Chapter 15
To the Unknown
Part 1
Day Three
Date: 03/01/01
Location: In the city.
Mission Duration: Three Days
Remaining Time: Two Days and 7 hours
Objective: Reach the City Gate
Subject Names: Thomas & Samira Ali
Previous success rate: 85%
Expected success rate: 65%
Failed Subjects: 225
Successful subjects: 7
For Thomas, it was like fighting a ghost. The hardest challenge he faced was battling something he couldn't see or even touch, so the punches he threw connected with nothing but empty air. After several missed hits, he had to stop and look back at the vehicle where Samira was still inside, hoping she might be able to come up with something.
The low thudding sounds of the invisible swarm battered the vehicle relentlessly, a drumbeat of their impending doom. The spiderweb cracks on the windshield spread with each new assault. Samira, inside the vehicle, pressed her hands against her temples, her mind a frantic storm of fragmented data. Her data analysis skill was a whirlwind of information, a thousand data points flooding her mind at once, but she couldn't get a solid read on the enemy. The buzzing was an infuriating symphony of static, a white noise that drowned out any coherent pattern.
The invisible swarm remained focused on the car, while Thomas, an agile phantom on the ruined street, dodged their onslaught. He couldn't stand still and resumed throwing punches, striking out into the empty air. For the first time, his fists and feet met a strange, jelly-like resistance. Although the hits caused no damage, they created ripples in the invisible swarm, a small, visible disturbance. He was a ghost fighting shadows, his blows landing with a soft, unsettling give that offered no real resistance. He needed a target, something tangible to hit, but the enemy was everywhere and nowhere at once.
Her mind, now connected to the System on a deeper level, began processing the fragmented information from a new perspective. She stopped perceiving the swarm as a physical entity and started to see it as code. The swarm was a program—a living algorithm. It was a simple program, designed to attack and destroy anything in its path, but it was complex because it was constantly changing and adapting. She observed a series of simple commands, loops, and subroutines. It was a hive mind with no central core. The only way to defeat it was to disrupt the code by introducing a bug into its system that would cause it to self-destruct.
Samira closed her eyes, forcing herself to block out the noise and focus on the microscopic vibrations she had detected earlier. It was a faint hum, a specific frequency that was subtly different from the chaotic buzzing of the individual insects. It was a signal, the command from a central source. And just as she had suspected, the vibration was strongest in one single point, a barely perceptible distortion in the air a few feet in front of the vehicle. It was the core.
"Thomas! Don't fight the swarm!" she yelled, her voice cutting through the sounds of combat. "There's a core! An alpha! It's a single point controlling the rest!"
Thomas, mid-strike, hesitated. The swarm seized the opportunity, and he felt a hundred tiny impacts slam into his torso, knocking the wind from his lungs. He stumbled back, his body screaming in protest.
"Where?!" he grunted, bracing himself.
"Look for the ripple! The biggest one! It's right in front of the car!"
His eyes scanned the empty air, and this time, he wasn't just seeing nothing. He was looking for something. He saw it—a subtle shimmering in the air, a concentration of the light-bending effect that was slightly more opaque, slightly more dense than the rest. It was the eye of the storm.
With a surge of cold fury, he activated his Qadab skill. A primal surge of fury and raw power coursed through his body. The world slowed to a crawl as he gathered the energy, his body a coiled spring of pure potential. He was no longer just Thomas; he was a storm of pure, unadulterated strength. The invisible swarm, sensing a new kind of threat, converged on him, but he was too fast. He moved with a brutal, single-minded focus, his punches and kicks not aimed at a solid target but at the very air itself.
Each blow was like a thunderclap, a shockwave that hit the code of the invisible swarm, disrupting its flow. Samira, with her data analysis, saw the results in real-time. The transparent wave of invisible entities began to falter, their movements becoming erratic and uncoordinated. With a final, furious cry, Thomas unleashed a powerful kick, a shockwave of raw energy that hit the very heart of the swarm's code.
A violent shriek of feedback ripped through the air, a sound so high-pitched it was on the edge of human hearing. The translucent figure of the alpha shimmered into view for a brief, horrific moment—a grotesque, multi-limbed insect with a chitinous, pulsating armor—before Thomas's fist shattered it. The core exploded into a thousand tiny fragments of light, and the rest of the swarm, suddenly without a central will, disintegrated into dust.
He stood there for a moment, his body trembling, the power of Qadab slowly receding. He was still himself, but he felt the ghost of a monstrous rage, a cold, empty feeling in his heart. He looked at Samira, who was still in her protective shield, her eyes wide with relief. They had done it. They had defeated a high-level enemy that was invisible, not with force alone, but with a combination of her intellect and his raw power. They were not just a team; they were a perfect match
The System's message chimed in his mind and on the windshield at the windshield once more.
{Mission Complete: Shimmering Stalker Destroyed}
{Rewards:}
{Points: 200}
{New Skill Acquired: Qadab Control (Level 1)}
{You have gained two attribute points, which can be distributed to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Vitality.}
Thomas smiled for a second, and perhaps for the first time since arriving in this world, it was a tired but genuine smile. "Qadab Control," he said. "Looks like the System knew what I needed—a leash for this dangerous skill."
Samira, her Trans Shield dissipating into the air, walked up to him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "If we are not more than just test subjects to them," she said, a hint of steel in her voice, a team. And we're going to show them exactly what humans are capable of."
Samira's reward appeared in front of her as a separate message, her contribution to the victory reflected in the System's cold logic.
{Rewards:}
{Points: 200}
{Samira: You have gained two attribute points, which can be distributed to Strength, Dexterity, Intelligence, or Vitality.}
The green line on the windshield, now a solid, reassuring beacon, pointed toward the next section of the city. The city gate was still a long way off, but they were no longer alone, and they were no longer just running for their lives. They were fighting for them.
Mentally and physically tired, Thomas went back to the vehicle and took his seat beside Samira, nodding at the last sentence she had said. Obviously, he completely agreed with her; in fact, it was a decision he had reached before he even met her. The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by the sound of Thomas's heavy breathing. Samira was also immersed in her thoughts.
He looked at the empty space where the swarm had been, his heart pounding in his chest. His eyes met Samira's, who was sitting beside him. A shared look of exhausted relief passed between them, accompanied by a silent acknowledgment of their new partnership and an unspoken promise to survive together.