The dark warehouse smelled of rotten wood and old oil, with the sound of rain beating on the roof as if it were a countdown to the end.
Kai let himself slide down the wall to the floor, feeling the weight of his body increase with each passing second, the core in his chest pounding with a pain that went beyond the physical.
Lina curled up beside him, hugging her knees, her eyes red and moist, her breathing short.
The two of them seemed like lost pieces of people, cut from a world that no longer fit into childhood dreams.
For a few minutes, nobody said anything.
Kai closed his eyes, feeling his hands trembling, trying to control the anger, the fear, the shame of dragging his sister to that dead end. His head buzzed, the voices from the street and from his own mind mixing until there was no silence left at all.
The core, restless, burned and cooled irregularly, and every beat felt like a threat, not a relief.
"I can't take it anymore, Kai," Lina said, her voice breaking. "Always running, always afraid. I just wanted… I just wanted to go home, you know? Have a normal life. You don't say anything, you just shut down, disappear. I don't recognize you anymore."
Kai squeezed his eyes shut, wanting to apologize but not knowing where to start. His chest burned, as if something were trying to tear the skin from the inside out.
"Sorry," he murmured, unable to look at his sister. "I… I don't know what to do anymore either."
Lina sighed, trying to dry her tears with her sleeve.
"Why won't these men go away? Why are they always after us? You don't tell me anything, you just say it'll all be fine. It's not fine, Kai. Look at yourself."
He took a deep breath, feeling the core boiling.
"They're after me. I'm the problem, Lina. I always have been. But I swear, I'll never let anyone hurt you. Never."
Lina shook her head.
"You can't promise that. Not everything depends on us. Look at the state you're in."
She came closer, her face marked by fear and exhaustion.
"Kai… since that day, since you came back from the Nexus, you've changed. You talk to yourself, you wake up screaming, sometimes you disappear. I'm afraid of losing you."
The core throbbed even harder, a dull pain rising up his throat. Kai tried to smile but couldn't. The warehouse seemed to spin around him, and for a moment, everything became blurred, dark, as if the shadow of the world had finally descended.
He closed his eyes, trying not to give in to panic. Lina's face flashed in his mind, distorted by guilt. He felt the shadow move behind his eyelids, a cold presence wanting to take space.
A dizzy spell nearly made Kai topple to the side. When he opened his eyes, Lina was staring at him closely, frightened, her hand resting on his shoulder.
"Are you listening to me? Kai, talk to me!"
He shook his head slowly, fighting to stay in control.
"I'm here, Lina. Just… just let me breathe for a bit. My head's a mess."
She knelt beside him, insistent.
"You need help. I don't know what else to do, but I won't abandon you, you hear? I won't, even if you try to send me away."
Kai felt the world spin, a wave of heat rising up his body. For a moment, he saw Lina differently, her face lengthening, her eyes darkening, like a waking nightmare. He blinked, shook his head, trying to dispel the image. It was just another hallucination, just another symptom of the out-of-control core.
"Nothing's going to happen to you. I promise," he whispered, not believing his own tone.
The tears returned, streaming down Lina's face.
"I'm afraid of waking up one day and you're not here anymore. Or worse… that you're not the same."
Kai wanted to hug her, but his body wouldn't respond. He sat there, motionless, feeling his chest tighten. Each second, it was as if another part of him drifted away. The core burned, and for a moment, the warehouse floor seemed to tremble beneath his feet.
A low humming went through his head. Everything spun.
The hallucination returned stronger, and this time the entire warehouse seemed to dissolve into smoke. The walls darkened, the light faded, Lina disappeared in fragments, until only a shadow remained sitting next to him, whispering senseless things, voices mingling together, like echoes from other places.
Kai blinked, trying to grab hold of a good memory, but his mind slipped away, out of control. The cold crept up his spine, mixed with a sticky, uncomfortable heat.
Zero whispered from deep within, but the voice came muffled, as if speaking underwater. Kai wanted to scream for it to go away, wanted to tell Lina everything, ask for help, confess how scared he was, but nothing came out of his throat.
His body was no longer his, his hands trembled, the shadow danced around them, playing at forming monsters on the walls.
A loud crack echoed in the warehouse, cutting through the heavy silence. Lina shrank, letting out a muffled scream, grabbing her brother's arm. Kai could barely move. The fright was like a slow shock, taking time to travel through his body, which felt trapped between sleep and fear.
Only when the tile hit the wet floor with force did the noise spread through the empty space, making Kai's heart race, but his body stayed almost still, trembling lightly.
He blinked slowly, as if waking from a bad dream, feeling the smell of mold, dust, and rust invade his nostrils.
Lina looked around, her eyes wide, still unable to relax.
"It was just the roof, just the roof…," she repeated to herself, trying to calm her own panic and, maybe, her brother's.
Kai felt his breath falter, his hands cold, and he needed a few seconds to understand he was still there, whole, even with his head spinning.
Lina leaned against the wall, trying to compose herself.
"I'm not leaving without you, Kai. You can do whatever you want, you can try to push me away, but I'm your sister. And I know you're suffering. You can pretend for everyone else, but not for me."
Kai closed his eyes, letting his head fall back. The sound of the rain outside lessened, but the world remained heavy.
He thought of when they were children, when Lina still ran through the apartment hallway screaming, when their father made jokes under the covers, when the world wasn't just fear and pain. So many things disappeared, and he didn't even know where he'd gone wrong.
Time crawled by. Kai's body wouldn't respond properly, and the images in his head mingled: Lina crying, the core glowing, shadows sticking to his heels, Zero's voice cutting through everything, cold, impersonal, always analyzing, always judging.
He wanted to cling to Lina, beg her not to give up, but the guilt crushed him.
"If you want to rest, I'll stand guard," Lina said softly, taking his hand.
Kai felt the cold skin of his sister, her uneven breathing, the way she tried to be strong for him. That hurt more than anything.
"Just stay here with me a little longer," he asked, pulling Lina close. "I don't want to be alone. Not now."
The two of them stayed together, sitting on the cold warehouse floor, listening to the sound of their own hearts. Lina rested her head on Kai's shoulder, and for the first time in a long time, he felt a hint of calm. His body still ached, the core burned, but at least there, in that moment, they were together.
The minutes stretched, the cold seeped in through the holes in the walls, and the morning light fought to come in, pale, dirty, as if it too were afraid to show itself.
Kai thought of everything he had lost, everything he couldn't tell, everything he was still afraid to face.
That's when he felt a new tremor, an almost imperceptible shake, but one that made the warehouse groan.
Lina raised her head, startled.
"What was that?"
Kai dragged himself to the door, peeking through a broken crack. The sky was clearer, but strange, with streaks of bluish smoke rising on the horizon, as if someone had lit a giant bonfire.
The neighborhood seemed suspended in time, red sensors blinking, distant sirens, residents peering through the cracks in their curtains.
Zero whispered, now clearer.
"Energetic instability detected. High probability of Nexus opening nearby. Immediate evacuation recommended."
Kai felt a lump in his throat, a mix of fear and resignation. He returned to Lina, his face pale, but his voice came out firmer than he expected.
"We need to get out of here. Something strange is coming. I can feel it."
She hesitated but slowly stood up. Kai took her hand, feeling her cold fingers.
"Stay close to me. Don't let go. Whatever it is, we'll get through this together."
Lina nodded, her eyes still swollen, but with a look of someone not ready to give up.
The air smelled of ozone, dust and threat, and even the city's silence seemed to foreshadow the worst.
Leaving the warehouse, the two walked quickly, passing through muddy streets, with puddles reflecting the strange sky. Kai watched every corner, every shadow, alert for any sign of danger. The core ached, every step was an effort, but he could no longer retreat.
Not after everything they'd been through. Not with Lina by his side.
The streets were almost empty, but here and there, neighbors peered through cracked windows, whispering, avoiding eye contact.
A drone buzzed high above, casting a blue beam of light that cut across the ground in front of them. Kai pulled Lina behind a pile of crates, his heart pounding. The drone passed, indifferent, and the two of them continued, crossing the ghost neighborhood.
On the way, Lina stumbled, almost falling. Kai caught her firmly, preventing the fall.
"Are you okay?"
She nodded, taking a deep breath.
"I'm just tired. We're going to get out of here, right?"
"We will," he said, trying to believe it. "Just a bit more."
The path to the edge of the neighborhood was a mix of terror and hope, fear clinging to the walls, but also the will to survive, to find some meaning amidst the chaos.
In the distance, the sensors blinked stronger, the blue of the Nexus reflected in the sky, like a threat and a promise that nothing, absolutely nothing, would be easy from then on.
Kai felt the core tremble, the shadows dance around the two of them, but for the first time, he didn't let himself be dominated. It was him there, next to Lina, facing whatever came.
Even on the edge of collapse, even without understanding his own fate, he was ready for the next step.
"Come on, Lina. Don't look back. What matters is what we still have."
She squeezed her brother's hand, and together they moved through Solarius' alleys, not knowing if they were fleeing or heading toward the unknown.