Friday, 12:30 Am
Gun smoke filled the air, the smell of iron stinging the room. Bright lights and bottles covered the ground—he was inside a sin hotel, a place he used to come to often. But never with a man, and never in this type of scenario. As the air vent carried the smell down the hall, the lights flickered. Footsteps grew louder and louder as Kínitos tried to catch his breath. He was in a part of the city he'd never been to. Looking down at his arms, he saw the young man's face, white as snow, contrasting with the striking red scar running from his mouth to his ear.
"Ok, 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8—" Before Kínitos could finish, the door got kicked in. Several men with guns rushed in as he lay behind a shelf in another room.
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## Thursday , 7:30 AM — 15 Hours Till the Incident
"I swear to god, Vex, where's my save file?" asked Dante in irritation.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know? Search for it or something," replied Vex with a condescending tone.
"You know damn well that's not how my abilities work," spat Dante.
"You have super speed and we have a finite space," said Vex.
"It's not a finite space," they both said in sync, with Vex giving a mocking tone.
Kínitos walked into the kitchen to see both of them yelling and throwing insults as Sarah followed behind.
"What's going on, Ken?" asked Sarah.
"No clue, just got here and they're yelling," said Kínitos.
"Guys, stop. What's wrong? Why are you guys yelling?" she spoke in a soft voice, like a mother would to her child.
"'Cause this dumbass thinks I lost his game save file. Why the fuck do you have a fucking disk for your game?" Vex jabbed at him.
"'Cause I can," Dante retorted.
"It's the fucking 21st century. We have robots and self-driving cars. Buy the fucking digital game," said Vex.
"I'm not a mindless consumer like you. You don't *own* the game, you just—" Before Dante could finish, a door opened and out stepped Jade.
"Can you all shut it? I'm trying to get something done," Jade shouted.
"Hey, Jade," everyone said.
"Now, Dante, did you give them lessons for today?" asked Jade.
"No, I—" said Dante, getting cut off.
"Then why are we yelling?" Jade asked pointedly. Sucking his teeth, Dante walked over to the fridge and got an apple. A smiling Vex looked at him with delight.
"I don't know why you're smiling. Have you tracked down the gang?" questioned a stern Jade. Sucking her own teeth, she walked over to the fridge and grabbed a beer.
"Now, Kínitos and Sarah, follow Mr. Dante. He is going to be teaching you about energy conversion," said Jade.
The next moment they knew it, they were inside a huge gaming room—an arcade of sorts, filled with old games, different consoles, and even VR. It was filled with games, chess, checkers, bowling, and more. Sitting down on some gaming chairs at a desk, Dante brought a whiteboard over.
"Look, I'll cover this for you 'cause I'm the best," said Dante.
"So what is it you're covering, and where is Monti?" questioned Kínitos.
"Training with Jes. And today I'm covering energy creation," replied Dante.
"Oh, how you make the fire!" said Sarah, ecstatic.
"Yeah, but it can be used for more than just that. While I run, the friction in the air heats up my body and I would burn alive, but I convert that energy into paradox energy. Or you can do this," said Dante, grabbing a blunt from his pocket.
He brought his finger close to his lips, the blunt dangling. A tiny, perfect flame winked into existence at the tip of his thumb, kissing the blunt before vanishing. No smoke, no purple haze. Just flame as he huffed and passed Kínitos a blunt from his other pocket.
"A standard lighter uses 50-100 joules of energy. To create a small flame, a user has to convert a tiny amount of paradox energy into heat," said Dante.
"Okay, how do we do that?" asked Sarah.
"By imagining it. Beginners will use too much and create a purple flame, and that's okay 'cause you're new," said Dante.
Sarah went first, closing her eyes tight as she held out her palm. "Okay, so… fifty joules divided by… wait, how much paradox energy is that?"
Dante leaned forward, setting his blunt in an ashtray. "Don't stress the math too much. Just picture the heat, feel it building in your chest, then push it to your fingertip."
Sarah's face scrunched in concentration, her hand trembling slightly. A flicker of purple flame burst to life above her palm—wild, crackling, easily the size of a tennis ball. She yelped and jerked her hand back, the flame snuffing out instantly.
"Too much!" Dante grinned, but his tone was encouraging. "Hey, that's normal for first-timers. You just gotta dial it back. Think smaller—like lighting a candle, not a bonfire."
Kínitos watched Sarah shake out her hand before stepping up himself. He took a breath, muttering under his breath: "Fifty joules… small flame… 0, 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8…"
He visualized the energy condensing, a pinprick of heat gathering at his fingertip. When he opened his eyes, a steady orange flame flickered there—small, controlled, almost motionless. It didn't dance or waver like a normal flame; it just *was*, perfectly still.
Dante tilted his head, genuinely impressed. "Whoa. That's really good for a first try, man. Clean control." He picked up his blunt with a smirk. "Just don't go burning my blunt to ash, alright? This stuff's expensive."
Sarah crossed her arms, half-pouting, half-smiling. "I was close!"
Kínitos let his flame die out, flexing his fingers. The energy had felt strange—less like creating fire and more like *holding* it in place. He glanced at Dante. "Why's mine not moving?"
Dante shrugged, relighting his blunt with a casual flick of flame from his thumb. "Could be how you're channeling it. Everyone's energy feels different depending on their paradox. We still don't know what yours is yet, so maybe that's affecting it." He took a quick drag and exhaled. "Anyway, try it again. Both of you. You're doing great—just gotta get the feel for it."