[LSB] Chapter 91: A Reaction

The fight didn’t last long.

If it could even be called that.

Vijya looked terrifying—a monstrosity that rivaled the horrors of the daemons. His appearance alone was enough to send chills down one’s spine. His strength, however, was a different matter entirely.

It took just a single hit.

Julian’s fist came crashing down from above, slamming into Vijya’s head with all his might. 

When Victoria mentioned that Vijya had been experimented on and infused with the synthetic DNA of the physically strongest race in Artemia, Julian thought the battle would at least be as challenging as facing the daemon mantis during the Streamer Awards.

But no.

One hit. That’s all it took. Vijya’s head exploded into a mist of blood and brain matter—if he even still had a brain left to begin with… or before. The force of the strike didn’t stop there, ripping apart half of Vijya’s torso and leaving what remained of his body to collapse in a grotesque heap.

Now, Julian stood completely covered in Vijya’s flesh, standing silently at the gruesome scene in front of him. Menacingly still.

Victoria, however, was unfazed even though there was blood everywhere. She calmly walked toward Julian, a towel in hand, as if she’d already anticipated the outcome… and her next words confirmed it.

“As we’ve said, we’ve conducted over a hundred thousand trials, and yet we are nowhere near replicating what the creatures of Artemia are capable of,” she sighed, handing the towel to Julian before placing a hand on Vijya’s mangled corpse. Disappointment flickered in her usually stoic eyes as she added, “As I said earlier, Vijya was never a threat to you. Unlike his clone in Artemia, his Earth version was… fragile, even with all of these.”

“Hm,” Julian hummed, wiping the blood from his face.

“Do I sense disappointment in your tone, Mr. Winters?” Victoria mimicked his hum, a faint smirk tugging at her lips. “Are you disappointed that you could only defeat him on Earth, not Artemia? If so, there’s no need to feel that way. If memory serves, you were only level 15 at the time when he attacked you, while he was well into the late 30s. You had no chance of defeating him then.”

“No,” Julian denied quickly, “I don’t enjoy fighting. I’d rather avoid it whenever possible.”

“You… don’t enjoy fighting?” She tilted her head, studying him curiously. “But the public dubbed you the ‘Sword Junkie’ even before your fame, Mr. Winters. I’ve seen the streams myself—you were chuckling and smiling as you fought.”

[It’s post-fight clarity,] MEGAN joined in before Julian could respond. [Julian doesn’t carry over emotions once the problem is solved. Know what I mean?]

“I might,” Victoria said with a shrug, her curiosity seemingly satisfied for now. After a moment, she clapped her hands and began walking away while she updated Julian of everything he needed to know. “Well, that’s all I wanted to show you. We’re still making arrangements for your return home, and as for your LinkGear—unfortunately, there are no updates yet.”

[A multi-trillion-credit company can’t locate a single object?] MEGAN scoffed, her tone dripping with suspicion. [If I were just a little more skeptical of you, I’d say you’re stalling. Wait, I am highly suspicious of you, so yeah… you’re stalling.]

Victoria glanced over her shoulder, “The one who stole it seems to have intimate knowledge of LinkGears, MEGAN. They managed to disable the tracker we installed.”

[You put a tracker in the LinkGear!? Spy!]

“It’s a million-credit device, MEGAN. The trackers are there precisely for situations like this.”

[Excuses!]

“That’s not how you address the CEO of a multi-trillion-credit company.”

[Acting CEO!] MEGAN shot back. [Where’s the real one, anyway?]

“You should feel honored to speak with me at all,” Victoria replied smoothly.

[Psh. Please…]

Their bickering faded into the background, leaving Julian silently wiping the blood off his arms as he listened to them go back and forth.

By the time Victoria escorted him back to his room, the conversation had finally ceased. But even then, as Julian stood under the hot shower, MEGAN still talked about her..

[Julian, don’t trust her. I’ve got a bad feeling about all of this…]

In a way, if anything, Victoria could almost be considered MEGAN’s first friend. Of course, Julian would never say that out loud—unless he wanted to hear it brought up nonstop by MEGAN.

Another day passed on Ceres-9, and still, there was no news about Julian’s LinkGear. According to Ellie’s calls, however, public opinion about him was slowly beginning to shift into a more positive light.

Whatever Humanity Engineering was doing, it was working.

But that didn’t solve Julian’s biggest problem: boredom.

Crafting inside the [Shadow Forge] helped, but only for a while—and not even that long, really. Time didn’t flow inside the [Shadow Forge], so while it alleviated his boredom, it didn’t help pass the time at all. To make things worse, he’d used up all the materials and resources stored in his [Shadow Vault], forging hundreds of different weapons and pieces of armor.

He had nothing left to do except wander.

And so, wander he did.

Fortunately for him, Ceres-9 was vast, and he appeared to have unrestricted access—at least on the surface level. The other scientists and staff had grown used to him, offering only polite greetings as he passed by.

This time, he brought his cane with him—he didn’t need it, but he had used it for so long that he was more comfortable holding it.

Julian was about to take a turn down a familiar hallway when MEGAN’s voice whispered loudly in his mind.

[Julian, we’ve been there before. Let’s go left this time.]

“Alright,” Julian responded immediately, swerving to walk in the opposite direction with MEGAN’s words. He wasn’t walking for himself, after all. To him, everything felt the same—hallways, rooms, even the outdoor areas all blurred together in identical monotony.

This walk wasn’t for him; it was for MEGAN.

He wanted her to see everything Ceres-9 had to offer. For MEGAN, it was like a child exploring a brand-new candy store—except, instead of candy, she was marveling at all the cutting-edge technology Humanity Engineering had to offer.

[Oh, we should get one of those when we have our own house, Julian!] she exclaimed, her excitement almost piercing through Julian’s flesh. [I have no idea what it does, but it looks cool, so that’s all that matters, right?]

“Hm…” Julian hummed, a faint smile tugging at his lips as he let MEGAN ramble on while they continued exploring new hallways.

Though he was bored, MEGAN’s constant descriptions and commentary, even in her usual tone, were almost like music to his ears. It was a sound he knew he’d never grow tired of.

“Have I ever told you how comforting your voice is?” Julian whispered, tilting his head slightly as he tried to articulate the thought. “It’s like a lullaby that keeps me wanting to wake up every day.”

[Oho, where did you learn that?] MEGAN teased.

“Therapy,” Julian replied without missing a beat.

[Speaking of, I should remind you that your next therapy session is in thirteen days, Julian.]

“I didn’t realize it’s been that long already,” Julian said, his expression visibly surprised.

[As the ancient saying goes, ‘time flies when you’re having fun’, Julian.]

“I suppose it does, huh?” Julian let out a deep breath, his steps steady as he continued down the corridor. He opened his mouth to say something else but was interrupted by MEGAN’s sudden shift in tone.

[Master, the coal is reacting.]

“Did you say something?” Julian tilted his head, his brow furrowing slightly at the subtle change in her voice.

[I said time flies when you’re having fun, Julian.]

“No, after that.”

[Oh. Then I didn’t say anything. I—]

Before MEGAN could finish, a new voice sliced through their conversation.

[It is I, Master. The Avatar of Searadyn.]

Julian froze for a moment, processing the words. After a few seconds, he let out a low hum and whispered to MEGAN, informing her that the Avatar of Searadyn was speaking to him.

MEGAN didn’t respond right away. Then, after a few beats, her voice came back in his mind.

[Okay. Act like you’re still talking to me.]

“What is it?” And Julian did just that.

[The coal—the Dodona Coal—is reacting, Master,] the Avatar of Searadyn repeated, [It was stronger earlier.]

“Hm.” Julian lowered his head slightly, then turned around and started walking back. He didn’t question it, despite this being the first time the Avatar of Searadyn had spoken to him outside the [Shadow Forge].

In fact, he hadn’t even known she could do that.

He continued walking in silence, and after a few more steps, the Avatar spoke again.

[It is stronger where you are now, Master!]

Julian tapped his cane harder against the floor, letting the vibrations ripple outward and paint a clearer picture of his surroundings. He held his breath. Sure enough, there was another hallway hidden behind the wall. Without hesitation, Julian approached it and placed his hand against its surface.

[Julian, no!] MEGAN’s voice broke through, but it was already too late. The wall slid open. The only thing MEGAN could do was groan in frustration. 

[Now Victoria’s going to be all over me—“Oh, how did Julian know there was a secret door there?” “Oh, it’s very interesting you discovered that, Mr. Winters.”]

“Hm. I didn’t think that through,” Julian muttered, stepping into the revealed passage. He tilted his head slightly. “But you do seem very familiar with how Victoria talks now.”

[W—I'm AI, Julian. Of course, I can imitate how she talks. It’s not like I’m trying to sound like her or anything.]

“Huh.” Julian hummed softly as he felt the door fully open, and something immediately crawled across his skin—a sensation he recognized, though it was much stronger now. Familiar, but far more intense.

If Victoria was monitoring the surveillance cameras, she had likely already seen him uncover the hidden door. There was no point feigning innocence now. 

He might as well see what was causing the Dodona Coal to react.

[Warning: the temperature is rising to abnormal levels, Julian,] MEGAN cautioned, her tone robotic. [I’m also detecting higher levels of radiation than usual.]

“Let me know if it becomes too much,” Julian whispered as he stepped through the secret path, tapping his cane more than usual only to find that it was a set of stairs leading down. 

Well, no. 

Julian quickly discovered that it wasn’t a set of stairs at all as soon as it started moving down on its own.

An escalator.

“Hm.” Julian gripped the handle beside him as he descended slowly. The heat intensified with every second. Though the actual temperature wasn’t unbearable, his heightened senses made it feel almost oppressive.

At the bottom, the escalator opened into another hallway.

The corridor was the same as all the others, but Julian pressed on, walking until he finally entered a vast chamber—by far the largest he’d been in on Ceres-9. 

And then he finally understood why the sensation felt so familiar.

[Julian… it’s a star. A small sun.]

At the center of the chamber was a miniature sun, contained within a transparent tank and surrounded by rotating rings that encased the fiery orb. Its size was no larger than a basketball, but the raw energy radiating from it was immense.

[This must be where they’re getting most of their power, Julian,] MEGAN whispered in awe. [It’s their battery. Technically, using something like this privately is illegal everywhere in the universe. But knowing Humanity Engineering, they probably created the star themselves.]

“Hm.” Julian took a step back, letting the sheer power wash over him. He remained still, waiting for the Avatar of Searadyn to speak—and she did.

[The Dodona Coal is shaking, Master. It is reacting to that ball of flame!]

“Plasma,” Julian muttered, narrowing his sightless eyes as he tilted his head. “The coal… is it reacting to plasma? Or is it nuclear energy?”

***

While Julian was deep inside the heart of Ceres-9, Victoria was watching him with a look of concern etched across her usually composed face.

“Are… you sure we shouldn’t pull him out of there?” she asked aloud. But there was no one else in the room with her. She wasn’t looking at any monitors, either—after all, all surveillance on Ceres-9 was linked directly to her mind already.

For several seconds, she stared into the empty space of the room until a voice, deep and resonant, echoed around her.

“No. Leave him be,” the voice commanded. “Deactivate the surveillance inside the solar chamber.”

“Deactivate it? But I won’t be able to see what he’s doing.” Victoria narrowed her eyes but reluctantly waved her hand, her connection to the chamber going dark. “I’ve deactivated it.”

“Good,” the voice replied. “Leave him be for now.”

“As you wish.” Victoria sighed and closed her eyes before bowing her head slightly. “May I ask you a question?”

“What is it?”

“Why are you so interested in Mr. Winters?” Her tone was calm, but her curiosity was obvious. “He’s not the first mutant we’ve encountered. Nor is he the most unique. What is it about Julian Winters that fascinates you so?”

“I will tell you when the time is right,” the voice said before fading away entirely.

Victoria lingered in the silence for a moment, finally sighing once more. “Of course,” she muttered. She bowed her head again respectfully, even though no one else was there.

“…If that is what you think is best, Master.”

[LAST CHAPTER] <-----> [NEXT CHAPTER]

AUTHOR NOTES

DODONA COAL!!!!! Sorry, I just like how the way it rolls on my tongue... even though I typed it. Anyway, do holler!