Chapter 22: Chapter 22
Kaldala had been alone in the room for a few minutes, lost in thought. The recent confessions and painful memories had left him shaken, and he felt a deep-seated need to clear his head.
He exhaled deeply, letting the air slip out of his lungs as though it carried with it the weight of the past few hours.
For a fleeting second, he wished the silence could erase the heaviness pressing against his chest, stood up from the couch, and walked out of the room, heading to the kitchen to get a glass of water.
He grabbed a glass and went straight to the dispenser. He pushed the button, but nothing came out. The dispenser was broken.
"Galan, we have a broken dispenser!" Kaldala called out, still trying to get it working.
"It’ll be perfect if we can get it fixed as soon as possible."
No one answered. He paused, the silence unnerving.
He hadn’t seen a single soul since he left the room. It was too quiet, so unnaturally silent that even the soft hum of the mansion’s air system seemed absent.
The hairs on the back of his neck prickled, his instincts whispering that something was off.
"Galan?"
he called out once more, his voice laced with confusion and worry. He moved away from the dispenser slowly, listening intently.
"Vateno!"
he yelled, his voice growing louder, hoping for a response.
He went deeper into the mansion, his pace quickening as he searched every corner and every room. With each empty hallway, he grew worried.
As he turned a corner, he stumbled and fell, hitting his face hard on the ground. A sharp pain shot through his nose, and he felt a warm liquid gush over his lips, he was bleeding.
"Argh,"
he moaned, covering his nose with his arms. He turned to see what had tripped him and he froze instantly.
Shock erupted in his heart like a violent thunderclap, his mind struggling to catch up with the sight before him.
Lying in front of him was a dead body, brutally wounded. It was Galan. Fear and disbelief gripped him as he swiftly crawled backward, his palms scraping against the polished floor, leaving faint smears of blood behind him, breathing heavily, until his back hit the cold wall.
He slowly began to hear heavy footsteps coming from the corridor beside him, growing louder and louder.
"No, no! Head back! It’s not safe!"
he yelled, standing up and rushing toward the source of the sound. "Didn’t you hear? It’s not—"
His words died in his throat as he stopped abruptly. What he thought was someone running toward him was a tall, muscular, humanoid creature slowly emerging from the shadows.
Kaldala’s blood ran cold. The creature was holding a head, one he recognized immediately as Vateno’s.
Kaldala stood perfectly still, paralyzed by fear. The creature’s loud, heavy footsteps ceased as it stood menacingly before him, its body dripping with blood.
"Perhaps there must be a way I can help—"
Kaldala stammered, his voice trembling. He was instantly halted as his head was ripped from his body with no effort at all.
Meanwhile.
A train car hummed steadily as it glided along its track, zooming through the vast expanse of the desert.
Eric sat by the window, a cell charger in his hand. It displayed a series of complex molecular diagrams.
Jimmy sat across from him, a notebook half full of scribbles, watching Eric with a curious intensity.
"mind telling me what the bloody hell you think you’re doing"
Eric said, noticing Jimmy’s strange attention as he operated the charger.
Jimmy blinked, straightening in his seat.
"I’m trying to understand how that thing charges without a power source."
"Electrostatic siphoning. Ambient field capture. Ever heard of it?" Eric rolled his eyes, twisting the cell charger until it clicked. A faint blue pulse shimmered across the molecular display.
"I thought that was theoretical," Jimmy frowned, flipping back a few pages in his notebook.
"It was," Eric said, tapping the charger against his head.
"Until I got bored."
Feeling comfortable in the conversation.
Jimmy’s eagerness to learn grew.
"So how does it work, exactly?"
"This cheeky little bastard? Siphons off the kinetic bleed from the train," Eric replied.
"spins it into a stable charge with a tri-bonded quantum mesh. Clean, quiet as expected"
He twisted the charger, changing its display.
Jimmy’s pen paused mid scribble.
"That’s... genius. Also, possibly dangerous?"
he said, a note of worry in his voice.
"Welcome to adulthood, kid. Everything worthwhile is at least mildly dangerous,"
Eric said, leaning back with a tired sigh.
Jimmy slowly raised his head above the seat to check on Yelena. He saw her sitting alone in the front, staring out the window.
He sighed with relief and sat back down.
"She hasn’t said anything since we left Kaldala’s,"
Jimmy said, his voice tinged with worry.
"Do you think she’s angry about what we did?"
Eric immediately dismissed the claim, though the truth was he wasn’t entirely sure himself.
He masked uncertainty with indifference, rolling his eyes as he rested his head against the window.
"Eh, She’s probably alright. Don’t lose your head over it" he said.
"Hmm, I still think we need to apologize for what happened. Let her know that—" Jimmy’s voice faded away as Eric’s eyes drifted to the window.
Eric had been so focused on the Nebulux Core and his plan that he hadn’t had a moment to himself.
He admired the outside view of the desert, the golden sand and the plant life passing by.
He looked up at the sky, watching the clouds, a soft smile appearing on his face as happy memories of his family began to scroll through his mind.
The laughter around their old kitchen table, the warmth of his wife’s voice, the rare moments of peace he once took for granted.
But that smile instantly faded, replaced by a deep frown.
Jimmy instantly noticed the change in his mood.
"Why the strong face all of a sudden?"
he asked.
"Something’s off"
Eric said with a serious tone, his gaze fixed on something outside the window.
Confused, Jimmy moved closer to the window and looked out, wondering what could be the issue.