Kaai and his friends were already making their way out of the airsoft club lobby. Leaning back Danny said with a smirk on his face, "Kaai you didn't need to do Nour that dirty." Ryan and Kaai chuckled. Nour pouted and said, "I am an honorable man. Who wanted a fair last grand duel. Too bad my opponent is nothing but a sly fox." Danny burst into laughter, clutching his stomach. Kaai said with a wide grin, "Don't be mad, Nour. Some of us are born gunners… others are just target practice." Nour replied with a raised eyebrow, "I bet it is very easy to aim while standing still."
Breaking their conversation was Ryan. "We should order a taxi, and you guys can continue your argument on our way to Kaai's house." "No need," Kaai replied. Danny looked at him confused, "What? Did you already order a cab?" Nour said with a beaming smile, "Uncle Jo is back in town and is hitching us a ride back home." Kaai with an amused expression said, "Back to my home."
Before Nour could reply, a sharp honk cut through the air. A black mid-sized truck rolled up beside them. Behind the wheel sat a striking man — broad-shouldered, with deep onyx eyes that seemed to weigh everything they touched. Streaks of white traced the sides of his dark hair, blending into the thick beard that framed his face. The silver only sharpened his elegance, giving him the air of someone who carried both strength and presence. He was already looking at them with a charming smile on his sculptured face.
Coming out of his truck, he got treated with hugs and smiles. Danny, with a wide smile (which he always had), said, "Uncle Jonathan it is great to see you in town again, the district is just not the same without its big man."
Uncle Jo replied, his deep voice carrying warmth. "Always that exaggerated enthusiasm, Dan. It is also lovely to see my nephew's friends all out and about. And Dan, it's Uncle Jo, not Jonathan. Just how many times do I have to correct you?"
Before Danny could reply, Uncle Jo was already pointing to his car. "Come on brothers, we're already running late."
Ryan asked him with a confused expression, "Late to what?"
Replying to him, still carrying his elegant charm, "There is a certain lady we need to pick from a Pendragon lab, before Kaai's birthday."
The truck rumbled through the city, past towering skyscrapers, busy streets, and endless blocks of apartment buildings, until the chaos of the city faded into wilderness. For a time, there was only the hum of the engine, the blur of trees, and the laughter of four young men as well as a middle-aged one. Then, on the horizon, a vast structure rose into view.
Pendragon Labs.
Its brilliant, almost intimidating architecture loomed closer until it filled the windshield.
As they were admiring the brilliant architecture Nour broke the silence and said with a chuckle, "It baffles me every time when I think that your mother works in a secret lab." Uncle Jo smirked, his eyes still on the road. "Well if it was secret, none of you would be making it back home."
Nour looked at him with nervous laughter. "You are joking, right?" All Nour got was another one of Uncle Jo's knowing smirks.
The car came to a halting stop, in front of one of the gates under the towering walls that separated the labs from the ever-growing wilderness. A black screen suddenly came to life, it showed a white background behind a man with combed hair, sunglasses, and a suit.
The man said, "Identify yourself." Suddenly everyone tensed up except for Uncle Jo.
Uncle Jo rolled down his window and leaned casually toward the scanner. The screen flickered, his face reflected in its glow for a brief second—then it went dark. With a deep mechanical groan, the massive gates slid open.
The youths stared, eyes wide. Ryan, unable to hold it in, whispered with an admiring grin,
"…Cool."
Uncle Jo glanced at him through the rearview mirror and chuckled softly. Without another word, the truck rumbled forward, past rows of neatly lined vehicles, until it came to a stop near the towering glass entrance.
"Welp," Uncle Jo said, stretching his shoulders as he killed the engine, "now we wait a few minutes for Mona to fight her way out of that labyrinth they call a building."
Before the silence could kick in, Danny started asking questions about his last deployment. Kaai, uninterested in his uncle's shenanigans in the secret service, zoned out.
His eyes drifted toward the building, and for a heartbeat, the world seemed to still.
It wasn't the Pendragon Labs they were staring at—it was something else. Beneath its gleaming glass and steel, Kaai felt… voices. One was calling, soft and coaxing. Another wept, hollow and endless, like grief trapped in the walls. And another screamed, shrill and sharp, a bestial scream so clear it rattled his bones.
The air felt heavier with every breath, a strange pressure pressing against his ribs. Kaai's grin faltered, his fingers curling into his palm as a cold, familiar fear crept into him. It was the same exact fear he felt in the nightmare.
Suddenly a voice rattled him. It was Uncle Jo's voice. "You good buddy, you are awfully silent today."
Kaai looked at him with a dazed expression, then heaved a sigh. "Ye I'm fine, why wouldn't I be?"
Uncle Jo, unconvinced, looked at him with a raised eyebrow. "Is it that nightmare?"
Looking at him in shock. "How did you—" then the realization of who he was talking to dawned on him, but before he could correct himself, a bellowing laughter echoed in the car. Uncle Jo had a hand on his forehead and another on his stomach as he continued to laugh. Kaai looked at him unamused.
Uncle Jo's laughter finally quieted, though the last traces of amusement lingered on his lips. Kaai, however, didn't share the joke. His jaw was tight, his eyes dark, as if replaying something only he could see.
When Jo leaned forward, resting an elbow on the steering wheel, his voice lowered—gentle, but edged with authority. "I think you realize you just asked a secret service agent how did he know shit, Kaai my boy. Intelligence is my entire gig."
His soft smiling face turned concerned and looked at Kaai with a hint of intensity. "You know you can always share your dream with us. A penny for your thoughts. A burden is easier shared with multiple hands."
Kaai stared at the floor of the truck for a long moment. His fingers curled into fists on his knees. The weight of silence grew by the second, the pressure eating at him. His friends shifted awkwardly, not knowing whether to break it or not. Finally the silence broke.
Kaai caved in. He rubbed his temples, his voice low. "It started with… nothing. Not night, not shadow—just nothing. Like I wasn't even alive, like I was swallowed by a void. I couldn't move, couldn't breathe. Then the sky, if I can even call it a sky, cracked open, and light poured through… not normal light. It felt like it was burning me alive from the inside out. Like a thousand needles tearing me apart. I thought I was going to die."
He hesitated, looking out the car window into the never-ending forest. "Then I saw cities. Endless cities stacked on top of each other, but they kept vanishing when I looked at them and rebuilt when I wasn't. Only three stayed. One of marble, one of iron and fire, one built into trees. And just when I thought I could understand it, they started falling apart, melting, burning, devouring themselves. And yet… they weren't destroyed. Strings of light stitched the pieces together like some broken quilt. Bridges from one world leading to palaces from another."
Kaai's throat tightened. He almost whispered the last part. "And right when I couldn't take it anymore, I heard a voice. Close. Too close. It said, 'Wake up, Kaai.' And I did." Immediately a heavy pounding sound echoed in the truck.
Everyone was back terrified. In the back seat, Ryan immediately jumped, hitting his head against the roof of the truck and landing on Danny, who reeled back, his right hand clutching Nour's chest. Nour had all life drained from his face. Even Uncle Jo was taken aback. Immediately looking at the source of the pounding—it was Mona. With a wide grin on her face, color returning to their pale faces.