Chapter 8: The Voice
The Professor was gone.
But his laughter still lingered in the air.
No one spoke.
The kids stared at their bodies.
Sewn up. Twisted. Aching.
They didn't understand, no longer recognized themselves.
Some wept.
Others stood frozen.
The Silent One didn't move.
Lying on the warm table, drenched in his blood and the black liquid they'd injected.
He stared at the ceiling without blinking.
A dull thump pounded in his temples.
Not a heartbeat.
Something else.
A distant pulse.
Muffled.
Full of hatred.
An inner growl.
Then he heard it.
A voice.
Not a thought.
A foreign presence. Alive. Screaming.
- YOU ARE PATHETIC.
- They crushed you and you did nothing.
- Not even for her. WHAT A LOSER.
His jaws clenched.
- ...Lina.
The Silent One thought, painfully.
- You liked her, didn't you?
- I loved watching her die, MUAHAHA.
- Her death woke me from a long sleep.
The Silent One sat up with a breath.
Teeth clenched. Fists trembling.
- Who… who are you?
The Voice answered from deep inside his skull, with cold precision.
- Me?
- I'm you. But better.
- Have you seen yourself? You think surviving is this?
- Being good? Keeping your mouth shut? ENDURING?
- Oh, right. You don't talk.
The Silent One closed his eyes.
As if to shut it up.
But instead of calming him… he was pulled in.
Not a dream.
Not a memory.
An abyss.
A black, saturated, suffocating space.
No ground. No sky.
Just him. And… it.
The Voice.
- It's stupid, huh?
- I'm inside you now. Or rather, inside your mind.
- A little corner all mine. Pretty rotten.
- Thanks for the welcome.
He wanted to scream. Nothing came out.
His own mind seemed possessed. Taken over.
- They broke you.
- And I'm what's left.
- The residue. The cry they couldn't silence.
A vague shape appeared before him.
Not a body.
A shifting mass. Two furious eyes.
But above all… a terrifying smile.
A smile twisted by madness.
- You think you can go on like this?
- Looking down?
- Fear is the cage.
- And I… am the key.
He staggered.
His head buzzed.
Images flashed in bursts: Lina. Her empty eyes. The researchers' laughter.
The bodies. Rash. The pain. Blood.
He fell to his knees.
And the Voice screamed:
- Do you know what this world stole from you?
- Your name. Your scream. Your right to exist.
- These kids named you The Silent One.
- But I'm going to name us.
- I'm going to make myself heard.
It laughed slowly, like a predator cornering its prey.
- Ego.
- Yeah… Ego.
- Sounds strong. Takes up all the space. I don't need a first name. I need a name that devours others' names.
- SO SAY IT! WHO ARE WE?
The Silent One opened his mouth. Nothing.
Then a ragged sound, like overstretched flesh.
- …E…go…
Silence.
The inner monster froze. And smiled.
- There.
- That's me.
- That's us.
He opened his eyes again.
The real world came crashing back.
Harsh light.
Walls.
Floor.
Blood.
But something had changed.
His gaze was different now.
He breathed like a wounded beast, ready to bite.
Behind the glass, a scientist suddenly looked up.
- He… he spoke?
- I swear. I heard it.
- He said "Ego."
The boy slowly turned his head toward them.
No fear.
No pleading.
Just a look.
And inside his head, the Voice cracked one last time:
- Give me the floor for a moment.
- They're going to see.
A smile slipped across his face.
A slow grimace, too wide for his face.
Not a child's smile.
Not a human smile.
A mask twisted by something demonic.
Something born from the bowels of chaos.
Ego had just appeared.
And he would never leave…