The artificial light of the base floated warmly over the digital files, but in Gerard’s mind, what loomed was a murky, disordered memory, yet persistent.
—It wasn’t him… —he murmured to himself, his gaze lost in the files of past rebel confrontations—. And it’s not the first time I’ve seen someone toy with the boundaries of matter and illusion… there was someone else before.
The words stirred up a disordered image, of urban chaos, screams in the streets, drones spinning uncontrollably in circles… and a figure running through the smoke, wearing a modern Roman tunic and a laugh that crossed the line between ridiculous and terrifying.
Edward The Roman.
A name that had once been a sigh of annoyance for Nexum and the rebels themselves. It was impossible to catch him. Edward was an anarchist with a cybernetic gladiator aesthetic, armed with devices he stole directly from Nexum’s convoys and used to sow chaos among the elite… and also among the civilians. In his twisted mind, everyone deserved punishment. Not out of malice, but because no one was truly innocent.
“The Robin Hood of algorithms,” some called him. But for Gerard, Edward had always been a disturbing mix of genius, freedom, and arrogance without purpose. His cause wasn’t justice: it was imbalance.
As the Unity team analyzed the transmissions from the latest attacks, images of past riots were retrieved by Blue, who, with surgical precision, linked forgotten recordings.
The recordings were fragmented. In one, Edward infiltrated a Nexum facility just to free a group of political prisoners… and then blew up half the installation to send a message. In another, he was seen stopping a caravan of illegal weapons, only to later sell them to the highest bidder “for philosophical principles.” His was not a cause. It was chaos with a virtue label.
But the most disturbing file was recent. A security camera showed Edward in the city, surrounded by civilians, shouting with delirious theatricality:
—If order doesn’t serve the people, then chaos will be their king!
Minutes later, a chain reaction of security drones exploded. No one knew how he manipulated them, but there were victims. Many.
—Gerard… does this field distortion feel familiar to you? —Blue asked, zooming in on a frame where a figure could be distinguished among collapsed columns, smiling as if everything were part of a theatrical game.
—Yes… —he replied almost reluctantly—. Edward The Roman. What an idiot.
The other team members gathered around the monitor. Titan let out a dry laugh.
—That crazy guy is still alive?
—I don’t know. But I still have a hunch, it’s not him, it doesn’t feel like it’s him. There was so much chaos in his actions that you just had to think about it for a second.
An alert shook the base with a subtle but firm echo, as if something ancient had awakened in the circuits of the world.
A signal with no signature, no defined origin.
—What is that? —Blue asked, her fingers dancing over the response panel.
—An anomaly… —whispered Titan, frowning. The energy pulse didn’t match any previous records.
Lumina said nothing. She remained standing in the same corner, her back straight but her expression distant. Astra noticed.
—Lumina? —she asked, approaching cautiously. But there was no answer.
Instead of words, she simply exhaled.
—I’ve felt this before… —she murmured. Her voice wasn’t one of certainty, but of fear.
The transport flew over the mountains in a matter of minutes. The landscape slid beneath them, covered in smoke and amber light. The black columns rising in the distance marked the destination: an isolated outpost, reduced to ruins.
When they arrived, chaos reigned. Collapsed towers, half-destroyed structures, and soldiers scattered everywhere. Some groaned in pain, others simply sat with vacant stares. There were no fatalities, but the atmosphere was one of suspended tragedy.
—What happened here? —asked Chrono, adjusting his visor.
—No signs of direct fire attack —added Blue—. This looks like the work of impact energy. Extreme precision.
As Gerard walked among the rubble, something thudded in his chest. A persistent echo… as if the memory of Edward The Roman had awakened something larger. Something that still had no form, but was drawing near.
It was then that the air changed.
A cold breeze, foreign to the climate. An invisible pressure.
And then, the appearance.
A figure descended slowly, floating as if defying all physical laws. She wore white. Her hair was silver like the moon, and her eyes, an impossible blue. The serenity with which she moved was as terrifying as her energy.
No one had time to react.
A muffled blast swept the area. Titan, Chrono, Specter, and Lumina fell to the ground like puppets without strings. Even part of the medical team was pushed by the shockwave.
Only Gerard, Astra, and Blue remained standing.
—Who are you?! —Astra shouted, positioning herself between the injured and the newcomer.
The young woman descended to the ground, making no sound, as if gravity itself dared not touch her.
—I’m not here to hurt anyone… yet —she said, with a smile that didn’t reach her eyes—. But I came to warn you.
—Warn us about what? —Gerard replied.
—About yourselves —she answered—. And what’s coming.
The silence was piercing.
—If you think you’re winning this war… if you think you can handle everything Nexum still has hidden, you’re more lost than I imagined.
Blue took a step forward. Her body remained firm, but her mind vibrated with contradictory signals. Something about this girl felt… familiar.
—Why are you doing this? —she asked, almost in a whisper.
The young woman looked at her with a mix of compassion and authority.
—Because balance isn’t sustained with good intentions. Because sometimes, dreams… need to be destroyed before they destroy others.
Without further warning, she raised a hand. A sphere of blue plasma sparkled in her palm, containing an energy so intense that the air became heavy.
Blue didn’t react. Astra tensed her muscles.
But Gerard was already in motion.
The sphere was launched with devastating speed. A dull roar pierced the air as the projectile crossed the sky.
Gerard spun, with almost inhuman precision. His leg traced a perfect arc and deflected the plasma toward a nearby hill. The explosion was brutal. A column of blue fire shot up, shaking the ground, visible even from miles away.
Everyone was in shock.
The girl floated a few seconds more in the air, observing. Her eyes locked onto Gerard one last time.
—Remember this moment —she said—. Because it will be the easiest of all.
And with a thrust, she vanished into the clouds, leaving only an electrical trail behind.
Blue remained still. Her gaze still fixed on the sky, her heart a storm of wires and memory. Astra approached her.
—Are you okay?
Blue didn’t answer.
Specter got up, shaking off the dust.
—Anyone want to explain to me what the hell that was?
—Is that girl part of Nexum? —Chrono added.
Blue opened her mouth to answer… but Gerard stopped her.
—Her name is Melissa —he said calmly, without turning—. It’s better to let her go.
The evening began to fall as the Unity team regrouped. The injured were being transported, the structures secured, the data collected.
But in the air… something hadn’t ended.
Blue remained silent, near the entrance of the outpost. Her eyes still fixed on the direction Melissa had gone. Astra stayed close, but respected her space.
She knew that look wasn’t of fear. It was something deeper.
Recognition.
Doubt.
And perhaps… sadness.
Story by Gerard Leaf & Blue
