A few hours later...
Adam lay on the bed, still staring at the orange-yellow ball of light. His eyes grew weary and tired, his body sinking into a dreamy, resting state—until sleep took him.
Dream Sequence
There I was, standing in a strange world. What is this? I can—
Cough.
I couldn't breathe. Darkness swallowed me whole, thick black miasma and heavy dew clinging to my skin. Dozens of eyes crawled over my body. I felt myself sinking into a deep, watery pit. My limbs stretched painfully, as if being torn apart.
In that darkness, I saw her—A red-eyed girl with short hair, smiling at me.
And then—
I was completely submerged.
Reality
I jolted awake, lunging forward, gasping for air.
"Hah... What a weird dream... That was... something."
Getting up, I wandered the facility. The place was made of white marble, quiet and clinical. I stepped into the restroom — black-and-white décor, polished and surreal. It felt like I was still dreaming.
Sigh... How long have I been in this world? I looked at my fingers, placing a hand on the mirror.
[It's you, Adam.]
It was disheartening. Everything I'd worked for — forgotten, ignored, destroyed.
Exploration
As I walked around, I came across an old man. He was gruff, with a thick square beard, brown eyes, and glasses. He sat reading a book.
"So, you're awake, kid?"
He had a blank expression, assessing me.
"Well... that's something."
Adam was annoyed — getting questioned right after an existential crisis wasn't ideal.
"Then why aren't you asleep?" he snapped.
He had always stayed up late back in his world, cramming projects at the last minute for school. But that was months ago. He was already starting to forget what that life felt like.
"You youngsters need to sleep to grow, after all," the old man muttered.
I glanced at his book: The Creation of the Transference Signal.
"Oh, this?" he said. "Heh... You probably know about it. The great Mono created a communication tower across four sectors. No scientist had ever invented anything like it in the past fifty years. Shame he never revealed how he built it..."
Adam walked away, thoughtful. So, even the previous scientists hadn't figured out what Mono had accomplished...
He noticed Yoku by the fence, staring through the glass at the pipes and gears outside. Mechanical parts clicked and turned, gas flowing through the complex system. Mino and Kineki were already asleep.
Adam smiled. "Oh, you're there."
Yoku turned and smiled weakly. "Heh... It's weird, isn't it? Losing an arm, and suddenly I feel like a different person. Now I wonder... how am I supposed to build a city like this?"
He looked down, fear in his eyes — fear of becoming useless, of being a burden.
Adam sighed. "You can't just give up."
"Well... have you ever lost an arm?" Yoku asked, staring hard.
Adam was silent. Yeah, it was that bad. Incredibly hard.
"So... are you gonna give up? Or stay here and rot like that old man?" Adam smirked, half-joking.
Yoku laughed. "Heck no! But I'll slow you down. Still trying to come up with something..."
Hey, Rehan... can you build an arm for him?
[I can... but with your dumb brain, I can't even instruct you. And besides, there's no equipment or resources to build it.]
Good point...Adam grinned. "I'll help you."
Yoku smiled. Even with Adam's help, he couldn't understand how someone so seemingly clueless could design blueprints, yet lack the knowledge to build or even study them.
I'm a terrible friend...
"Thanks," Yoku said.
Yuruki's POV
"Damn it, damn it!" Yuruki shouted, speeding across rough hills.
Drones and automatons surrounded her from all sides — hundreds of them, charging at over 100 miles per hour.
I'm gonna die. I'm really gonna die... Damn robots, damn scientist... why the hell did he have to build all this garbage? I hate it!
She zigzagged, dodging lasers and drones. One of her tires hit a windmill leg, which began to collapse behind her as she sped forward.
Crash!
Coughing, choking—Dust filled the air.
A massive mech stomped through the smoke. Yuruki took a hit — her shoulder burned, her motorcycle wrecked. Ears ringing, head bleeding, there was nothing left to do.
But she still ran.
Desperately.
Ahead was a cliff, with a river underneath
She looked down. No time to think.
"Sigh... this is something." If only i followed him, hahh what would it be like...
And she jumped.
...
Dazed, yuruki looks up as she was in a boat, and a robotic android was sterring a wooden pad moving the boat... a small boy with empty socket having a hoodie and a scarf
"Humans are really crazy... or are you crazy, that was a jump... where you could definitely have died woman
Yuruki just sits down happy, that she survive... trying to find someone