Shattered horizon

Jaxon's eyes opened slowly, adjusting to the sterile glow of overhead lights. His mind was sluggish, as if wading through a thick fog, but one thing became clear immediately—the world felt different.

He was alive.

The world seemed far away when he next awoke.

His eyes fluttered open, heavy as lead, his body a mass of aches and bruises. His right arm… it felt as though it had been severed from his body forever. He blinked rapidly, trying to clear the haze from his vision.

A dull, rhythmic beeping filled the air. His body ached, heavy with exhaustion, but something felt...off. He turned his head slightly, vision still blurred. The hospital ceiling stared back at him, featureless and white. Then he tried to move his hand.

A smooth, unfamiliar sensation.

His right arm—it wasn't flesh.

Jaxon's breath hitched. He lifted it carefully, watching in eerie detachment as sleek metal fingers flexed at his command. The artificial limb responded fluidly, almost naturally, but he knew it wasn't real.

He should've been shocked, but in this world—where corporate interests dictated survival—augmented limbs weren't unheard of. He'd seen them before. Just not on himself.

Before he could process it, something crashed into him.

Warm. Trembling. Selene.

She buried her face into his chest, gripping his hospital gown with shaking hands.

"You're awake," she breathed, her voice cracking. "You're actually awake—"

Jaxon blinked, trying to fully wake up, but she was already breaking down. Her shoulders trembled, breaths coming in uneven gasps.

"I—I thought you—" Her voice choked, and the words refused to come out.

She clutched onto him tighter, as if he'd disappear if she let go.

Jaxon let out a slow breath. His free hand, the one that was still human, hesitated before resting lightly on her back.

"I'm here," he said, voice hoarse.

Selene didn't answer—she just held onto him like he was the last solid thing in a collapsing world.

And maybe he was.

Minutes passed in silence, broken only by Selene's muffled sobs. Jaxon stared at the ceiling, trying to piece together what happened.

Flashes of fire. The sky splitting open. Running.

Losing his arm.

He clenched his metal fingers. Why was he here? Why was he given this?

Selene finally pulled back, just enough to look at him. Her eyes were red, swollen. She looked exhausted.

"You were out for three days," she murmured.

Jaxon frowned. Three days? That meant…

The realization hit him all at once.

His parents. His home. The city.

He looked past Selene, toward the window. Smoke still rose in the distance. The skyline had changed—some buildings were missing, others left as skeletal ruins.

The news played silently on the hospital TV. Red banners flashed across the screen:

Lies.

They weren't hit by an asteroid. He knew it. Selene knew it. But that was the official story, the one being fed to the masses.

His stomach twisted. How many people had died?

Selene followed his gaze, then lowered her head.

"Your parents…" Her voice was almost a whisper. "I… I couldn't find them."

Jaxon didn't move. He didn't say anything.

He should've expected it. He should've felt something—anger, grief, anything. But right now, all he felt was numb.

Selene wiped her eyes quickly, sniffling. "I tried. I—I looked everywhere."

"I know," Jaxon said. His voice was too steady. Too empty.

Selene pressed her lips together, as if she wanted to say more, but then—she cracked.

She wasn't just crying for his parents. She was crying for everything.

For the city that was gone. For the lives erased overnight.

For the nightmare they were now trapped in.

Jaxon didn't realize what he was doing until he was already pulling her back into a hug.

For once, he wasn't overthinking.

Selene muffled a sob against his shoulder, and he just let her cry. Let her shake. Let her feel everything he couldn't.

Hours passed. Maybe more.

The hospital halls were a blur of movement—military officials walking in and out, medics attending to injured survivors.

The media had already moved on to damage control. The asteroid narrative was being reinforced. No one was allowed to question it.

A doctor arrived to check Jaxon's arm, running scans and making notes on a sleek tablet.

Selene, sitting beside him, frowned. "Why did he even get an augment?"

The doctor glanced at her, then at Jaxon. "You were lucky. Most civilians wouldn't get tech like this."

Jaxon's fingers twitched. That wasn't an answer.

Why was he given this? Why was he saved, when so many others weren't?

Before he could press further, a soldier entered the room. Not just any soldier. A high-ranking one.

The atmosphere shifted immediately.

Selene tensed. Jaxon met the man's gaze head-on.

"You've been through a lot," the soldier said, voice neutral. "We'd like to ask you some questions."

Selene's grip on Jaxon's sleeve tightened.

Yeah. He figured this was coming.

Jaxon didn't flinch. He knew the game. The way the soldier positioned himself—standing just inside the door, blocking the only exit—spoke volumes. The other man, Colonel Dresden, remained seated, hands clasped on his lap, watching. Studying.

Selene's grip tightened around his sleeve. She didn't trust them. Neither did he.

The soldier—this high-ranking officer—took a slow step forward. His uniform was pristine, his posture rigid, his face unreadable.

"You've been through a lot," he repeated. "We'd like to ask you some questions."

Jaxon exhaled through his nose. "Yeah? About what?"

The soldier's eyes flickered to his arm—his new arm.

"You were found near the impact site. Unconscious, but alive. That alone makes you interesting. But beyond that… we've reviewed the rescue footage. You were running before anyone else even realized what was happening. As if you knew."

Selene stiffened beside him.

Jaxon kept his expression neutral. "Instinct," he said. "Saw something big falling from the sky, figured it was a bad idea to stand around."

The soldier's gaze sharpened. "Instinct."

"That a problem?" Jaxon asked, tilting his head.

Colonel Dresden finally spoke. "Instinct doesn't explain why you ran in the exact right direction. Or why you survived when thousands didn't."

Ah. There it was.

Selene's fingers curled against his sleeve, a silent warning. Jaxon didn't need it. He knew. These men weren't just looking for answers. They were looking for loose ends.

"Look, man," Jaxon said, keeping his voice level. "I don't know what you want me to say. I was scared. I ran. I didn't see shit except fire and wreckage. If I had some secret knowledge, don't you think I would've used it to save more people?"

The soldier didn't blink.

"Did you see anything… unusual?"

Jaxon met his gaze. "You mean besides the giant explosion?"

Silence. Heavy. Unyielding.

Dresden didn't look convinced. But after a long moment, he gave a small nod.

"You'll be discharged soon," the soldier said, stepping back toward the door. "You're free to go."

For now.

Jaxon watched them leave, his jaw tight.

Selene let out a slow breath. "That was close."

Jaxon didn't respond.

He wasn't relieved. Not even a little. Because he knew this wasn't over. Not by a long shot.

-------

The hospital smelled like antiseptic and stale air, a sterile prison that Jaxon had spent far too long in. The white walls, the beeping machines, the mechanical politeness of the nurses—it was all starting to grate on him.

And now, finally, he was free to leave.

Selene stood beside him, her arms crossed, eyes darting around like she was waiting for someone to stop them. No one did. The paperwork had been signed, the standard post-release speech had been given, and the doors to the outside world were wide open.

Jaxon stepped forward, feeling the weight of his new arm. It still didn't feel real—the sleek synthetic material, the precise movements, the way his fingers responded just as naturally as his old ones. A part of him knew he should be grateful. The tech was expensive. It was the kind of thing only high-ranking officials or the ultra-wealthy had access to.

And yet…

Jaxon flexed his fingers, watching the way the metal moved seamlessly with his will.

Why me?

The question had been circling his mind since he woke up, but no answer came. The government wouldn't waste something like this on an ordinary survivor. There had to be a reason.

He just didn't know if he wanted to find out what it was.

Selene nudged him. "You good?"

He blinked, realizing he'd been staring at his hand too long. "Yeah. Let's go."

They stepped outside.

And the city hit them like a punch to the gut.

It wasn't the same city they had known.

The skyline was broken—towering buildings that once stood tall were now fractured, some collapsed entirely, others standing like cracked bones against the sky. Smoke still curled from distant ruins, and the air felt different. Heavier.

And the people…

There were fewer of them. Those who remained moved differently—cautious, paranoid, desperate. They weren't just civilians anymore. They were survivors.

Jaxon and Selene walked through the streets, their footsteps slow, deliberate. There was no plan, not yet. Just the weight of where they were going.

Home.

It was stupid. There was nothing left for them there. But still, their feet carried them forward, down streets that were both familiar and completely foreign now.

Selene exhaled sharply when they reached it.

Or what was left of it.

Their neighborhood wasn't spared. The houses were shattered, some burned beyond recognition, others buried under debris. Their own homes—gone.

Jaxon stared at the wreckage, but his mind refused to process it. It was just rubble. There was no kitchen where his mother used to hum while making dinner, no living room where his father sat, shaking his head at the news, no bedroom where he used to shut out the world.

Nothing.

Selene made a sound. A small, broken exhale. She took a step forward, like she could find something in the wreckage, but there was nothing to find.

Jaxon clenched his fists.

He should have felt something. Anger, grief, anything. But all he had was this cold, numbing sensation—like his brain was refusing to register what he was seeing.

Selene turned to him, her face shattered with emotion. "They're gone, Jaxon."

He knew that. But hearing it out loud was different.

He closed his eyes, inhaled sharply. "I know."

Selene's breath hitched, and she suddenly collapsed into him.

He caught her instinctively.

For a moment, neither of them spoke. She buried her face into his shoulder, her fingers gripping his shirt like she was afraid if she let go, she'd fall apart completely.

Jaxon didn't know what to say. Didn't know how to comfort her, or even himself. So he just stood there, holding her.

It wasn't enough. It would never be enough. But right now, it was all they had.

And for now, that had to be enough.