Sol awakens

Darkness.A deep, suffocating void wrapped around Sol like a shroud. His mind floated in an abyss, weightless, lost in an empty nothingness that neither comforted nor tormented. Just pure, unfeeling silence.Then, a spark. A sharp, searing pulse lanced through his skull, dragging him back into the waking world. His eyelids, heavy like lead, fluttered open, revealing nothing but pitch blackness. Grogginess gripped him, his senses sluggish, disoriented. The moment he tried to shift, to lift his head even an inch, an indescribable pain exploded in his skull."Gaaah!" A strangled, guttural howl ripped from his throat as agony consumed him. It wasn't just pain—it was a wildfire, a raw, white-hot force that tore through his brain like a jagged blade. His skull felt like it was splitting open, like something was trying to claw its way out from the inside. His body convulsed, limbs jerking uncontrollably as he writhed on the cold, unfeeling floor.Then it moved.The torment slithered from his skull, a writhing mass of unseen horrors burrowing down his spine. It spread like acid through his veins, setting every nerve ablaze with excruciating torment. He could feel it inside him—millions of tiny, wriggling things gnawing at his flesh, sinking their needle-like mandibles into his muscles, burrowing beneath his skin. His body rebelled against it, muscles seizing, his back arching off the ground in violent spasms. His nails clawed at the floor, at his own skin, as if he could tear the unseen infestation out of his own flesh.His breath came in ragged, strangled gasps. He couldn't even scream anymore. His throat locked up, his mind fractured beneath the weight of raw, unrelenting agony.Two minutes. Two endless, merciless minutes before a faint, mechanical voice whispered in his mind:**"Connection successful."**And then, silence. Relief.His body went limp, the unbearable pain fading into oblivion as unconsciousness swallowed him whole.\---An hour later, his eyes snapped open again.His chest heaved, lungs burning as he sucked in desperate gulps of air. Sweat drenched his body, soaking through his tattered clothes. His fingers trembled as he pushed himself upright, muscles weak and sluggish, as if he had been through a war and barely survived.The world around him felt wrong.Colors bled at the edges of his vision, shifting and warping, as if reality itself was uncertain. The pitch-black darkness that surrounded him wasn't just dark—it pulsed, throbbed, like a living thing pressing against his mind. Sounds were distant yet too sharp, as if they echoed from far away yet rang directly in his skull. A high-pitched whine buzzed at the edges of his hearing, rising and falling like static, like voices whispering just out of reach.Then there was his body—his skin prickled with sensation, tingling with something unseen. It was as if the air around him carried invisible currents, rippling against his flesh in ways that felt unnatural. Electricity hummed beneath his skin, like waves of static rolling through his nerves, leaving his muscles twitching involuntarily. Every heartbeat felt magnified, a thrumming drum in his ears, every breath a rush of overwhelming sensation.He clutched his head, groaning softly, his mind struggling to process the overload of stimuli. It was too much—everything was too much. The more he focused, the more unbearable it became. He squeezed his eyes shut, but even then, bursts of light flickered behind his eyelids, as if the darkness itself carried unseen movements. His hearing was erratic—distant echoes slammed into his skull, whispers crawled into his ears like phantom voices. He could feel everything. The dust in the air, the shifting pressure of the ruined space around him, the lingering heat of the explosion still seeping from the shattered walls. It was like his body had become a tuning fork for the world itself, vibrating at frequencies he couldn't understand.His breathing grew rapid, erratic. His hands dug into the ground, nails scraping against cold metal and broken debris. He tried to focus, to ground himself, but the sensations wouldn't stop. His heartbeat thundered, every nerve screaming under the assault of a reality that was no longer familiar.Then, through the haze of confusion and discomfort, memories began to surface, shattered fragments piecing themselves together one by one.The heist. The Vultures' betrayal. The searing agony of his wounds. His teacher—His teacher.His chest tightened. A choking sensation crawled up his throat as the realization settled in, suffocating him with its weight. The explosion. The lab. The only father figure he had ever known—gone. Just like that.It was his fault.The thought struck like a hammer, sending a cold, nauseating wave of guilt crashing over him. If he had been smarter, faster—if he hadn't stolen the component, if he hadn't been caught—would his teacher still be alive? The man who had given him everything, who had believed in him, had died because of his mistakes. Because of him.Tears welled in his eyes, blurring the distorted world around him. He clenched his fists, his whole body trembling as hot tears rolled down his face, carving silent trails through the grime on his cheeks. His breath hitched, turning into quiet, broken sobs. A bitter taste filled his mouth, self-loathing coiling tight in his gut like a venomous snake.In the suffocating blackness of the small, ruined space, there was no one to hear him.No one to absolve him.No one to offer comfort.Only the soft, sorrowful sound of sniffling filled the empty void, swallowed by the weight of his guilt.