The Vanishing Core

Drake stared at the glowing scan results, the words burning in his vision as his heart pounded against his ribs. 

[CORE MAGNITUDE]: 0

'There has to be something wrong.' Drake thought. 

The medical bay's sterile lights suddenly felt too bright. Around him, scientists whispered behind glass panels, their faces flickering between fear and fascination. 

--------

Aether was the ghost of the rifts—the energy that lingered after the World Generator sealed them away. Like radiation after a bomb, it seeped into everything it touched: the soil, the rain, the animals, even the air in people's lungs. The Generator had closed the doors to other worlds, but it couldn't clean up what they'd left behind. 

Some people died breathing it. Some changed into monsters. Most grew a Core—a fist-sized organ near the heart that stored Aether, circulating it safely through the body like a second circulatory system. This was nature's bargain: Carry the poison carefully, or let it rewrite you.

Without one, Aether would melt your bones, twist your mind, leave you less than human. 

That was the rule. 

But Drake… 

No Core. No twisting. No death. 

--- 

Maya frowned at Drake's scan results. "This makes no sense. Even Iron Vale's basic scans should've picked this up, unless—" 

A technician interrupted, pulling up files. "Actually, his last full scan was at age eleven. After that, just Tier-1 capacity checks." 

"And no one noticed?" 

The technician shrugged. "Would you? Cores don't just vanish. Until today, that was impossible." 

"What was his Core magnitude at the last full scan?" Maya asked. 

"0.19," the technician answered. 

'That's very low for an eleven-year-old,' she thought. 

"Pull up the results from those Tier-1 capacity checks," she ordered. 

"Yes, ma'am." The technician paused. "Um... we have a problem, ma." 

"What is it?" 

"All access to his files has been revoked. Even the data I accessed a few seconds ago has been blocked." 

"What?!" Maya exclaimed. "Let me see." She grabbed the holoscreen and placed her thumb on it to override the restriction—but even she was denied access. 

'Someone doesn't want us to see his records,' she realized. 

Drake stood in the background, watching everything unfold. Why did he no longer have a Core? Why were his records suddenly restricted?

'Shit,' he cursed. Nothing made sense anymore. 

Suddenly, the doors slid open, revealing the imposing figure of Sir Duron. Maya and the scientists immediately offered stiff greetings, recognizing his authority. 

"What is the commotion?" he asked, his voice gravelly as ever. 

"Here, look at this." Maya swiped her fingers through the air, sending the holoscreen display to him. 

"Interesting," Sir Duron muttered, his tone unreadable. 

"Run the test again." 

"We ran it twice, sir," a technician said. 

"Run. It. Again." Sir Duron's tone left no room for debate. 

Drake stepped into the pod once more. The blue light scanned him again before the display flickered to life with new results: 

 [RANK]: UNAWAKENED 

[CORE MAGNITUDE]: 0.52 

[AFFINITY]: NIL

The tension in the room dissipated as the new results appeared. The technicians ran the test several more times, but the results remained consistent. 

"The school has always emphasized the need for regular evaluation pod maintenance," Sir Duron said to the trembling technician, his words laced with threat. "Yet it seems their warnings fall on deaf ears." 

An oppressive pressure filled the room, making the scientists sweat. Equipment creaked under the invisible force. 

"I checked everything this morning, sir! There was nothing wrong—" the technician tried to defend himself. 

"Silence!" Sir Duron's pressure intensified. Glass cracked. A monitor shattered. "How, then, do you explain this?" 

No one dared answer—not the scientists, not even Maya. 

"There will be no further discussion of this matter. Am I clear?" 

"Y-yes, sir," a few scientists stammered under the crushing weight of his aura. 

"Good." The pressure vanished as suddenly as it had appeared. 

"Come with me," Sir Duron ordered Drake before striding out. 

Drake followed without hesitation. He wanted to be far away from this confusion. 

Maya remained behind, her mind racing. Sir Duron's convenient arrival… the restricted files… the changed results. It reeked of foul play—and she vowed to uncover the truth.