For the first time since the world flipped on its head, Mr. Phaser wasn't in my room.
I noticed the moment I opened my eyes from a half-nap I didn't remember drifting into. The room was silent but not in the dreadful, something-is-lurking kind of way. Just quiet. Almost peaceful.
I glanced around, taking in the flickering shadows cast by the warm bedside lamp. The obsidian-clad mystery man was gone. No intimidating presence in the corner, no faceless head tilt watching my every breath. Just me, a bed that could swallow a person whole, and the ghost of the apocalypse.
Honestly? I didn't mind it. I actually welcomed it.
I stretched out, limbs sinking into the overstuffed mattress like I was being cradled by a cloud. The sheets were high-thread-count, probably some ridiculous number like a thousand or something equally bougie. One arm thrown over my eyes, I let out a long, dramatic sigh.
"God, I've been through hell and back and somehow ended up in a five-star hotel suite."
I let out a dry, tired laugh, but a laugh nonetheless. Humor had always been my go-to shield. It was either that or screaming into a pillow for the next hour.
Tomorrow, we would be boarding a cruise ship out of Singapore. A floating lifeline to somewhere, anywhere else. Japan, maybe. Or wherever the world hadn't completely collapsed. Apparently, this cruise ship was fully reinforced and retrofitted for Flux-imbued passengers or luxury survival, if you could call it that.
I turned over, resting my chin on the back of my hand as I stared blankly at the velvet curtains swaying gently from the aircon. You know, sometimes it still hit me that I wasn't even supposed to be here. Not in this hotel. Not in Singapore. Not in this apocalypse.
We were on vacation. That's how it all started.
Ten years ago we were just a fun little family getaway. My parents loved traveling and we were supposed to be here for two weeks. Maybe go to fancy hotels, eat our way through hawker stalls, do some city tours...
It was supposed to be a simple, perfect escape. But the ABR happened. That cursed sky opened up on that cursed day. I still remembered the color of the clouds when they split open. The world literally bled.
Everything locked down. Airports were shut, borders slammed closed, and we—just a tourist family from outside—were stuck here.
My parents didn't make it.
No one had answers at the time, just chaos and silence and screams. I survived. I don't know how. Maybe dumb luck, maybe fate. But I was just... alive and alone in a city that wasn't mine. In a country I barely knew, speaking a language I wasn't fluent in, surrounded by loss.
But I didn't break. I didn't disappear. I fought for my place.
Marimus opened a branch here—Singapore was a nexus point for Flux anomalies, apparently—and I clawed my way in as a tour guide. That was my role. Not exactly glamorous, but hey, it was stable. I memorized every hallway, every protocol, every damn exhibit like my life depended on it. Because in a way, it did.
I'd become something here.
Still, part of me always wondered. If my Flux had awakened earlier, how different would everything have been? A 9.3 rating… that's elite level. That's top of the charts. If I had that power ten years ago, maybe I could have fought the monsters. Maybe I wouldn't have been just another face behind a desk. Maybe I could've protected Mira.
Mira...
I swallowed hard, blinking up at the ceiling as the weight of that name hit me again. It always hit different when the room was silent.
I met Mira when I was trying to join Marimus after the ABR. To be honest, if it wasn't for her, I would have been on the streets begging for food. I lived at her place until I was stable enough to have my own.
She asked me to stay with her, that last night. Said she didn't want to be alone. She'd asked with that awkward smile she always had when she was trying not to seem too clingy. I remember the exact words.
"Hey, want to just hang out tonight? One last sleepover before the world ends?"
And I… I said no.
Not because I didn't love her because God, I did. But I was overwhelmed. I told her I needed space to think, to process everything that was happening. I didn't think it would matter. I didn't think... well, I didn't think it would be the last time. I thought we'd have tomorrow.
I thought there'd always be a tomorrow.
But there wasn't. And now she's gone. Her voice is still in my head, making those terrible puns, making fun of my weird obsession with socks that don't match, telling me I needed to stop looking like a lost intern at headquarters. I could practically hear her now, teasing me for ending up in an office skirt again.
"Damn, Duck Face. Apocalypse fashion line looking real corporate, huh? You never take a break, do you?"
I laughed, then immediately felt the tears coming out. Mira would have lit up if she had seen the Faction Master in person. She adored him from afar like a fangirl and would have completely embarrassed herself meeting him. It would have been hilarious. And now she never gets to.
"Sorry, Mira," I whispered, my voice cracking. "I should've stayed. I should've held your hand. I should've… I don't know."
I curled into the pillows, hugging one to my chest like it could fill the void. The silence crept back in, wrapping around me like fog. There were still millions of people out there dying and suffering and yet, in this tiny little suite, I was alone with nothing but a memory and too many regrets.
But I also knew this wasn't over.
Mr. Phaser told me my Flux activated the moment I went ballistic on those Hydrides. That I survived something no one with my strength should've. That I healed myself, not him. That I had power. Real power.
So maybe... just maybe... I could use it now.
I closed my eyes and let the soft hum of the city—what was left of it—echo in my mind. My story wasn't supposed to start like this. But this was the hand fate dealt me.
And I was done folding. I owed Mira that much.
"I'm not weak anymore."
-------
Breakfast was surprisingly decent, all things considered. Scrambled eggs, toast, and some questionable coffee that still managed to taste like comfort.
I'd barely gotten halfway through my plate before Mr. Phaser gave me that silent nod, the one that said, "Let's move." So I shoved another bite of egg into my mouth, wiped my hands, and got up.
I didn't ask where we were going and I didn't need to. Everyone in the hotel knew. The evacuation to the port had been prepped since dawn.
The drive outside was eerie with streets that used to be flooded with cars, music, tourists, now reduced to military trucks, dust, and the kind of stillness that makes your bones ache.
The Flux Elites were already sweeping through ahead of us, making sure the path to the docks was clear. No Hydrides. No chaos. Just sharp orders, tightened grips on weapons, and civilians being ushered along.
I stuck close to Mr. Phaser. Not because I wanted to—I mean, okay, partly because he was my only anchor in this mess—but mostly because I had to.
He'd told me once, very plainly, that my safety was his mission. And considering how many people were ready to throw hands at him, I figured staying in his shadow wasn't the worst idea.
And then, I saw it.
The cruise ship.
It was gargantuan, docked like some half-god beast basking in the rising sun. A sleek, state-of-the-art vessel covered in shielding panels and flux-conduits, retrofitted like someone took the Titanic and made it post-apocalyptic-chic.
This wasn't a luxury liner anymore. It was a fortress with lifeboats. A floating city built for survivors.
And as I stood there, suitcase in hand, wearing the same office outfit from yesterday and clutching a basic communicator, it hit me.
Reality.
That bitter sting of "This is your life now."
I wasn't going back to Marimus. I wasn't going to walk tourists through exhibits or laugh at Mira's jokes or grab coffee after a long day of tours. Those things, those normal things, were over. This was survival now. This was war.
As we stepped onto the loading ramp, Mr. Phaser's presence grew heavier. I could feel it in the air. People around us whispered and stared. Some nodded with respect. Others just… glared. And me? I realized I was no longer just a tour guide with a late-bloomed Flux and unresolved trauma.
I was now working for him.
Mr. Phaser. The man people feared but followed. The one with an alias, no face, and way too many secrets.
He hadn't spoken a word all morning and yet he radiated power like the world owed him something.
The ship groaned as we pulled away from the port, engines thrumming low beneath our feet. I watched Singapore's skyline begin to vanish behind the mist and salt air. Smoke curled from buildings in the distance. Somewhere in that wreckage was the only life I had ever known.
And then, everything changed. I didn't even have time to breathe.
The second the ship passed the outer breakers, alarms blared. Not warning alarms. Not Hydride alerts.
Weapons were all around us. From soldiers, crew members, even a few Elites.
Straight at Mr. Phaser. And, by association, me.
I instinctively stepped back, pressing into his side. My heart was jackhammering in my chest as half the deck pointed energy rifles, arcblades, and powers at us. Phaser didn't move ot flinch. He just stood there, like he'd expected it.
"You're under arrest for withholding international-level information," someone barked, probably a captain or someone who thought they had rank here. "And for the unlawful transport of a civilian—"
My ears were ringing. I was the civilian.
"You're betraying him?" I said out loud, disbelief dripping from every syllable. "After everything? You're really doing this now?"
The captain didn't answer me. No one did. But their fingers stayed right on those triggers.
Mr. Phaser turned his head slightly and I knew. That tilt, the same one he always did before doing something terrifying.
"You're making a mistake. Please don't do this. I've already seen a lot of deaths for one day."
I wasn't calm.
Because this? This was betrayal.
And I was standing in the middle of it.
---
You want me to continue right into what he does next? Or build some tension first with Permonelle's reaction to the betrayal?