Filea collapsed, panting from the transformation. His vision swam with glowing symbols, and steam curled off his arms, dissipating into the cool, ruined air. The Gearu+ ports behind his ears pulsed with a soft light.
He felt weird, buzzing with energy, every nerve in his body felt wired, and also... uncontrollable, like he was trying to balance on a tightrope stretched across a chasm. It was a strange mix of exhilaration and vulnerability, of feeling both incredibly powerful and utterly new to this power.
Shiraku, also catching her breath, leaned against a crumbling wall, the rough texture of the wall digging into her back. The red screen faded from her sight, leaving her with a strange mix of calm and exhilaration, but she felt something else. It was vulnerability, a fragile awareness of how much her world had just changed.
She felt centered, yet also unsteady, like a seedling in a strong wind. A shiver ran down her spine, she was in awe, but at the same time was uncertain about this power she received, the thrill of the unknown mingling with the lingering pain.
She and Filea exchanged a look, a silent acknowledgment of the profound change they'd both undergone.
"What was that?" Filea finally asked, his voice still a bit shaky, but with a small hint of awe and excitement.
(Let me explain...)
"What was that?"
(Don't you remember choosing an AI partner? I am the AI partner, and I know almost everything there is to know. You just awakened your Gearu+. Every human is born with one, but not everyone awakens theirs. Looks like your fight with the dopples was the catalyst.)
Filea touched his Gearu+ port, a small, metallic disc nestled behind his ear. " Let's deal with first things first. From now on, your name is Alis. And secondly, you mean to tell me that there's this thing that we awakened, and it's what gave us this power?" (Precisely. You might also need to explain it to the girl... She looks confused.)
After Filea explained everything to her, she looked at her body and said, "I think," a grin spreading across her face, a grin that had elements of relief and nervous excitement, "we just got a major upgrade."
She stood, testing his connection to his Gearu+, her movements quicker and more fluid, though still lacking the practiced grace she imagined she would one day possess. She felt stronger, more agile, but not with perfect control, like a novice driver behind the wheel of a high-performance vehicle.
"I can feel the world differently," Filea said, amazed. "I feel energy and machines... but it's like I'm just starting to learn how to use it."
He gestured around them, to the ruined cityscape of Sector 7, "It's like… everything's connected now. I can sense the flow of power through the broken circuits, dormant machinery beneath our feet, and even the subtle vibrations of the city's hidden systems.
It's like the world itself is a giant, sleeping machine, and I can hear its faint, rhythmic pulse... but I can't quite understand its language yet."
Shiraku nodded, her own senses heightened to an almost overwhelming degree, though still raw and untamed.
She could hear the faint sound of the wind whistling through the ruined towers, carrying with it the metallic tang of decay. She could feel the subtle vibrations of the ground beneath her feet, the faint tremors of collapsing structures, and the distant hum of active machinery. Her vision was clearer, too, the shadows less menacing but more intricate, the details more defined, yet her mind struggled to filter the sheer volume of information flooding her senses.
"I feel it too," she said, her voice soft but firm, filled with a quiet determination. "It's like something's awakened... but I don't know how to control it properly." She looked down at her hands, flexing her fingers, feeling the strange new power that thrummed within her, a force both exhilarating and a little scary, like holding a live wire.
Before the moment could stretch any longer, Filea clapped his hands together, a wide, mischievous grin spreading across his face. "Alright, enough feeling around. Let's try this out!"
Shiraku mirrored his grin, her eyes gleaming with a mix of anticipation and trepidation, the thrill of the hunt mingling with a nervous uncertainty. "You read my mind."
They didn't have to wait long. As if drawn by the surge of their awakened Gearu+, a group of Dopples emerged from the shadows, and once they caught Filea's and Shiraku's scent, their eyes glowed purple with a hungry light, and they disappeared.
(Filea. Look up) The AI which Filea named Alis said. (Your chance will be once it jumps down.)
"Here's our chance," Filea said, his voice low and steady, a surge of adrenaline coursing through him, but tempered by a newfound sense of purpose.
(Now!!) Alis screamed in Filea's head.
He felt a flicker of fear which was quickly extinguished his desire to test the limits of his newfound abilities. He tried to focus his Gearu+, reaching out with his mind to the systems awakening within him.
A few small drones detached from his back, whirring unevenly, their movements jerky and uncoordinated. They zipped through the air, but their energy blasts were weak and erratic, sputtering out like dying embers. Filea struggled to control them with his thoughts, like trying to conduct an orchestra with instruments that were only partially in tune. His control was clumsy, and his commands were met with sluggish responses and unpredictable movements.
Shiraku moved, trying to use her Phase Blink. She disappeared in a shimmer of distorted light, but reappeared a few feet away, slightly off-balance and disoriented. She quickly steadied herself, focusing on the core of her Assassin choice: stealth and precision.
She moved silently, her footsteps barely disturbing the loose rubble, using the shadows to her advantage, weaving through the ruined structures like a phantom, getting closer to a lone Dopple at the edge of the group.
The Dopples were fast, their movements driven by a desperate hunger, and Filea and Shiraku were faster than before, their reflexes and agility enhanced by their awakening Gearu+. But they were still clumsy with their new powers, their movements lacking the practiced grace and control that came with mastery.
Filea's drones buzzed around the Dopples, more of a distraction and a minor annoyance than a serious threat, their erratic energy blasts easily dodged or deflected. Shiraku, on the other hand, focused on using her stealth to her advantage, her movements fluid and silent as she stalked her prey, her Phase Blink a sudden, disorienting burst of speed that closed the distance in the blink of an eye.
One Dopple lunged at Filea, its claws extended, dripping with a dark, viscous fluid. He tried to activate an Overdrive Field, a defensive maneuver he'd glimpsed in the interface, but the energy flickered and collapsed, leaving him vulnerable.
He dodged the attack, narrowly avoiding the creature's sharp claws, but not cleanly, and got a shallow scratch on his arm, the unnatural fluid burning his skin. He fired a wild energy blast from his hand, a desperate, untrained burst of power that struck the Dopple but did little more than stagger it.
Shiraku engaged another Dopple, her movements a blur of controlled motion. She used Phase Blink again, reappearing silently behind the creature, her movements precise and deadly. Before it could react, she struck, her hand finding a vulnerable spot, a point of weakness she instinctively sensed, delivering a focused blow that disrupted the creature's unnatural physiology.
The fight was messy; in one word, it was CHAOS. Filea and Shiraku were faster and stronger than before, their Gearu+ pushing their physical capabilities beyond human limits, but their control was shaky, their abilities sputtered and surged like a poorly tuned engine.
They were learning on the fly, their instincts guiding them as they experimented with their newfound powers. They were no longer just survivors; they were super-powered kids, thrust into a world of danger and chaos, their movements a mix of desperation and exhilaration.
The Dopples were still dangerous, driven by their insatiable hunger, but they were also facing opponents who were unpredictable, rapidly adapting, and growing stronger with every passing second.