Captured

The moment the figures landed, I knew I had no chance of fighting them.

They moved with a precision I had never seen before—no wasted motion, no hesitation. Each step was deliberate, controlled. They didn't fumble, didn't pause, didn't even glance at one another for orders. They didn't need to. Their coordination was absolute.

I tried to move, but I was still reeling from whatever the sphere had done to me. My head pounded, my limbs sluggish, my mind filled with fragments of memories that weren't mine. Images of a world before this one, of a civilization long lost, of the System watching over it all like a god that had outlived its people.

The leader took another step forward, and I forced my body to obey, stumbling back, my hands clenching into fists. Useless. I had a shard of stone and the System's enhancements, but that wouldn't be enough. Not against them.

They were too fast. Too disciplined.

The leader tilted their head slightly, studying me through the smooth, featureless black of their helmet. I couldn't see their face, couldn't even tell if there was a human beneath all that armor.

Then, in a voice cold and emotionless, they spoke again.

"Target secured. Prepare for extraction."

I ran.

Or at least, I tried.

The moment I turned, two of them moved. Their speed was impossible—faster than anything I had seen, faster than the scavengers, faster than the creatures in the desert. Faster than me.

Something struck the back of my legs. A sharp impact, precise, and before I could react, my body collapsed. My arms barely caught me before my face hit the cold metal of the facility floor. I gasped, my muscles tensing as I tried to push myself up, but something pressed down between my shoulder blades, pinning me in place.

The leader crouched beside me, their presence suffocating. Not because of their size, but because of the absolute control they had over this moment.

"You are coming with us."

I gritted my teeth. "Like hell I am."

A second later, pain exploded across my skull.

Not from a strike. From sound.

A deep, resonating pulse blasted through the chamber, vibrating through my bones, setting my teeth on edge. It wasn't something I could hear—it was something I could feel. It overrode my senses, drowning out thought, pushing me to the edge of unconsciousness.

I fought against it, but my body refused to listen. My muscles locked, my vision blurred, my breath caught in my throat. The System wasn't helping. No stat boost, no adrenaline rush, nothing.

The last thing I saw before the darkness took me was the leader standing over me, unmoving.

Then, silence.

* * *

I woke up to the feeling of motion.

The first thing I noticed was the cold metal beneath me. Not sand. Not stone. A floor.

I tried to move, but my arms and legs didn't respond the way they should. Bound. My wrists were tied behind me, my ankles secured together. The restraints weren't chains, but something else—smooth, flexible, yet unbreakable.

The second thing I noticed was the air.

It wasn't like the desert. The dryness was gone. Instead, the air was… clean. Crisp, almost. There was no dust clogging my lungs, no scent of rot or decay. Just cold, fresh air that shouldn't have existed in a place like Turgan.

The third thing I noticed was the silence.

No wind howling through the dunes. No distant sounds of scavengers, no creatures shifting beneath the sand. Just the quiet hum of something mechanical, steady and rhythmic, like a living thing breathing in the darkness.

I opened my eyes.

The room was dimly lit, smooth walls curving around me in a way that felt unnatural. The material was seamless, metallic, yet softer than the harsh steel of the facility I had entered.

A cell.

I pushed myself up, struggling against the restraints, but they didn't budge. I forced myself to take a breath, focusing, trying to make sense of my surroundings.

I wasn't alone.

A figure stood at the far end of the room, near what looked like a door. They weren't armored like the ones who had captured me, but their posture was the same—rigid, controlled. I could barely make out their features in the dim light, but I knew one thing for certain.

They were watching me.

For a moment, neither of us spoke.

Then, they stepped forward.

Their movements were slow, deliberate. They didn't carry a weapon, but they didn't need one. Their presence alone was enough.

They stopped a few feet away from me, tilting their head slightly. Studying me.

"Awake," they said. Their voice was calm, but there was something underneath it. Something measured.

I swallowed, forcing my body to stay still. "Where am I?"

The figure didn't answer immediately. They glanced toward the door, then back at me.

"You shouldn't be here," they said.

I let out a breathless laugh. "Yeah, I got that part."

Silence.

The figure crouched slightly, bringing themselves to my level. Their face was still shadowed, but now that they were closer, I could see their eyes. Sharp. Focused. But not cruel.

They studied me for a moment longer, then nodded to themselves.

"You opened the door."

It wasn't a question.

I hesitated. "Yeah."

Another pause. Then, quieter, almost to themselves—

"You weren't supposed to."

Something about the way they said it made my skin crawl. I had expected anger, maybe even hostility. But this wasn't that. This was something else.

They straightened, taking a step back. "Stay here."

Like I had a choice.

The figure turned, moving toward the door. As they reached for something on the wall, I forced myself to speak.

"What do you want from me?"

They hesitated.

Then, without looking back—

"I don't know yet."

The door slid open.

Light spilled in from the hallway beyond, blinding after the dim cell. I caught a glimpse of something outside—something vast.

A corridor stretching beyond sight. Walls that curved like a ribcage. Shadows moving in the distance, people walking with purpose.

Then the door closed.

I sat there in silence, my mind racing.

I had expected to be thrown to the sand, left for dead, or worse. But this?

This was something else entirely.

I wasn't a prisoner.

I was a question they didn't know how to answer.

And that terrified me more than anything.