Cael was back in his room, locked in his little world. The blue sphere sat lifeless at the center of the table.
With a small screwdriver in one hand and tweezers in the other, Cael carefully pried off the sphere's outer casing.
The insides came into view: a maze of tiny circuits, delicate wires, and a core that gave off the faintest blue glow.
Cael pushed up his glasses, slipping from the sweat on his nose, and started tinkering with the internal components, moving the tweezers with surgical precision.
Hours slipped by unnoticed. The silence of the night was broken only by the occasional click of the tweezers or the soft scrape of a wire brushing another.
Cael was laser-focused, but every time he tried to connect the final wire to the core, a sharp snap echoed through the room.
Beep!
The lights went out again, and the sphere plunged into darkness.
Cael let out a frustrated growl.
"Damn it!" he muttered, tossing the tweezers onto the table.
He stood, marched out of the room, and headed for the apartment's breaker panel.
Every time he popped open the panel's cover, a pang of dread hit him. He knew he was pushing the electrical system to its limit. If the surge protector fried, every appliance in the place could get wrecked.
But he couldn't stop.
Not now.
Cael returned to his room, repeated the process, and once again, when he connected the wire, the lights died.
"No, no, no!" he shouted, slamming his fist on the table.
Cael was exhausted.
He'd been stuck on this step for weeks, and the deadline was breathing down his neck.
Tomorrow, he had to present the project at the company where his girlfriend, Lena, worked. If he failed, he'd not only let himself down but humiliate her too.
Cael slumped into his chair, staring at the dead sphere. He wanted to grab his phone and call Lena. Tell her he'd screwed up, that he wouldn't be ready for tomorrow.
But every time he pictured her voice, soft and reassuring, telling him she believed in him, his stomach twisted.
'I can't let her down,' he thought, gritting his teeth.
Lena had even loaned him money to buy the materials for this project. It was more than an experiment; it was the first mana-manipulating energy core.
In this world, mana was a gift for the elite few. Only those born with the ability could wield it, and that put them at the top of society.
The rest, like Cael and Yuna, were stuck with ordinary jobs, ordinary lives.
But if this prototype worked, it would change everything.
Cael could shatter the barriers society placed on those without mana talent.
And, more importantly, he could make Yuna's dream come true.
Since she was a kid, his sister had wanted to be a mage, a mana user.
Cael dreamed of giving her the first working prototype so she could live that dream.
Without realizing it, Cael had slid off his chair and was sprawled on the floor, back against the wall. His hands shook, and a tear rolled down his cheek.
He wiped it away quickly with the back of his hand.
"I can't give up," he whispered. "Not when I'm this close."
Cael dragged himself up, ignoring the ache in his muscles, and got back to work on the sphere.
The hours kept ticking by, and the blackouts kept coming.
Every time he connected the final wire, the lights went out, and Cael had to sprint to the breaker panel.
On one of those trips, something made his blood run cold.
The surge protector—a gift from Lena just a few days ago—was hot to the touch.
When he inspected it, he saw a small burn mark on the plastic.
"No…" Cael murmured, a knot tightening in his chest. "Did I already ruin it?"
Those protectors were built to last years, but his experiments had trashed it.
Cael didn't have the cash to buy a new one, and the stores were closed at this hour.
The urge to throw in the towel hit him like a truck.
'What's the point of keep trying?' he thought, pressing his forehead against the hallway wall. 'I'm not gonna make it. This is… impossible.'
But then, a lightbulb went off in his head.
"I can unplug everything!" he said under his breath.
If he shut off every device in the apartment, the electrical system wouldn't overload, and maybe he could keep experimenting without a protector.
Wasting no time, Cael rushed through the apartment, yanking plugs from sockets. The TV in the living room, the microwave in the kitchen, the lamp in the hallway.
Everything.
Cael crept into Yuna's room. Moonlight spilled through the window, illuminating his sister, asleep in bed.
She'd changed into blue cotton pajamas and was hugging a pillow. A fan in the corner spun lazily, blowing air her way.
Cael felt a stab of guilt as he approached the outlet.
'Sorry, Yuna,' he thought, unplugging the fan.
He shut the door carefully, not noticing that Yuna had cracked open one eye.
Curled up in bed, Yuna whispered, "Good luck, Cael."
Back in his room, Cael took a deep breath. His heart was racing.
With every device unplugged, the electrical system was as stable as it was gonna get.
He went back to the sphere, tweaking the internal circuits with the tweezers.
Every move was slow, deliberate.
And… when he was done, Cael connected the wires one by one, saving the last for the end.
But just before plugging it in, doubt froze him.
'What if I forgot to unplug something?' he thought, cold sweat prickling his skin.
Cael bolted out of the room, checking every outlet in the apartment. The kitchen, the living room, the bathroom.
Everything was off, but the fear wouldn't quit.
In his rush, he tripped over a chair in the living room.
"Ow!" he yelped, crashing to the floor.
The pain in his knee was sharp, but he didn't have time to whine.
Cael staggered up, limping, and kept checking.
His phone, tucked in his pocket, buzzed.
When he pulled it out and saw the time… only three hours left until the meeting at the company.
"No time," Cael muttered, sprinting back to his room.
Standing at the table, Cael held the final wire with trembling hands.
'It's gotta work,' he thought, and with a quick motion, he plugged it in.
The sphere started glowing blue, and this time, it didn't die right away.
But the room's lights began to flicker.
"No, no, no!" Cael shouted, stepping back.
He rushed to the window and looked outside. His heart stopped when he saw the streetlights, the lamps, even the windows of neighboring buildings flickering too.
'If I fry the neighborhood's power grid, I'm toast!' he thought, panic clawing at his chest.
Cael darted back to the table, staring at the sphere.
The blue glow was brighter now, but the lights kept flickering.
He hadn't considered the consequences of hooking an unstable device straight into the apartment's electrical system.
If this kept up, he could cause a full blackout.
Or worse, a fire.
Cael stood frozen, his hand hovering near the wire.
'Do I unplug it?' he thought, biting his lip.
If he did, he'd lose all the progress he'd made tonight.
But if he didn't, he could destroy not just his project, but the entire apartment.
Sweat dripped down his forehead, and his breathing sped up.
What should he do?