Fate.
It can be so cruel.
Who knew I would be sitting besides myself?
A sicker version of myself.
I swallowed hard, throat dry from exhaustion.
My body still in stinging pain, but the thing that was stinging the most was my ears.
"The Original Paradox," he said slowly, as if he rehearsed this before, "is the foundation of all this chaos. It's where creation and destruction blur into the same line. Where cause and effect fold back on themselves until they're impossible to separate."
I could barely focus on what he was saying.
I was most worried about others.
Why do I care? I only spent a month with them.
I swallowed hard, refocusing back to the conversation . "So this... this paradox... it's why everything is falling apart? Why my reality, my memories—they're slipping away?"
The Dictator nodded once, That's it.
"You—you're saying I'm a part of it?"
"Hah…Part of it?" He scoffs.
"Part of it, is an understatement…we are the cause of everything"
His voice was low, heavy with a weight I wasn't sure I could bear.
I wanted to scream at him, grab his shirt and shake him until he told me why. But what came out was a whisper.
"Then why... Why me? Why am I the one caught in this loop of hell?"
He looked at me with eyes that might have once held hope, now buried deep beneath layers of regret.
"Ever wondered why you have such high temporal energy?" He finally spoke after a while.
I shook my head sideways, still trying to grasp the weight of everything.
"That energy... it didn't just happen by chance. I put it there. Deep inside you. For you to become like me. And for me to become like how I am right now"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing…
"So, this loop..." I whispered. "It's me creating the future… and the future creating me."
A fake laugh escaped him, full of sorrow.
"Exactly. It's a damn loop of fate wrapped in a paradox. You're both the seed and the tree… the chaos and the calm before it."
"The future exists, because you exist"
I clenched my fists, desperate for answers, for a way out.
"Then why? Why build such a cycle? Why create this nightmare?"
"Because," he said, leaning back in the chair only to lean forward again and shout "I DIDN'T!"
"I did not do anything to get these wretched powers…"
"It's a loop. I told you…" He shook his head, frustration breaking through his stoic mask.
"We didn't create this nightmare. None of us did, really."
"It's the Original Paradox. A cycle so tangled, cause and effect don't just blur — they collapse into each other. We exist because the future depends on the past which depends on us existing."
His voice dropped into a whisper. "I tried to break free once. Destroyed timelines, erased what I thought was the source. It didn't work."
"I killed billions…for no goddamn reason."
I felt a chill creep down my spine.
"You think this mess is just about one timeline or one moment?" he laughed bitterly. "No. It's every moment. Every erased possibility. Every shattered dream."
"So if you didn't start it… then what do we do? Do we fight fate? Or surrender to being background characters?" I replied hesitantly.
Everytime he responds, it feels like a warning.
"I am working on something…" His voice lowers,
almost hesitant.
"What?"
"Its the last option, the one that I'm afraid to use myself"
For the first time since I'd known him—I saw fear, not for the future, but for what the future might require.
"Project: ENLIGHTENMENT" The word echoed throughout the room. Heavy, even without knowing its meaning.
"It's the Nexus Empire's ultimate gambit," he said, voice low, the hum of distant machinery amplifying each word. "A plan to harness 100% Temporal Energy, to manipulate time itself entirely—collapse all opposing timelines, rewrite reality by force."
He leaned forward, eyes glinting cold. "The goal? A new universe where one timeline exists instead of many."
I swallowed, the weight of his words pressing down hard. "And you're the one who orchestrates this? The one who will pull the strings?"
He gave a bitter smile, but it didn't reach his eyes. "The one who will try to play the role of a god."
His words felt cold, almost distant.
"But at what cost?" I whispered. The room suddenly felt too small.
"Everything… including us."
I recoiled, as if struck. My breath caught, sharp and ragged, "You expect me to just accept that? To let myself be... erased? Like I'm some—something disposable? And didn't you say before you don't want to play god?"
I continued. "How can you—how can you decide my fate like that? Who—what gives you the right?"
His gaze was unreadable.
"That is exactly why it's the last option…" he finally replied, the words dull with exhaustion and something that almost sounded like regret.
"No one wants this. Not even me."
A part of him wanted me to believe him.
Another doesn't.
Is it because I do not even trust myself?
Maybe it truly is me who is the problem…
Was I arguing with him, or with the pieces of myself that might become him someday?
Finally to end it all, an offer came "Help me find a better solution, to end all of this, come with me"
I wanted to refuse. But instead, I found myself staring into his worn eyes, searching for something…Hope maybe. Or just the truth beneath the regret.
"Why now?" I whispered. "Why ask for my help?"
He sighed, like a man shedding years of burden. "Because even I can't do this alone anymore. Without you, there's no future. Just endless… cycles."
But as much as I wanted to distrust, part of me shivered at the possibility— just maybe, together, we could break the loop.
The paradox had chained us both, but beneath the cold facade, I sensed a flicker of desperation… a shared hunger for an escape neither of us fully believed was possible.
But again, Arlie said not to trust him.
And I promised her that…
How could I ever trust a man responsible for billions of deaths? A man who had no remorse about erasing entire timelines, entire lives?
Hope felt like a trick, a poison masked as salvation.
So I pushed it down, hard.
"I won't trust you. Not now. Not ever."
His eyes glinted, but he said nothing.
"I don't expect to earn your trust," he said quietly.
"But if we are to find a real way out, you'll have to work with me…"
The room grew colder.
I kept my promise to Arlie.
"Take rest for now, I'll release your friends" He said.
I wanted to argue, but I was still recovering.
"The explosion wasn't meant for them, it was meant to hide the unspeakable truth, to buy me time. Collateral.
I can't always control. But holding grudges is meaningless, your allies aren't my enemies. And I need you to be clear-headed if we were to end this"
He stepped back towards the door, casting one last glance.
"I am going now. Recover quickly, or else the world will take that time from you too."
The door hissed shut behind him, leaving me in the low hum of the room.
For the first time since all this began, silence didn't feel like peace. It felt like a countdown.
My hands trembled, not out of fear, but out of the restless urge to do something. Every second ticked louder, echoing the Dictator's warning.
I hated that he was right.
At this point I'm willing to pay any price to end this misery…
But do I really care?
It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly play the role of the hero.
Afterall, throughout my entire life…all I ever did was push people away and care about myself.
Wait, that's not good. Countless people are dying as I rest.
But seriously… Why should I care?
All I have is my mother…my old friends? I don't even know where they are or how they are doing.
My current friends…Arlie and Seren.
That's right! I have them too.
But do they consider me their friend…?
Nevermind… I am being way too pessimistic about this.
Maybe he's right, I should take some rest and recover.
…
That being said, I may have been a bit too down lately.
Slowly my eyes grew heavy…
I just hope everything ends well…
If I'm honest, there's relief in letting go for a while.
Maybe tomorrow I'll have the strength to care… or maybe just the chance to pretend.
My thoughts slipped away, sinking beneath the surface…
and when my eyes next opened, the world had been drained of color.
Black and white. The same haunting silence, the same blank horizon stretching on forever.
My feet met with cold floor with every step, but the world felt lighter and emptier, as if reality itself could flicker out at any moment.
It is just like that…from before.
I forced myself forward, step by trembling step, running away from my chaotic demise.
The world is still falling apart. Piece by piece.
My steps grew sluggish. The ground beneath me flickered, fracturing into tiny, sharp triangles, just like before. My breath quickened.
No. Not again…
"No, no, not this again!" I staggered backward, arms reaching for support that weren't there. My right hand began to flicker, disintegrating at the fingertips.
Panic spiked, raw and animal.
"Pleaseee! Is anyone there? Arlie? Seren? Someone help!"
My voice echoed, thinner now, stretched and hollow.
There was only silence, the sound of the world shattering.
My arms crumbled, fingers fracturing into drifting dust. I gasped, clutching at my chest, but even that sensation began to fade.
"Please! I—I don't want to die like this! Not again!"
All of this felt too real to be a dream.
But the numbness crept higher. My vision tunnelled, the black and white world closing in, breaking apart piece by piece.
My voice broke, barely more than a whisper:
"I'm not ready. I'm not ready to disappear…"
"Not before I can—"
[Updated: Temporal Energy Level: 99.7%]
As everything dissolved around me, I felt myself slipping, thoughts scattering into that endless, silent void—until there was nothing left except the echo of my voice.
Suddenly, I jerked awake, lungs burning and heart pounding—gasping for breath as my eyes shot open to the blur of the sterile room.
As I opened my eyes I was then blinded by the bright ceiling lights.
"Aghh c'mon why its so bright"
I turned my head weakly, registering the presence I couldn't ignore.
The Dictator.
"Rough dream, was it?"
"Mind telling me what you saw?" he asked, tone deceptively calm.
After what I saw…once again. I think it is better to just share.
I swallowed, trying to steady my voice. "The world was fading. Black and white, breaking apart like glass... And I was disintegrating. My body... fading away. I called for help but there was only silence. Everything was engulfed into the void."
He let out a low sigh. "Not exactly the comforting kind of dream."
"Your nightmares are a reality of mine…" I continued.
"You said that to me once, didn't you?"
The Dictator nodded slowly, his eyes hard but reflective.
"Tell me what happened," I demanded .
He drew in a sharp breath, his voice steady but laced with fatigue.
"Yes," he began, "that's what happens when a timeline crosses a certain threshold. The strain tears through reality itself. Because of my… unusually high temporal energy, I survived the collapse."
He looked away for a moment, his expression unreadable.
"But survival came at a cost. I didn't just live—I was pulled into another timeline entirely."
The silence stretched between us before I spoke again, voice low but resolute this time, "So this is why you're so desperate…to fix everything. To save what little is left."
He met my gaze, unwavering. "Exactly. And why I need you. I can't do this alone, no matter what I've done."
I thought about his words for a while, every instinct screaming distrust—yet that dream or temporal bleed was clear…It was a warning.
And his offer…A Promise.
After all this, it felt like I can trust him.
But then again, I would be breaking their promise…
Arlie and Seren… I wonder how they are doing.
I wonder what's happening back at home.
For that, a home should exist.
I will make sure it does.
Finally, I nodded, cautious but driven. "Fine. But I'm watching. Every choice you make."
He gave a shadow of a smile, cold but accepting. "That's the only way forward."
I clenched my fists. "One wrong move, and you'll lose me forever."
The hint of a cruel smile ghosted over his lips. "I'd expect no less."
The silence stretched between us…two prisoners bound by fate, struggling between necessity and suspicion.
Yet within that crackling tension it was certain for me that I had already made my decision…
I will turn everything back to normal.
Because if I dont…Who will?
-End of Chapter 11-