2023-05-29 15:38:02Andrew walked wearily as the elevator doors opened on the third floor. He let out a long sigh, resigned to the decision given by the director.
"Attention!"
Andrew, who was packing his office desk, turned toward the source of the voice and found Orlando and Nadine standing by the elevator doors.
"Everyone, just stop your work for a moment. Let's give some time to our friend Andrew who has been fired from this company because of stealing. "
Hearing the announcement, all the employees on the third floor buzzed with excitement. Andrew became the center of attention. All the scornful gazes were directed toward him.
The anger building up finally propelled Andrew to move closer to Orlando. His steps were quick, and while pointing at Orlando, Andrew shouted, "Shut up, you coward!"
Andrew glared at Orlando and Nadine alternately, his face red as he continued, "You're nothing more than the trash, Orlando. Your dirty plays won't intimidate me. I'll return to make you regret."
"Hahaha! Aren't you ashamed to say such things in front of everyone?" Orlando confidently laughed.
"That's absurd! There's no way Orlando would want to frame someone like Andrew!"
"Andrew has a real problem with the wrong person! What was he thinking?"
"He's a disgraceful loser!"
Whispers from the employees further heated the atmosphere that afternoon. Andrew looked around at them, and in that moment of distraction, Orlando took advantage and pushed him, causing him to fall.
"Ugh!"
"Let me remind you, Andrew! I play the card here. Don’t you ever dare to be rude to me."
Orlando pressed Andrew's hand with his expensive and heavy shoe. Andrew's face showed pain as he tried to lift the shoe.
Some employees began taking out their phones and recording the incident.
Orlando's other foot now pressed on Andrew's neck. Andrew's eyes widened as he opened his mouth, struggling to breathe. But Orlando did not immediately stop his cruelty. Instead, Orlando and Nadine laughed hysterically, seeing Andrew's face grow redder.
Andrew tried to breath, as labored as a fish out of the water, suddenly felt refreshing. His blurred vision seemed clear, and Andrew slowly pushed Orlando's foot off his neck and succeeded.
Andrew turned his body to the left and struck Orlando's foot, which was still stepping on him.
"ARGH!"
Orlando's smile turned into a scream. He immediately lifted his foot, and Andrew quickly got up.
" Orlando!" Nadine screamed, and both of them seemed busy rubbing the shoe that Andrew had hit. "What are you doing, Andrew!"
"I'm resisting the trash that imposed itself on me," Andrew calmly replied.
Orlando glared at Andrew fiercely, growled, and stood up. Andrew raised his head and folded his arms as if ready to challenge Orlando.
"Okay, Andrew. You want to play with me. I used to be the overall champion in judo and a young boxer. You could have chosen your opponent better. "
Andrew stepped back simultaneously with Orlando, who was preparing to throw a punch. Nevertheless, Andrew remained in the same position, showing no fear whatsoever.
Orlando clenched his fist, and everyone looked serious, anticipating the imminent fight.
"You're gonna die, Andrew! See you in heck!"
Orlando was ready to strike Andrew's face with his punch. However, suddenly he fell forward, causing his face to meet Andrew's shoe.
"ARGH!" Orlando's cry was heard. Moreover, to make matters worse, his pants tore lengthwise. Nadine quickly crouched down and covered it with her hand. All the employees were chuckling.
Meanwhile, Andrew smiled broadly and murmured, "Who's gonna die, Orlando? Better watch your words before you speak."
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4-49
The world reassembled without courtesy, snapping into place like bones set without anesthesia.Andrew hit solid ground hard, air tearing from his lungs as gravity reclaimed him with obvious irritation.He rolled instinctively, shoulders screaming as muscle memory compensated for power that no longer answered.Dust and ash coated his tongue, bitter and metallic, grounding him in harsh reality.When his vision cleared, he recognized the skyline immediately.They were back near the coastal ruins where the city had first fractured weeks ago.The sky here was wrong.Clouds hung unnaturally low, stretched thin like torn fabric, light bleeding through uneven seams.Every shadow felt sharper, more deliberate, as if cast by intention rather than physics.Andrew pushed himself upright slowly, careful not to provoke whatever invisible tolerance the world still extended.A faint warmth pulsed beneath his sternum, unfamiliar yet persistent.Not the Sapphire.Something else had taken root in its ab
4-48
Andrew woke to silence that felt artificially enforced rather than naturally earned.It pressed against his senses with an unnerving precision, like a system holding its breath.He lay unmoving for several long seconds, afraid that movement itself might trigger retaliation.The Sapphire beneath his sternum was inert, colder than it had ever been before.No pulse answered his cautious focus.No resonance acknowledged his existence.Panic threatened to rise, sharp and feral, but Andrew strangled it before it reached his throat.He had survived worse than emptiness.When he finally pushed himself onto an elbow, pain answered immediately and enthusiastically.Every joint protested as if resentful of being asked to function again.The chamber was gone.In its place stretched a vast plain of cracked obsidian, extending endlessly beneath a sky drained of color.No horizon was visible, only gradients of gray folding into one another.Andrew’s breath fogged faintly in the air, though there was
4-47
The throne did not activate immediately, and that delay unsettled Andrew more than sudden violence ever could.Silence pooled inside the chamber, thick and deliberate, pressing against his ears like an accusation waiting to be spoken.Noir straightened slowly, his movements stiff as if invisible restraints tugged at his joints.The cracks along his arms glowed brighter, leaking shadowed light that flickered with unstable rhythm.“You feel it,” Andrew said, forcing his voice steady despite the tremor in his legs.“This place isn’t choosing yet. It’s waiting.”Noir exhaled sharply, eyes never leaving the empty throne at the chamber’s center.“It’s verifying compatibility,” he replied. “Seeing which of us breaks first.”The walls began to shift almost imperceptibly, reliefs of shattered suns rearranging themselves.Stone groaned as ancient mechanisms awakened, responding to proximity rather than command.Andrew took one step forward, and the chamber reacted instantly.A wave of pressure
4-46
Andrew did not fall so much as he was unstitched from where he belonged.Space peeled away in layers, each one tearing loose with a sensation like breath being stolen mid-inhale.There was no up or down, only momentum without direction and time without patience.His body tumbled through overlapping fragments of places that never fully existed.He saw cities mid-construction and mid-collapse simultaneously, buildings flickering between futures.He saw oceans frozen in vertical walls, waves paused like indecisive thoughts.Pain arrived late, dragging itself behind awareness like an afterthought.Every nerve screamed out of sequence, confused about what it was supposed to protect.Andrew tried to summon the Sapphire instinctively, reaching inward the way he always had before.The response came delayed, distorted, like an echo bouncing through unfamiliar caverns.Light bled through his veins unevenly, blue-white pulses stuttering instead of flowing.It felt less like power now and more li
4-45
The first thing Andrew noticed when consciousness fully returned was the sound of breathing that was not his own.It was slow, deliberate, and layered beneath the ambient hum of fractured reality, creating an unsettling counterpoint.He opened his eyes cautiously, every muscle tense with the expectation of resistance.The world did not recoil this time, but it did not welcome him either.Andrew lay inside what appeared to be a circular chamber carved directly into black stone.The walls were smooth yet alive with faint, moving sigils that pulsed in irregular intervals.Each symbol carried a resonance disturbingly familiar to his Sapphire.Not identical, but close enough to feel like a distorted reflection.He pushed himself into a sitting position, jaw tightening as a dull ache rippled through his spine.The pain was manageable, but the absence of feedback from the Sapphire was not.“Still alive,” a voice said calmly from somewhere behind him.Andrew turned sharply, instincts flaring
4-44
The moment Andrew opened his eyes, the world felt heavier than it ever had before.Not physically crushing, not painfully oppressive, but fundamentally resistant, as if reality itself hesitated to acknowledge his existence.The sky above the fractured city trembled faintly, its color unstable, shifting between shades that should not logically coexist.Clouds froze mid-drift for a fraction of a second before resuming their motion, creating an unsettling rhythm that made Andrew’s chest tighten.He tried to sit up, and pain answered him immediately.It was not the sharp agony of broken bones or torn muscle, but something deeper and colder, radiating from beneath his sternum.The Sapphire pulsed weakly inside him, its once steady resonance now irregular, like a heart struggling to remember its purpose.Andrew clenched his jaw and forced himself upright anyway.His breath came slower than usual, measured not by exhaustion but by uncertainty, as if his lungs were negotiating with time itsel
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Reader Comments
it's a good story and teachable
very exciting story i enjoy it