Auguste couldn't believe his eyes! He walked and checked every corner of the golden room but didn't see it.
"All my life, I have stored this crystal for so many years. How can it just go missing? Everything I worked for will be destroyed!" He muttered to himself and moved to his lab after hearing the beeping sound on his soul-counting machine which was more like television but medium-sized. It has a blinking status portraying a yellow inscription "Diminishing!" Auguste switched off the machine and threw his goggles away. "How come are they diminishing? Once diminished, I can no longer bring them back to this world. Something must be done about this!" He said and grabbed his phone ********* "Do you mean to tell me that you were scratched by these monsters before today?" Virginia questioned and Carlos gestured. "But how are you still alive and even healthy?" Claire added and Carlos stood up. "I don't know, I am as surprised as you are. But I know one thing for sure, my hand started glowing immediately after the scratch. Not just my hand, I mean the area where I was scratched, it is the area that always glows whenever there is danger!" "Whenever there is danger?" Claire asked and Carlos responded, "Yes, whenever there is danger..." He came to a halt and said "But not exactly!" "What do you mean?" Claire asked "Today when I was on the highway, my hand didn't glow. But zombies showed up" "Strange, isn't it?" Carlos said and Claire became more intrigued "Yeah, strange!" She added "Wait, what if it is not necessarily whenever there is danger?" "How?" Carlos asked and Claire responded "What if it is whenever you ought to save someone? I mean, your glow led you to me. It is possible you were supposed to save yourself " Claire's utterance baffled Carlos "I was supposed to save myself?" Carlos questioned "Yes, yourself. Your hand didn't glow - One, no one was in danger but only you. Two, there were zombies around, yet, it didn't glow!" "Meaning?" Carlos inquired "You made a mistake?" Carlos sat down again and refreshed everything that happened "I now get it! I made a mistake that was why I was tormented by the voice and why one thousand six hundred and forty zombies attacked me!" "I think I'm getting you slowly " Claire said and Carlos added "In my vision, there was a fluid and two arrows. Each with left and right inscription of N. They were pointing at the fluid which was above the crowd." Claire nodded and added "When you were screaming, your pocket was shaking. Not just your pocket but what it entailed" "The Circa!" Carlos said and Claire agreed with his phrase "The Circa! That's the name?" "Yes, it is boldly inscribed on it" Carlos responded and Virginia watched their conversation as her conscience was also giving her some clues that needed clarification. Claire brought out the Circa "Here! This is the Circa" She checked and saw the inscription on it "Meaning that the Circa was shaking?" Carlos questioned "Yes, the Circa was shaking. Similar to your vision, the Circa has the same inscription on the button. Negative Left and Negative Right!" "This means one thing" Claire added and Carlos widened his eyes "The vision wanted me to press the buttons on the Circa - but I failed to do so!" "That's why your vision came to reality! You didn't understand the vision that's why you were surrounded by the zombies as a punishment!" Claire said and Carlos stood up and inhaled sharply "That's the reason my hand didn't glow! I failed to follow instructions; Thus, I bore the pain!" "But the problem is- Who is the mastermind behind the visions, how did these visions come into place?" Virginia stood up immediately after Carlos's utterance "The ORCHESTER CRYSTAL!" Claire and Carlos stared at Virginia, baffled. ********** Auguste dialed the number of his female companion abroad. He aimed to discuss a negotiation with them "So you finally gave in to our demand?" The woman said and Auguste uttered it immediately "I haven't come here to argue. I want to make one thing clear to you and Chris" "Go on!" She said and Auguste sighed "The orchestra crystal is gone! It is missing!" "What!" She exclaimed added "That crystal is the only thing that binds our connection. I mean with the world and even the apocalypse. We must find it as soon as we can! Else, all the intelligence which that crystal will fall in the hand of the wrong person" "What do we do?" Auguste added and the woman said "Leave that to me, I will be flying from the US to Neon City" "Isn't it dangerous?" Auguste inquired and the woman told him "Watch the breaking news, bye!" She hung up and Auguste switched on his television. "Now on the breaking news, the zombies that were disturbing the city are now gone with no traces of where they might have gone. The government is now taking care of the destroyed properties, for now, the street is safe...." Auguste threw the remote away "Fuck! These zombies will never appear again. All my effort won't be wasted!" He added in anger. He changed his outfit and switched off the lab lights after walking out of the lab. ********** "The street is now safe!" Claire said and Carlos added "Mom, what do you know about the orchester Crystal?" Carlos said and Virginia sighed "That crystal is the only thing I am sure of being capable of showcasing all these abilities!' "But how? Have you seen it before?" Carlos questioned "Far from seen it before, it has been in our territory before!" Virginia's utterance surprised everybody more. "Yes, son. In as much as that crystal is helpful. It can be dangerous as well. That is why you must navigate a way to remove it from your life!" "How, Mom? "That Crystal killed your..." Her neck started bending as she slowly moved her lenses upward. "Mom!" Carlos tried to hold her but she pushed him away. "Stay away Carlos!" Virginia said and Claire held back Carlos "Leave her Carlos, she is slowly transforming into a zombie!" "But why?" Carlos questioned and Virginia started stepping backward "Believe me, son, the orchester Crystal transformed into a zombie"Virginia ran out of the house to keep herself far from her son and not to cause him further problems.Everything seemed mysterious to Carlos. He remembered clearly that all that the crystal had done for him was help and never to hurt someone.Claire passed him a cup of tea and asked"Tea?"He took it and grinned, "Thank you"He added and Claire sat down."Tell me Claire, why did that happen to Mom? You heard what she said, the crystal was behind this""But we are not aware of what crystal your mother was referring to. Could it be that there is a..."Claire added and Carlos was further confused"A crystal? In my brain? Stop kidding me, Claire ""Anything can be possible, can't you see everything that happened? They are all connected, maybe the crystal is in your brain and has been the reason why all these happened"Claire responded and Carlos inquired immediately after her"Including my mom's transformation?""No one can tell, Carlos!"A knock on the door interrupted their conversation
The discovery they had wasn't enough to answer all of their questions. Carlos sighted the Circa still increasing in size. "Are you sure that the Circa increased because of the green gulf? I mean look at the Circa, it has been increasing in size for a while now. No longer small but a flower vase size!"Claire said and Carlos noticed that the Circa had stopped increasing in size."It stopped increasing in size, that's clear. The green gulf can affect the Circa not just the first time of their encounter, it can be after a few minutes or even days""I am sure that the Circa has something to do with the artificial intelligence in your brain because all these are connected. I think that the answer is left to us to answer. That is why no matter what it takes, we must be able to help you get the crystal out of your brain!"Claire added immediately after Carlos and he grinned."People may call me weak but I won't stop until I make this crystal pay for making me an orphan. First, I will get it
Auguste was disturbed about the missing Crystal. There is a possibility that the crystal might be with Carlos, a big mistake that should never happen. But at the same time, he wants to create a new virus. More fluid can help him terminate a lot of people at the same time."I can't let that boy get all the clues! Carlos is the only person qualified to possess the crystal. The new virus must be created to bring this world to an end!""Well, you don't have to worry anymore, because we are here!"Auguste turned back and saw Beatrice, Chris, and Jacob.Beatrice was young, Chris was a middle-aged man and Jacob was the same age as Chris.With her flexible appearance, Beatrice has a body structure that fits in for her profession- A scientist."Let's get into work, I also want to see this world under our captives!"Beatrice added and Jacob gestured in agreement with her motion."And that is why we secured a second option because we can't rely on the crystal to give us everything that we need!"
Carlos was in a very bad mood when he got home. Claire welcomed and served him but didn't receive any response from him."You see, I was tracking where I may be at this point if you didn't save my life. Goodness knows I will be in a...."She noticed that Carlos wasn't paying attention to her utterance."Are you even listening to me at all?"She touched Carlos and he gestured"Sorry for that"He took a bite of the pork served to him. Claire stared at him eccentrically. Her hands on her chin and her gaze focusing on Carlos, she realized that something was wrong"Are you okay?"She questioned and Carlos grinned"Perfectly good....""You don't have to hide it, Carlos"Claire uttered immediately after him"Just share it with me, is it about Rhea?"Carlos dropped the pork and busted into tears"I loved her, Claire. How could she do this to me?"Claire gave him a towel"It's okay, it's good to have heartbreak. You see, it is part of life! No one knows when it appears, no one knows when it di
The woman stared at the drip of sweat on her body before Carlos's voice echoed"Are you okay, Miss?"The woman looked up, she was Beatrice."You don't have to worry, I'm okay"She stood up, still surprised, she walked out immediately.Carlos hopped on his bike and drove away. Beatrice's heart beat faster and didn't stop until she got to the lab. Her colleagues questioned her strange behavior but she was speechless. Auguste handed her a cup of water "Here, have a glass of water"Beatrice drank some water but couldn't explain what she saw earlier."The crystal!"Auguste and the rest of them exchanged glances"What do you mean by that?"Chris questioned"The missing crystal, it is in his head!"Auguste picked interest after hearing this. He knew that the only person who had the crystal was Carlos, but a strange man? Who could he be?"Make all these clear to me. Who exactly did you see with the crystal? Was he holding it?"Beatrice stood up and stepped around"I connected with the crysta
"Negative Right, Positive left!"The voice started again with a squelching sound. This time around, it showcased a system. Carlos started screaming which attracted Claire's attention.Arriving at the scene where Carlos carried out his operation, everywhere was a big mess."Negative Right, positive Left!"Carlos screamed this leaving Claire baffled"The Circa, where is the Circa?"Claire screamed but Carlos was unable to respond.Meanwhile, Beatrice inserted Carlos's fluid inside the system."You know what to do?"Auguste inquired and Beatrice gestured"Transform him into a zombie ten times the way we did to the others!""Copied!"Beatrice responded and activated the systemThe sound became so excruciating to Carlos"The Circa!"Claire continued to scream but Carlos didn't hear that."This is the last time that somebody will dare to challenge us! Mr. Stranger, you will be the last person on this planet Earth to challenge our team!"Beatrice said in her mind with so much pleasure. She s
The image of how planet Juno looked like flashed in Carlos's head. It had several crystals and the background was blue. The environment was so cool and freezing, everywhere was covered with crystals.Carlos gazed at Claire and said "Far from vengeance, the crystal wants another thing!""How sure are you about this?"Claire inquired and Carlos responded"A hundred percent sure! Because I heard a voice"All of Carlos's utterances baffled Claire. She seemed lost in his narration so she requested the full story.Carlos took the crystal and gazed at it carefully"The planet Juno was in great trouble, one of the most superior crystals was a traitor. The entire crystal is electrically produced, they are manually operated and more like aliens in crystal form. This special crystal is known as the Orchester Crystal! The same crystal in my head"Claire threw a question at him"But how is this possible? Planet Juno is made up of crystals?""Yes, beautiful crystal with special abilities to move!"
Carlos was on his way to secure a job. Holding his CV, he was convinced that he would be employed. By so doing, he can be able to keep himself busy from the crystal and its revelation. He was walking alongside the lonely street which had numerous potholes, some of which were filled with water. A car drove past him speedily, thereby, ruining his clothes with the dirty water from the potholes. He raised his gaze to see the car which was driving backward toward him. He thought the driver wanted to apologize, only for the driver to step out of the car and picked his CV which was wet. Carlos clenched his fists after seeing Diego step down from the luxurious car. "Why are you moody? I didn't mean to spoil your interview..." Carlos gazed at him as his head shook in anger. Clenching his fist more, his anger increased. "What now? You plan to retaliate just like you did at the club?" Diego added and Carlos continued staring at him furiously. His voice moving softly, he uttered "Apologi