“Not unless I become a threat”

Honestly, all this still felt like a dream to Sil.

Just yesterday, he'd been a regular guy. Normal. Boring. His life was a predictable loop: wake up, check the market, watch numbers tick up and down, and eat leftover dumplings.

But now… now there was a literal rift tearing across the sky, and he was apparently a character in a sci-fi movie he never even auditioned for.

He had to admit, his generation's adaptability was kind of impressive. They'd grown up imagining aliens, fantasy worlds, reincarnations, and superpowers. They'd joked about it online, and sometimes escaping into those fantasies whenever reality got too heavy.

But those were fantasies. But now, the shit was all suddenly real?

Even Sil—a man who prided himself on staying calm no matter what—felt the ground beginning to slip beneath him.

He was the kind of guy who wouldn't flinch if someone punched him; he wouldn't waste a second wondering why he got hit. No, not at all. What he would do is he'd just find the fastest, cleanest solution and move on.

But this?

This was big and if it shook him, he could only imagine the terror spreading the rest of the world.

Total chaos certainly popping everywhere but yet, order was still somehow holding—for now, at least. That was the only reason he wasn't already strapped to a table with wires drilled into his skull. They'd come for him eventually, he knew. But not now.

And yeah… he'd figured out the eyes.

It was surprisingly simple, actually. Once he focused—really locked onto an object—a thin, almost invisible line would form between him and it. Then a cold, clear idea would echo in his head like asking: "Do you want to extract?"

If he said yes, the object simply vanished—gone and turn into just pure energy that flowing directly into his eyes.

From there, he could reshape it and create whatever the fuck he wanted. How did he know you ask? He tested it naturally... in the toilet.....

Overpowered? Hell yes!

But it wasn't without its limits thought. The more complex or ridiculous the thing he tried to create, the more energy it burned. Which is something that made perfect sense. He couldn't just magically spawn a nuclear bomb out of a toilet paper right?

"Sil," Mei called from the chair by the door, pulling him from his thoughts. "Someone's here to see you from Military. He came by when you were sleeping too."

Of course they'd show up. There was no way they'd leave someone like him unchecked, unless the government is run by total fools.

Sil guessed they'd already bugged the room and trained snipers were probably positioned across the building. Mei hadn't asked him many questions about his... incident. She knew better cause she was smart. She knew this room wasn't private, and that if he said too much, they might just decide he was a problem to be eliminated.

She was protecting him in the only way she could by staying quietly.

"Let him in," Sil said, try his best to stay calm and voice sound steady.

Time to steer the conversation himself to set the tone. Cause, if the world was truly changing, if these awakenings were undeniably real, then he had to make one thing crystal clear the fact that he wasn't a threat to them and not to anyone.

If they believed that, they wouldn't move against him. Hell, they'd probably try to recruit him. China wasn't stupid. They were watching the global trends, just like every other major power.

You didn't poke the beast when you had no idea how strong its claws were. You gotta smiled, offered food and try to built a cage out of favors and promises instead.

They wouldn't risk turning unknown power Awakened individuals into enemies, not if they had an ounce of common sense.

And Sil?

He'd smile back. For now.

Hospital Room – 4:43 p.m.

The door opened without so much as a knock.

A man with black boots and perfectly pressed gray uniform stepped in, early forties perhaps, lean and sharp like a newly honed knife. His face looked like it had forgotten how to smile twenty years ago.

No name tag, no insignia Sil could spot. Just a clipboard clutched in one hand and eyes that looked perpetually tired. He closed the door behind him with a soft Click.

"Mr. Sil," he stated, his voice flat.

Sil simply looked at him, not offering a nod or a greeting just yet.

The man waited half a second longer, then continued "My name doesn't matter. I'm here on behalf of a certain department tasked with national security. You understand?"

Sil gave a slight shrug. "I thought you'd come yesterday."

"We did," the man replied, his gaze remains on Sil all the time "You were unconscious before and also we didn't want to startle the girl."

Mei didn't move a muscle. She just sat quietly in the corner, headphones on, pretending to be absorbed in music. But Sil, watching closely, saw her head tilt just a little, trying to catch every word of their conversation.

Silly girl....

The man pulled up a chair without asking permission and just sat.

"You're aware, of course, that your… incident… is not isolated."

Sil raised an eyebrow with a hint of dry amusement in his voice "You mean the people turning into fireworks and statues?"

A faint flicker of amusement, barely there, appeared on the man's mouth.

"Let's not get poetic," he said, the amusement vanishing as quickly as it appeared. "You're one of the very few who survived the Awakening event. Not to mention you're conscious and your mental state is stable. Which makes you valuable."

"To whom?" Sil asked, leaning back against the pillows, asking casually

"To everyone."

Sil let the silence stretch between them, making the man wait.

The man adjusted the clipboard on his lap. "What happened to you—can you control it?"

"Not really your business," Sil said flatly, his tone flat "Not unless I become a threat."

"And that's what we're here to determine," the man countered, his eyes narrowed and you can't able to see a single ounce of friendly expression on him anymore.

Sil's eyes turned cold "That sounds like a threat to me"

"No," the man corrected, without emotion. "If it were, you wouldn't be talking to me. You'd be talking to the barrel of a drone."

Mei flinched slightly in her chair

"Let's not waste each other's time," Sil said, pushing forward. "You're not here to lock me up, are you? You're here to check the temperature to see if I'm the kind of person who might burn your house down or keep it warm."

The officer said nothing, his expression unreadable.

Sil pressed on. "Well, good news is I don't like burning things. What I like is quiet, boring ,repeating days. So, as you can see, I'm not a threat..... unless .....someone makes me one."

"Then you'll have no problem helping us."

Sil allowed himself a small, slow smile for the first time. "Define help."

"Share what you know and let us monitor your condition. Also please collaborate when situation needed."

"You mean work for you," Sil clarified.

"Work with us."

Sil tilted his head, considering. "What if I say no?"

The officer stood, his movement fluid. "Then we'll keep watching and waiting until you say yes or until you make a mistake."

He walked to the door, then paused with his hand on the knob "For what it's worth," he said, without turning around, "I hope you're one of the good ones."

The door opened, then closed, leaving only silence.

Sil leaned his head back, exhaling slowly.

Mei pulled off her headphones. "He sounded like a villain trying really hard not to sound like a villain."

"Yeah," Sil muttered, his gaze seem to lose in thought. "But he's not the scary one."

She frowned, confused. "Who is?"

"The ones that'll come if I do say no."

Sil felt a surge of cold urgency. At this rate, his options felt incredibly limited.

He considered cooperating with the military cause he was almost certain that they'd establish special units/organization for people like him, and they'd want him to join their newly formed supernatural groups to firmly grip people like him under their command.

While such a group might project a positive image to the Awakenings, Sil knew their true intentions was to test abilities and research countermeasures. Because if he were in charge, he'd do the same and he couldn't fault them for that cold logic.

His second option was to run but the risk was very huge and he seriously doubted he could go toe-to-toe with fully armed soldiers, especially as a newly awakened individual. Right now, he couldn't even bring himself to kill a chicken, let alone protect himself and Mei from trained military personnel.

There was a glimmer of a catch, though: if he could somehow acquire a truly massive energy source, he might instantly become superhuman. To know whether to even consider such a risk, he desperately needed to understand the precise value of energy conversion cause although he knew he could turn anything to energy but he don't know how much energy he got from which objects.

And also to create something he want, he don't knows how much energy would be needed. He mused about creating some kind of system, like those he'd read about in comic books, to make measuring that value easier.

Regardless of his choice, he knew he had to keep his core ability absolutely hidden. According to the news, most awakened individuals weren't as uniquely buggy as he was—or perhaps he just hadn't seen the buggy powers yet.

Either way, he needed to ensure the military remained completely unaware of his ability's core function. Only then could he truly lower their guard. For now, openly discussing his enhanced sight and increased range would serve as a perfect disguise.

Classified Briefing – Geneva, Switzerland – UN Emergency Session

Inside a stark, soundproofed hall beneath the surface of the Palais des Nations, every seat was occupied. Men and women representing the most militarized and technologically advanced nations in the world sat around a gleaming steel table that had never once hosted good news.

No press. No aides. No cameras.

Just raw data of disturbing footage and faint fear.

A massive screen lit up and displaying silent drone footage overhead.

A man in rural Argentina spontaneously combusted during a a church service without ignition source and no heat trace left behind.

In Ghana, a farmer collapsed in his field and his body turning into blue stone from the inside out.

In Seoul, a teenager screamed, and without moving a muscle, shattered every single glass window within a three-block radius.

No patterns nor no clear origin point and no common ancestry, religion, or bloodline connecting them.

Just… Random Awakenings

"Let's get to the point," said the sharp-faced woman from France, flipping through her data packet with a crisp snap. "You've confirmed that the source is the Mongolian rift."

The representative from China neither nodded nor denied, her expression unreadable.

"Ten kilometers wide," she stated calmly. "We had no idea about its origin but it show stable sign for now and It appeared without any seismic disturbance. Satellite data also confirms it showed no traces before simply appearing out of thin air instantly."

The Russian delegate tapped a finger impatiently on the table. "And what's on the other side?"

Silence hung heavy in the room.

Then: "Not Earth."

A collective pause.

"How do you know?" someone finally pressed.

The American delegate answered this time but his voice grave. "We had already sent drone in and it glitched out after twenty-seven seconds. But it was enough to confirm livable planet structures for carbon life forms."

The Chinese delegate finally spoke, breaking the tension. "I believe we must prioritize stabilization and our recommendations are clear:"

Immediate formation of a Global Awakened Response Coalition (GARC), combining military, scientific, and intelligence assets from all member states.

Strict surveillance of all known Awakened individuals, with clear protocols for recruitment, containment, or, if necessary, neutralization.

Controlled release of information to the public, designed to prevent widespread panic while maintaining a public trust.

Research acceleration into understanding the origins of the rift and developing potential countermeasures.

Diplomatic channels opened immediately to discuss a truly coordinated global response, actively avoiding any unilateral actions that could escalate into broader conflict.

The American delegate added, "We've also authorized black-ops teams tasked with covert tracking and, if deemed absolutely necessary, elimination of threats."

The French delegate looked grim. "The problem is, we don't know who's a threat and who isn't. Some awakenings might be peaceful but others truly catastrophic."

The British representative nodded in agreement. "And the longer this goes on, the more volatile the situation becomes. We need to anticipate every worst-case scenario imaginable."

The Russian smiled thinly, a chilling glint in his eyes. "New era is already here, its just that we haven't declared it yet."

"Let's change the subject back to the rift," the Chinese delegate interjected, a note of worry entering her voice. "I worry more about it than these individual cases."

The conference room buzzed with low murmurs, flickering screens showing live feeds of the swirling rift hovering over the Mongolian steppe. It was an eerie, shimmering tear against the pale sky—impossible to ignore, impossible to ignore the sheer danger it posed.

The Mongolian Prime Minister, a composed woman with steel in her eyes, addressed the group.

"This rift hovers more than two hundred meters above the ground and our scientists have never seen anything like it. It's stable enough to start ground base constructions for now, but unstable enough to threaten our airspace and population."

She gestured to the massive screen showing satellite images and 3D scans of the rift and the surrounding terrain.

"To send troops or to explore, we must build a temporary base—a staging platform with launch and extraction capabilities. And this will require rapid construction of specialized aerial cranes and reinforced scaffolding."

The UN Secretary-General nodded gravely.

A senior UN military commander spoke, his voice authoritative.

"Our joint engineering teams have begun surveying the area and the plan is to deploy modular scaffolding platforms capable of holding armored vehicles and personnel, linked by temporary skybridges. This will serve as the forward base of operations."

The Russian representative: "How quickly can this be built? Our troops can't wait indefinitely."

The Mongolian Defense Minister: "With international support, initial scaffolding can be erected in three days. Full operational capacity may take up to one week."

The American military advisor: "One week is too long. The longer we wait, the more unpredictable the situation becomes. Is there any possibility of air insertion?"

The Mongolian Prime Minister: "The rift's field disables most aircraft within a five-kilometer radius. And that make air insertion is night impossible and ground approach is the only option."

A Chinese delegate: "Once the platform is in place, what are the objectives?"

The UN Secretary-General :"Reconnaissance, collection of samples and intelligence. Assessment of any potential threats and establishing a secure foothold for future operations."

The Mongolian Prime Minister's gaze swept the room, a clear statement in her eyes.

"We also request respect for our sovereignty. This operation takes place on our land and any military action must be coordinated with Mongolian command."

The room acknowledged this with sober nods.

A European military strategist: "We must prepare for worst-case scenarios especially common case of hostile entities, environmental hazards, and bizarre anomalies."

The meeting end swiftly after roughly deciding the future direction of the upcoming new era and the plan to enter the crack