they understood the true nature of the cubes?
And could they ever get it back?