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THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 151
Echoes of the Old WorldI woke up gasping. The air felt thick, pressing against my skin like an unseen force. My body ached as if I had been running for days, yet I couldn’t remember why. My mind swam through fragments of memories that didn’t fit together.The ceiling above me was wrong. It was my apartment—wasn’t it? The familiar crack near the window, the faint scent of old coffee lingering in the air—but the walls were a shade too dark, the window frame a little too sleek. My breath hitched.I sat up, my hands trembling as I rubbed my temples, willing the dizziness to subside. The moment my feet touched the cold floor, a wave of something unexplainable surged through me—like stepping into a past that wasn’t mine.Outside, the city hummed with life, but the rhythm was off. I stepped onto my balcony, eyes scanning the streets below. People bustled about, but their faces blurred at the edges, like unfinished sketches. The skyline—God, the skyline. Some buildings stood where there shou
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 152
A Fractured MindI was breathing.It was such a simple thing—automatic, instinctive. And yet, for the first time, I felt it. The air filled my lungs. The slow exhale. The steady rise and fall of my chest.I was breathing, and it was mine.I stood in the middle of an unfamiliar street, the neon glow of the city stretching in all directions. Cars passed, people moved, and life continued. It should have felt normal. Instead, it felt like I was watching from the outside, disconnected from everything around me.A woman brushed past me, mumbling an apology, and I flinched. The urge to reach for a weapon—something, anything—came sharp and fast, but there was nothing there. No blade, no gun. No orders ringing in my ears.I was free.So why did I feel like I was falling apart?I clenched my fists, grounding myself in the sensation of my own skin, my own body. It was mine, wasn’t it? The thought unsettled me. I had lived as a tool, a machine built for a single purpose.But now?Now I was someth
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 153
The Overseer’s AbsenceSomething was wrong.I felt it before I even opened my eyes. The air had weight to it, thick and pressing, like the world itself was holding its breath. My fingers curled against the fabric of the couch, the cheap upholstery scratching against my palm.The apartment was dim, the only light coming from the neon flicker of a sign outside. The city hummed beyond the windows, a quiet, living thing. But it wasn’t the same. Nothing was the same.I pushed myself upright, rubbing at my face before dragging a hand through my hair. The memories of the old world clashed with this one, fighting for dominance. I wasn’t sure which version of reality was winning.The Overseers were gone.The ones who pulled the strings, who dictated fate, who made the world operate under their silent, unseen rule—they had vanished.And yet, the world kept going.It was supposed to fall apart. People should have noticed. But instead, life continued, reshaping itself like the absence of power ha
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 154
Unstable GroundI woke up gasping for air.For a second, I didn’t know where I was. The ceiling above me swayed, blurring at the edges before snapping back into focus. My body felt wrong, like my limbs weren’t entirely mine, like I was occupying space I wasn’t meant to.I pushed myself up, wincing as a wave of nausea rolled over me. The room was spinning, or maybe I was. My hand reached for the nightstand, gripping it hard enough that my knuckles ached. The wood felt solid under my fingers, but something about it felt temporary, like it might vanish if I let go.I needed air.Stumbling to my feet, I pulled on a jacket and left the apartment. The hallway was dim, the flickering lightbulb overhead buzzing faintly. My steps echoed too loudly as I moved, like the world wasn’t sure if I was really here.By the time I reached the street, the morning sun was cutting through the cold air, sharp and golden. The city moved around me as if nothing had changed—cars honked, people hurried past, co
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 155
Trapped Between RealitiesThe street shimmered.For a moment, everything—the asphalt, the neon signs, the people moving past—blurred, as if the city had exhaled and forgotten how to hold itself together. Then, just as quickly, it snapped back, like a rubber band pulled too far and released.I blinked hard, my pulse thrumming. No one around me reacted. No one even paused.Was I the only one seeing this?I clenched my fists, forcing my breathing to steady. I needed answers, and I needed them now.---The apartment was a mess of papers, half-empty coffee cups, and the faint hum of Kane’s research board—an ancient thing covered in tacked-up notes and tangled red string. Elias was pacing, his expression tight.The woman from yesterday—the one who had looked at me like she knew something—had vanished before I could get a single answer.Now, Kane was investigating.She barely glanced up when I walked in. “It’s getting worse, isn’t it?”I stopped. “You knew?”She sighed, running a hand throug
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 156
Darren’s Road to FreedomThe road stretched endlessly ahead, flanked by golden fields swaying in the breeze. The sky, untouched by towering glass buildings or neon lights, was a shade of blue so deep it felt unreal. Birds flitted overhead, and the scent of earth and wildflowers filled the air.I had never been anywhere like this.No surveillance. No coded messages. No silent voices whispering in my earpiece.For the first time in my existence, I was alone.And I had no idea what to do with that.Every step I took felt unnatural like I was walking in a dream I wasn’t supposed to be a part of. The world beyond the city had always been a vague concept, something I never needed to consider. The Organization trained me to operate in the shadows of steel and glass, to navigate the underbelly of civilization where people whispered in dark alleys and alliances were made over threats and blood.This? This was something else entirely.The wind was a constant companion, rustling through the gras
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 157
The First DisappearanceKane’s expression was unreadable, but the tight grip she had on her notebook told me everything I needed to know. Something was wrong.I watched as she flipped through pages, her fingers moving with a sharpness that betrayed her usual collected demeanor. Every so often, she would stop, stare, then press her lips into a thin line before continuing.Finally, she looked up. Her voice was quieter than usual. “Tony… do you remember Edrian Vului?”The name hit me like a whisper in the dark. Something about it tugged at the edges of my mind, like a song half-forgotten. I frowned, trying to piece together a face, a memory—anything—but all I found was an empty void where something should have been.“Edrian Vului?” I echoed, the name feeling foreign in my mouth.Kane studied my face like she was waiting for something to click.Nothing did.I shook my head slowly. “I… I think I do? No, wait. I should remember him, shouldn’t I?” My frustration deepened as I forced my mind
THE ASCENSION SYSTEM CHAPTER 158
The Whispering VoicesAt first, I thought it was the wind. A subtle murmur, the kind that slithered through alleyways and curled around buildings like it had secrets to tell. But then I started hearing my name.Tony…It was never loud. Never intrusive. Just there, like an unfinished thought pressing against the edges of my mind. A whisper in a crowded room that no one else seemed to notice.Then, one night, I caught my reflection moving out of sync.I was in my apartment, pacing. Sleep had become a foreign concept, pushed aside by the weight of everything Kane and I had uncovered. My mind was a mess of names and places that didn’t exist anymore, and I was too afraid to blink in case something else disappeared while I wasn’t looking.That’s when I saw it.The mirror near my door. My reflection.I stopped. So did it.Then it didn’t.A fraction of a second—barely noticeable, unless you were already looking for something wrong. But I was.My breath came shallow as I stepped closer, watchi
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CHAPTER 172
Kane's UneaseThe silence in our makeshift base camp used to be a relief, a breath after the storm of the Overseers. Now, it’s a heavy blanket, suffocating me with a sense of wrongness I can’t quite place. The emergency lights we rigged up flicker erratically, throwing long, dancing shadows that make the sterile white walls seem to breathe.Outside, the usual city sounds – the distant sirens, the rumble of traffic – are still there, but underneath it all, there’s a low hum, a vibration in the air that makes my teeth ache. It’s like the world itself is holding its breath.Kane paces in front of Elias’s makeshift console, her brow furrowed like a stormy sky. She stops abruptly, her gaze fixed on the chaotic display of flickering lights and jagged lines. “Something’s wrong,” she says, her voice tight with a concern that mirrors the knot in my own nonexistent stomach. “The readings are fluctuating wildly, more than before.”Elias, hunched over the equipment, his fingers flying acros
CHAPTER 171
The Fading AnchorMy grip… it’s loosening. Not on something physical, not on the cold metal of the floor I can barely feel anymore. It’s on me. On the edges of what I know is Tony. The colors are wrong. My hand, when I try to clench it in front of my face, flickers like a faulty lightbulb. Red bleeds into the blue of the wall, the sharp corners of the table soften and then sharpen again, but in the wrong place. It feels like being underwater, but the water is angry, thrashing me around, pulling me down into a deeper, darker place.No… I can’t… hold on… The thought is a desperate clawing, a silent scream against the dissolving edges of my being. What am I holding onto? Maria’s laugh? The feel of the sun on my face that one day by the lake? They feel distant, like echoes in a vast, empty hall. They should be anchors, solid and true, but they’re becoming wisps of smoke, threatening to disappear altogether.A whisper brushes the edge of my awareness, so faint I almost miss it amids
CHAPTER 170
The Unanswered QuestionDarkness stretched at the edges of my vision, thin and restless, like ink bleeding into water. I was nowhere. I was everywhere. The Reset had erased me, and yet, I was still here.Somewhere.I could feel it—the fragile thread connecting me to the world I had left behind. It was faint, stretching thin, nearly severed. But not completely.And neither was I.Kane sat at the café, her fingers tight around her cup, the steam curling against her face. She hadn’t taken a sip. Elias had noticed, his gaze flicking toward her hands before looking away. He wouldn’t push her. Not yet.She was lost in thought. Or maybe she was listening.She should be.Because I was calling her name.Kane.She shivered.Elias saw it. “You cold?”She shook her head. “No.”Liar.He leaned back, watching her with quiet scrutiny. “Then what is it?”She hesitated. She wasn’t the type to admit when something unnerved her. But I could tell she was unraveling, piece by piece, as the silence stretch
CHAPTER 169
A New DawnThe sun rose like it always had, spilling light over a world that had forgotten me.I stood on the rooftop of a nameless building, watching the city wake up. The streets below pulsed with life—cars honking, people walking, voices rising in a rhythm that had existed long before me and would continue long after. It was familiar. It was real.And yet, something was different.I could feel it in the air, in the way time moved. The world had reset, but it hadn’t erased everything. Not completely.I watched from above as Kane leaned against the rusted railing outside a small café, her arms crossed, her gaze distant. Elias sat across from her, stirring a cup of coffee that he probably wasn’t going to drink. The two of them sat in silence, but their quiet was heavy.They felt it too.I took a step forward, instinctually wanting to go to them, but the Shift curled around me like invisible chains, holding me back. I wasn’t part of this world anymore—not really. I could see them, but
CHAPTER 168
The Reset KeyThe fractures ran deep. They cut through space and time, jagged wounds in the fabric of reality, shifting and groaning like something alive. I could feel them pulsing under my skin, a slow unraveling of everything I had fought for.And I was the only thing holding it all together.The Shift swirled around me, vast and unrelenting, pressing against my mind with a quiet hum. I could barely feel the ground beneath my feet anymore, the weight of my own body growing lighter, like I was already slipping away.Behind me, Kane’s breathing was uneven. Sharp. She knew.She always knew."Tony," she whispered. "Tell me there’s another way."I clenched my fists. My whole life, I had been fighting, finding cracks in the system, pushing past the limits others thought were unbreakable. But this time…"There isn’t," I said.Kane took a step closer, her boots scraping against the cracked ground. "Then we find one."I turned to face her, and the look in her eyes nearly broke me.There was
CHAPTER 167
The Last GoodbyeI stood outside Darren’s door, staring at the grain of the wood like it held the answers to all my unspoken questions. The hallway smelled of old books and antiseptic, an odd combination of wisdom and decay. My fingers curled into a fist, but I didn't knock. Not yet.This wasn't like the other battles I’d fought. This wasn’t a confrontation where I could overpower the enemy, nor a negotiation where I could twist the terms in my favor. This was final. And I hated that word more than anything.Taking a breath, I let my hand fall against the door, the sound barely audible."Come in," a rough voice called from inside.I pushed the door open.Darren sat in a worn-out chair by the window, the soft glow of the late afternoon sun casting long shadows over his frail frame. The man I had once seen as an unmovable force now looked... small. His skin hung loose over sharp bones, his eyes sunken yet still piercing, still aware. The room smelled of age like time itself had settled
CHAPTER 166
Breaking PointI was unraveling.I felt it in the way my body flickered, my hands twisting in and out of focus like I was caught between layers of existence. The cold wind slid through me, and for a brief second, I wasn’t sure if I was standing on solid ground or floating above it.The sky above still refused to change. The horizon held onto its dying light, frozen between night and day as if reality itself was hesitating—waiting for me to decide what I was going to become.Elias was watching me. So was Kane.I could feel their eyes, their tension, their hesitation.“Tony,” Elias said, his voice steady but careful. “You need to stop.”Stop?The word almost made me laugh.I turned to him, and he flinched.That was new.Elias never flinched.The flickering was getting worse. My hands weren’t just blurring; they were stretching, unraveling at the edges before snapping back into place. It didn’t hurt, but it felt wrong. Like my body wasn’t sure what shape to take anymore.Kane took a step
CHAPTER 165
The Disappearing SunThe sunset.And then it never came back.I stood at the edge of the ruined city, staring at the horizon. The sky had darkened, but it hadn’t gone completely black. Instead, an eerie twilight lingered, stretching the shadows long and thin. It was like the world had forgotten how to move forward, stuck in the moment between day and night.A cold wind rushed through the streets, whistling between broken buildings, making them groan as if the city itself was holding its breath.“This isn’t normal.” Kane’s voice cut through the silence.I turned to see her standing a few feet away, arms crossed, eyes sharp as she scanned the sky. Elias was next to her, his usual composure cracking at the edges. He wasn’t the type to panic, but I could see the tension in his jaw, the way his fingers twitched like he was holding back from reaching for a cigarette he didn’t have.“It’s him,” Elias muttered.I exhaled sharply. “You think I did this?”He met my gaze, and for once, there was
CHAPTER 164
The Last ReminderDarren stood at the city’s broken edge, the wind pulling at his jacket, carrying the scent of smoke and dust. The skyline was fractured, buildings leaning as if caught in their final moments of collapse. This city had seen better days—had been torn apart and stitched back together so many times that it barely resembled what it once was.And Darren had changed with it.I watched him from a distance, measuring the shift in his stance and his expression. The Darren I knew had always carried the weight of something—duty, regret, expectation. But the man standing there now wasn’t weighed down.He looked… lighter. Not in a way that made him weak. Just free.Kane stood beside me, arms crossed, her sharp eyes studying him the same way I was. “He’s different,” she muttered, and I could tell it unsettled her.Yeah. I felt it too.Darren turned, finally catching sight of us. His gaze met mine, and for a split second, I expected the usual tension—the stiffness in his shoulders,
