2026-03-02 23:41:20Silas began to act. He twitched his hand. He looked at the door. He looked like a man who had made a mistake. He was playing the part of a scared gambler.
In the first timeline, Evan had said "No." He had tried to be safe. And the House had moved the ball anyway, killing him.
Evan looked at the red screen. He looked at the 15% win probability.
"Give me a moment," Evan said.
"Time is the one thing we don't have, boy," Silas teased.
Evan focused on the System. Help me, he thought. Calculate the cheat.
The blue text scrolled across his eyes.
[CALCULATING...]
[DETECTION: ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD DETECTED UNDER TABLE SURFACE.][SOURCE: HOUSE INTERFERENCE OVERRIDE.][WIN PROBABILITY: 0.00% (FORCED LOSS)]Evan felt a cold rage. The House didn't just have an advantage. They had the result already written. If he played the game, he would lose. Period.
What can I do? Evan thought.
The System responded.
[OPTION: STABILIZE OUTCOME]
[DESCRIPTION: OVERRIDE LOCAL GRAVITY SENSORS TO MATCH USER BET.][COST: 1 SPECIFIC MEMORY (RANDOMLY SELECTED).]Evan shivered. A memory. What would he lose? Would it be the name of his mother? The smell of his first home? The feeling of his first kiss?
He looked at the exit. He thought about the Enforcers. He thought about the pain of the shock-baton and the dark, wet tunnel. He thought about the 0.00 on his wrist.
If he didn't win here, he was dead anyway.
"I accept the multiplier," Evan said.
The room went silent. Even the spectators behind the glass stopped moving. A rookie was betting ten years on a 15% chance. It was madness.
Silas’s eyes widened for a fraction of a second. His act slipped. A real smile—a cruel, dark smile—tugged at the corners of his mouth.
"Brave," Silas said. "Or very, very stupid."
"Drop the ball," Evan said.
"Wait," Silas said, his voice dropping to a hiss. "Let’s make it more interesting. Since you are so confident... let's raise the stakes. I will match your ten years. If you win, you take ten years from the House. If you lose, the House takes everything you have left."
This was it. Silas was going for the kill. He knew the magnets would win the game for him. He was trying to drain Evan completely.
[SYSTEM WARNING: TOTAL LIFE DEPLETION RISK.]
[DO YOU WISH TO ACTIVATE 'STABILIZE OUTCOME'?]Yes, Evan thought. Do it.
[PAYMENT REQUIRED: MEMORY OF 'THE BLUE BICYCLE'.]
Suddenly, a vision flashed in Evan’s mind. He saw himself at age seven. He saw a bright blue bicycle with shiny silver handlebars. He remembered the feeling of the wind on his face as he rode down a hill. He remembered his father cheering for him, holding out his arms as Evan learned to ride without training wheels. It was a happy memory. It was one of the few warm things he had left.
And then, it started to fade.
The color of the bike turned gray. The sound of his father’s voice became static. The feeling of the wind vanished. It was like a photo being dropped into a fire. It curled, blackened, and disappeared.
Evan felt a hole in his heart. He knew he had forgotten something important, but he didn't know what it was. He just felt a lingering sadness that had no name.
[PAYMENT ACCEPTED.]
[STABILIZING OUTCOME...]"Drop it," Evan said, his voice cold and hollow.
Silas pressed the button.
The digital ball appeared. It was glowing red now. It dropped.
Ping.
It hit the first peg and flew to the right.
Ping.
It hit the second peg and moved toward the center.
The spectators leaned in. Silas was staring at the table, his hands flat on the black surface. He was waiting for the magnet to pull the ball into the "Zero" slot.
The ball reached the final row of pegs. It was heading straight for the black slot. The House’s slot.
Silas smirked. He began to stand up, ready to collect his prize.
But then, the table hummed.
It wasn't the low hum Evan remembered from before. It was a sharp, high-pitched whine. The hologram flickered. The red light turned a brilliant, blinding blue.
The ball was one inch from the black slot. Suddenly, it stopped. It didn't bounce. It didn't roll. It hovered in the air for a micro-second, defying every law of the game.
"What?" Silas whispered.
The ball jerked. It didn't just move; it was shoved by an invisible hand. It flew across the screen, skipping over three pegs, and slammed into the gold slot.
[JACKPOT]
The word filled the room. The mechanical voice screamed it.
[WINNER: EVAN KENNEDY]
[PAYOUT: 10 YEARS]The silence in the room was absolute. The rich people behind the glass stared. Their drinks remained frozen halfway to their mouths.
Silas stared at the screen. His face was no longer bored. It was pale. His jaw was hanging open. "No," he breathed. "That’s impossible. The system... the gravity..."
"The physics were a suggestion, right?" Evan said. He leaned forward, mimicking Silas’s movement from earlier. "That’s what you told me."
Evan looked at his wrist. The numbers were moving. They weren't spinning down this time. They were climbing.
8 years... 12 years... 15 years... 18 years.
He felt a rush of energy. The stiffness in his joints vanished. His vision sharpened. His heart beat with a powerful, steady rhythm. He felt like he could run for miles. He felt like he could punch through a wall.
"You cheated," Silas hissed. He stood up, knocking his chair over. "You did something to the table!"
"The House controls the gravity, Silas," Evan said calmly. "Maybe the House just likes me better today."
The guard with the thick neck stepped forward, his hand reaching for a weapon. "Kid, you better start talking."
"Wait," Silas said. He held up a hand. He was looking at Evan’s wrist.
The bio-watch was glowing. But it wasn't just showing the time. A new symbol had appeared above the numbers, a golden hourglass with wings.
Silas backed away. His eyes were wide with fear. "The Mark," he whispered. "He’s a Backed Player."
"What are you talking about?" the guard asked.
Previous Chapter
Latest Chapter
CHAPTER 69
"You would burn yourself with it," the Architect said. He stopped five feet away. "Look at you. Your hair is white. Your skin is gray. You are twenty years old, and you are dying of old age. Is this what you wanted? To be a thief who dies in the rain?"Evan felt the truth of the words. He did feel old. He felt tired."I'm doing this for my father," Evan said. "I'm doing this for the people you robbed.""Your father is a ghost," the Architect said. "And the people... the people are just sheep. They want to be led. They want someone to tell them how much their life is worth."The Architect held out the silver bird."Give me the Spark, Evan. Give me the Heart-Plug. I will stop the timer. I will give you a real life. A life where you never have to count the seconds again."Evan looked at the bird. It was beautiful. It was peaceful.[WARNING: HYPNOTIC SIGNAL DETECTED][WILLPOWER: 45% AND DROPPING]Evan’s eyes began to glaze over. The purple light in his mind started to dim. The Architect’s
CHAPTER 68
Evan began to arrange the sticks in neat rows. He needed to be organized. Marco always said that a grifter who doesn't count his money is a grifter who gets caught.He put the gold sticks in one pile. The black ones in another. He took the three crystal drives and put them in a lead-lined box he found under the table.One, two, three...Evan stopped. He looked at one of the black credit sticks. It looked like the others. It was long, thin, and had the golden hourglass symbol of the Bank. But something was wrong.Evan leaned closer. He used a Flicker.[OBJECT: BLACK CREDIT STICK][STATUS: ANOMALY][VIBRATION: 60 HZ]The stick was vibrating. It was so fast that a human hand couldn't feel it. But the Engine in Evan's head saw the blur.Evan picked it up with a pair of metal tongs. He turned it over.On the very bottom of the stick, hidden under a fake serial number, was a tiny, red light. It wasn't glowing. It was pulsing.Pulse. Pulse. Pulse."A tracker," Evan whispered.His heart began
CHAPTER 67
The rain did not just fall in the South District; it attacked. It slammed against the rusted metal roof of the safehouse with a sound like a thousand angry hammers. Inside, the air was still and thick with the smell of dust and old, burnt wires.Evan kicked the heavy steel door shut. The loud clack of the three deadbolts sliding into place was the only thing that made him feel safe. He leaned his back against the cold metal and let out a long, shaky breath. His gray suit was soaked. It was heavy and dark with water and the grime of the casino corridors."We... we made it," Evan whispered.He looked down at his hands. They were still glowing with a faint purple light. The "Flicker" was trying to stay active, making the shadows in the room twitch and dance."Don't celebrate yet, Sunshine," a voice groaned from the floor.Evan jumped. He looked down. Marco had collapsed onto the old rug. He was clutching his shoulder. The blue fabric of his coat was black with blood. But it was the lig
CHAPTER 66
"I'm a partner," Evan said.He grabbed Marco. He didn't walk. He used the Spark to shift. They appeared at the end of the corridor, near a heavy metal door.Evan didn't use a key. He used the rifle. He fired three shots into the lock.BANG! BANG! BANG!The lock shattered. Evan kicked the door open. They were in the kitchen.The kitchen was giant. It was a forest of stainless steel and copper. There were rows of ovens, giant walk-in freezers, and tables covered in knives.But the chefs were gone. In their place were the Scorpions. They were waiting."There!" a guard yelled.Evan pushed Marco behind a giant soup pot. "Stay there!" Evan ordered.Evan turned to face the guards. There were six of them. They had surrounded the exit.Evan checked the rifle.[AMMO: 9 ROUNDS]He looked at his wrist.[BALANCE: 7,000 YEARS]He was losing time too fast. Every big burst of power was eating decades.The guards fired.Evan used a Flicker.[3... 2... 1... 0]He slid across a metal table. The kinetic
CHAPTER 65
"Marco!" Evan ran to him.The guard raised his blade for a second strike. Evan didn't use the rifle. He used the Spark. He looked at the guard and pushed.A wave of purple light hit the guard. The man didn't fly back. He just stopped. He froze in mid-air.[NOTICE: TEMPORAL STASIS INITIATED][COST: 200 YEARS]The guard was a statue. He was stuck in a second of time.Evan ignored him. He dropped to his knees next to Marco."Marco! Talk to me!"Marco was clutching his shoulder. Blood was soaking through his blue coat. But it was not normal blood. Because the blade was a temporal weapon, the wound was glowing with a faint, sick yellow light."It... it burns, Evan," Marco gasped. His teeth were gritted. "It feels like... like ice and fire at the same time."Evan looked at the wound. It was deep. It was a nasty graze, but the yellow light meant the time-poison was entering Marco’s blood."I’ve got you," Evan said. He ripped a strip of cloth from his gray suit. He tied it tight around Marco’
CHAPTER 64
The golden grass turned into gray ash. The blue sky cracked like a mirror hit by a hammer. Evan screamed. He did not scream with his voice. He screamed with the purple fire in his soul.“This is a lie!” he thought.The beautiful house vanished. His mother’s smile turned into a mouth of jagged glass. The Architect’s mirror face shattered.CRACK!The world snapped. The smell of fresh apples was replaced by the smell of burnt hair and old blood. The peace was gone. The silence was replaced by the loud, screaming alarm of the Neon Spade casino.Waaa-ooo! Waaa-ooo!Evan blinked. He was back in the real world. He was in the hallway outside the interrogation room. He was not standing in a field. He was standing on a cold, metal floor. Marco was next to him, leaning against the wall. Marco was shaking. He was gasping for air."Evan?" Marco whispered. "You... you were gone. Your eyes went white. You just stood there.""It was a trap," Evan said. His voice was thick. He wiped his face. He was b
You may also like
Altered Cosmos
Unaware Ovie Emmanuel7.2K viewsNovember: I Might Be A Superhero
Wordsmith-H6.4K viewsBesieged (Book One): Rise of the Misfit
Chinjindu Ibeneme3.5K viewsThe Chosen Heroes
Fransisca Room2.6K views60000 Years Later
loveforever3.5K viewsNickel Coin : The Greedy Billionaire
Paroj-Paroj1.3K viewsRedemption
blackeshadowe2.4K viewsSuper Guardian
Little LYTA1.1K views