The corridor leading to the second mainframe was a suffocating tunnel, lined with flickering lights that pulsed with the same erratic energy coursing through Aklion’s veins. The iron sigil of Deimos loomed at the end, a mockery carved in shadow and light, the eyes of the symbol seeming to follow him, promising torment.
System Notification:
Warning: High-Level Toxins Detected
Mental Fortitude: -20%
Initiating Neural Stabilizers… Failure
Aklion’s chest tightened as an unseen force swept over him, turning the sterile corridor into a maelstrom of nightmarish hallucinations. The walls seemed to melt, dripping like molten tar, reforming into grotesque, writhing figures. They clawed at him, their nails made of rusted metal, drawing thin trails of blood that he knew weren’t real—but his mind refused to let him disbelieve.
“Get a grip,” he muttered through clenched teeth, voice shaking. The INPAXX in his bloodstream pulsed erratically, a wild animal caught between fight and flight.
System Alert:
Cognitive Disruption Level: Severe
Hallucination Effects Enhanced by 25%
New Status Effect: Panic-Induced Fatigue
Aklion tried to move, but his feet felt like they were sinking into quicksand. The hallway became a darkened battlefield, the ground littered with bodies, faces twisted in anguish—all faces he recognized. Ravik, Vectora, rebels he’d fought beside. Their eyes, wide open, accusing him with the silence of the grave.
“No… no!” He stumbled back, heart racing as his vision swam with the impossible. The INPAXX fought against the terror, trying to sharpen his senses, but it felt like pouring gasoline on a fire. His breaths came in ragged gasps as Deimos’ voice slithered into the fray, an echo of a thousand voices speaking in a discordant chorus.
“Aklion, you can’t save them. You never could.”
System Notification:
New Objective: Overcome the Trial of Deimos
Options: Succumb or Resist
Mental Stability: -40% (Critical)
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Temporary Skill Locked: Tactical Awareness
Suddenly, a sharp cry pierced through the chaos, freezing Aklion where he stood. Vectora’s voice, unmistakable and laced with agony. He turned, eyes wide with desperation as she appeared before him, clutching at her chest, eyes wet with fear.
“Why did you let me die?” she whispered, and her voice shattered him like glass. The ground opened beneath her feet, and she fell into darkness, arms outstretched, fingers barely brushing his.
He reached out instinctively, muscles straining against the hallucination, feeling an aching emptiness in his chest where hope should have been.
System Notification:
Trigger: Survivor’s Guilt Activated
Effect: Emotional Instability Amplified by 30%
Mental Fortitude: -60% (Critical Threshold)
The scene shifted, and Aklion was no longer in the corridor but back on his farm, fields scorched and lifeless under an ashen sky. Blackened stalks reached out like skeletal fingers, and in the distance, his home stood ablaze, devoured by tongues of fire that roared louder than his own heartbeat.
He sank to his knees as mechanical figures—conglomerate soldiers, their visors gleaming with cold, artificial malice—emerged from the inferno. In their grasp was a child, small and fragile, screaming as they tore him away, the wails cutting into Aklion’s mind like a serrated blade.
System Alert:
Hallucination Intensified: Parental Despair Induced
Willpower Check: Failed
Mental Stability: -75% (Danger Zone)
Aklion’s arms felt leaden as he reached for the rifle strapped to his back. His hands were trembling, slick with sweat and shaking uncontrollably. Every part of him screamed to resist, to stand, to fight. But his legs were rooted, paralyzed by a fear that pulsed from the inside out.
“Stop this… please,” he choked out, each word a gasp of raw pain.
“Weak,” Deimos’ voice coiled around him like a constrictor. The room morphed again, now filled with disembodied whispers, accusing, taunting.
“Coward.”
“Killer.”
“Failure.”
Each word lashed at him like a whip, breaking him piece by piece. The vision of Vectora appeared again, this time in grotesque detail, eyes hollow and her mouth twisted into a cruel smile that wasn’t hers. She reached for him, and her touch burned with the chill of death.
System Notification:
Illusion Amplified by Fear Toxin
Health Impact: Psychosomatic Damage +10%
Options Remaining: Succumb or Resist
Aklion’s vision blurred as tears mingled with the sweat streaking his face. His body ached to surrender, to end the torment. The INPAXX, instead of providing relief, fed into the chaos, sparking uncontrollable spasms and flashes of rage that clouded his judgment.
“End it,” the voice whispered, and this time, it was his own.
Hands shaking, he lifted his rifle, feeling the cold metal against his temple. It hummed slightly, the mechanism clicking as it prepared to fire. For the first time in a long while, silence filled the room, heavy and suffocating.
System Notification:
New Objective: End the Hallucination
Options: Overcome or Succumb
INPAXX Levels: Critical
Aklion’s finger tightened on the trigger. His mind, splintered and raw, whispered promises of peace, of silence. The seconds ticked down as his eyes shut, surrendering to the void.
A flash of light.
A bang.
The darkness.