Fractured Bonds

Lin Wei's head throbbed as he sat in the dimly lit hideout, the cold metal walls pressing in around him. The echoes of past battles and betrayals lingered in the air. The rebels who had taken him in after his last encounter with the Enforcers were wary, their eyes constantly flicking toward him as if expecting him to turn on them at any moment.

"You still haven't explained how you escaped," a woman named Rika said, her arms crossed over her chest. She had been one of the first to question him when he arrived, her distrust evident in every word.

Lin Wei exhaled, trying to steady his thoughts. He didn't fully understand it himself. The pulse of energy that had surged through him, the way time had twisted and bent to his will—it had all happened in an instant, yet the consequences had been monumental.

"I don't know," he admitted. "One moment, they had me. The next... everything slowed down. I just ran."

A tense silence filled the room. The other rebels exchanged glances, and Lin Wei could almost hear their unspoken doubts.

"That's not something an ordinary person can do," Rika pressed. "And in this city, anything beyond the ordinary gets you marked."

Lin Wei knew what she was implying. The System had marked him, just as it had marked others before him. Those who developed strange abilities—who defied the natural order—were hunted, experimented on, or erased entirely.

"I'm not your enemy," he said, his voice firm but not pleading. He had seen enough betrayals to know that desperation only made people more suspicious.

Rika studied him for a long moment, then sighed, rubbing her temples. "Whether or not you are isn't up to me. It's up to the others."

She gestured to a tall man leaning against the far wall. His name was Dorian, the unofficial leader of this faction. He had a sharp gaze that seemed to pierce through lies with ease.

"You've seen what he can do," Rika told him. "What do you think?"

Dorian didn't respond immediately. Instead, he stepped forward, stopping just a foot away from Lin Wei. His presence was suffocating, not because of his size, but because of the sheer weight of his authority.

"Show me," he finally said.

Lin Wei hesitated. He wasn't sure he could. The ability had come in moments of desperation, a raw surge of survival instinct. He had no idea if he could summon it at will.

But he had no choice.

Taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes, reaching for the sensation he had felt before. He pictured the moment time had slowed, the way his body had moved effortlessly through the frozen world.

Nothing.

A flicker of doubt crept into his mind, but he pushed it away. He had to focus.

Then, it happened.

A faint hum resonated in his skull, and the world around him shifted. It wasn't as strong as before—just a subtle warping of time's flow. The flickering lights in the hideout seemed to pause for a fraction longer than they should, and the dust in the air moved slower, like falling snow.

It lasted barely a second before snapping back to normal. Lin Wei staggered, feeling the weight of reality return with a vengeance. His breath came in sharp gasps as sweat dripped from his brow.

Dorian remained impassive, but something in his expression shifted. Understanding. Or maybe recognition.

"That's enough," he said, turning away.

Rika looked between them, frustration evident. "And? What does that mean?"

Dorian didn't answer immediately. Instead, he walked toward a small console at the center of the room, activating a holographic display. It flickered to life, revealing maps, intercepted transmissions, and reports detailing the movements of the Enforcers.

"They've been looking for someone like him," he finally said. "Someone who can manipulate time. We intercepted a transmission about a 'System Anomaly'—a person who escaped an impossible situation. That's him."

Lin Wei clenched his fists. So it wasn't just his imagination. He had been labeled, hunted, and now he was a target for reasons he barely understood.

"What do we do with him?" Rika asked, arms still crossed. "Keep him here? Hand him over?"

Dorian's gaze darkened. "No. If they want him that badly, then he's more valuable to us alive and free."

Lin Wei felt a chill run down his spine. "What are you saying?"

Dorian turned to face him fully. "I'm saying that whether you like it or not, you're part of this now. The Enforcers won't stop until they have you, and that means they'll be coming for us, too. If you want to survive, you'll have to fight."

Lin Wei swallowed hard. He had spent so long running, surviving on the fringes, avoiding confrontation. But he knew deep down that there was no escaping this anymore.

"I don't know how to fight them," he admitted.

Dorian smirked. "Then it's time you learned."

The weight of those words settled heavily in the room. Lin Wei knew that this was the point of no return. The fractured bonds of trust between him and the rebels might never fully mend, but they had a common enemy now.

And for the first time in a long while, he wasn't running alone.