2025-06-10 23:47:16
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Smoke and Steel
The first thing Julius registered was pain, not the sharp, immediate kind, but the slow, grinding ache of restraint. His limbs were numb, suspended above cold ground by metallic bindings that hissed faintly with hydraulic tension. The room was dim, pulsing with low blue lights, sterile and humming with hidden machines. He couldn’t move, couldn’t speak. Even his eyes fluttered as if underwater.A voice cut through the haze, clinical, male, cold.“Subject 17’s neural activity has stabilized at 82%. Begin Reawakening Protocol calibration.”Another voice replied with sterile precision. “DNA mesh has been extracted. Cross-referencing sample compatibility with Cryo Batch: Theta-Zero through Theta-Nine.”Julius tried to lift his head, to speak, to rage—but his body disobeyed. He was a mind trapped in meat and metal. A caged ghost.“I told you.”The male voice said, approaching the suspended frame, “Lily’s Fang was always the key. His physiology’s regenerative matrix outperformed all prior
Static and Silence
Julius couldn’t move.He was aware… barely, of a humming sound above him. Fluorescent lights buzzed in an unseen ceiling. Something cold pressed into his spine. His limbs, his chest, even his jaw felt like they had been filled with wet cement.Where am I?His mind floated like a loose wire. He tried to blink, but he felt nothing. He tried to speak, but his tongue was heavy and immovable like stone.A machine clicked, and the whirr of hydraulics followed. He could hear some fading voices before he lost control and fell into a pit of darkness. Julius drifted in and out of consciousness like a man caught between frozen tides. Everything around him right now was like a vacuum: completely soundless, scentless, and even lightless. His body felt foreign, too heavy to belong to him. His thoughts tried to surface, but they got tangled, like static in a storm.Where am I?The question echoed in his mind before he felt the familiar dizziness again. This time, he woke up to harsh fluorescenc
Choice
The ballroom turned into absolute chaos all around them. The glassware rattled as windows burst inward, bullets slicing through silk curtains as high screams echoed in the air, heels skidded across marble, and the scent of wine mixed with panic and fear.Julius moved on instinct, grabbing Miley’s arm and diving behind the bar just before another hail of bullets ripped into the crowd. Glass bottles exploded above their heads, raining shards of glass and the red wine down like confetti at a funeral.“Are you hurt?”He asked, crouched over her protectively.“No,” Miley whispered, ducking as another round thudded into the wall above them. “But someone’s going to be if this keeps up.”The air was thick with smoke and terror. Across the room, guests cowered under tables or ducked behind flower arrangements that had once been centerpieces of celebration. Guards scrambled to secure the exits, but they were too late. The enemy was already inside.Just then, amechanical voice echoed through
Mr. Popular!
The ballroom shimmered under the crystal chandeliers, golden light cascading down like snowfall caught in warmth. Soft strings whispered in the background, and the crowd, buzzing with gossip and restored civility, parted with quiet reverence as Julius entered beside Duke David of Beldham. The sting caused by the humiliation of Kenneth and Quella still lingered in the air. Besides the tall windows, two young women were whispering softly, their holding wine glasses up in front of their lips. They had watched the entire confrontation unfold earlier, initially assuming that Kenneth and Quella were right about Julius, as they were just citizens with good standing, exposing some scam artist trying to cause trouble at the party.“I thought he was bluffing…”Karen, the one with brown hair murmured to her friend, her eyes fixed on Julius. “Or at best, just a commoner hoping to get close to the Duke.”Martha, the blonde one sipped her wine, eyes narrowing.“He’s not just anyone. That’s Juli
Shield
Kenneth stood frozen, his mouth open in a grimace that wasn’t quite a smile or a snarl. His hand still held the crystal wine glass, but his fingers trembled just enough to betray him. The liquid inside terminated trembled with the thought that every eye at the Beldham manor steps had turned on them. A string quartet faltered inside, and the hush that fell was damning.But the Duke of Beldham wasn’t done.He stepped forward slowly, hands clasped behind his back, the polished boots of a statesman echoing against the marble. “Kenneth Colton. You were invited as a courtesy—an olive branch between old families. Instead, you spat on it like a brat.”Laughter flickered through the crowd… nervous, muffled, but unmistakable. Kenneth flushed red to the ears.“And you,” David turned to Quella, his voice like velvet over steel.“You married into a legacy name, and mistook it for your husband's character. You divorced a great man, and thought you had found someone better… but it will take Kenneth
Slapped
The city was warmer than Aurelia remembered. The streets pulsed with noise, cars gliding past light-struck windows, and the soft thrum of life that never stopped. But inside the penthouse overlooking the East Crown District, time had slowed down. Aurelia stood in the middle of the living room, one hand trailing the edge of a glass shelf as if trying to feel the texture of normalcy.Julius watched her from the doorway, his frame still carved by war but softened now by presence, by stillness. Miley stood at his side, her arm grazing his. Neither spoke, letting Aurelia breathe in silence.It had been two days since they burned the Citadel to the ground. Two days since the world learned the truth about Project Winter Lily. And two days since Aurelia had set foot in a world that hadn’t tried to cage or silence her.She had eaten little. Slept less. But every hour she lingered, she felt more human.“This sofa,” she said suddenly, running her fingers over the cushions, “I remember this fab
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