Chapter 12 – The Bargain with Marl
The room was vast, echoing with the hum of hidden machinery. Walls of polished steel glistened beneath pale neon light, and at the center stood Marl in his yellow shirt, his wide grin stretching almost unnaturally across his face. His laughter had faded, leaving only an unnerving silence that made Miya's skin crawl.
Ren stepped forward cautiously, his eyes flicking between Marl and the massive mechanical structures surrounding them. Why would this man go through so much trouble just to capture us?
"You… you sent that thing?" Ren finally asked, his voice steady but laced with suspicion.
Marl tilted his head, chuckling lightly. "Of course. My dear creation brought you here because of you, Ren." He jabbed a finger toward Ren as though singling him out in a crowd. "You're not just another wanderer lost in the weave of paradoxes. No… you're the key to something I've been building for years."
Sissy narrowed her eyes, clenching her fists. "Key to what? What do you want from him?"
Marl's smile deepened. He paced slowly across the room, hands clasped behind his back, and then stopped before a massive display. With a swipe of his hand, holograms lit up—blueprints, fragments of codes, shifting equations that none of them could fully comprehend except Ren.
"This," Marl said with theatrical pride. "The A-Foster. My masterpiece. A ship… no, more than a ship. A vessel that can slip between timelines without disturbing the balance of reality itself. Imagine—worlds upon worlds, infinite paths, infinite possibilities… all within reach. And only I, Marl, have dared dream of it."
The name struck Miya with unease. Her water-like eyes reflected the glowing schematics. "A device that breaks through time and space? That sounds like madness. Why involve us? Why involve him?"
Marl spun toward Ren, ignoring her protest. "Because genius recognizes genius. I've studied your work, Ren. Your equations, your ability to bend concepts of energy and matter—oh yes, I know more about you than you think. But I've reached a wall. The A-Foster requires something… a brilliance only you can provide."
Ren swallowed, his mind reeling. Every instinct screamed that Marl was dangerous, but there was something hypnotic in the designs displayed before him. His thoughts drifted—if this ship truly worked, if he could wield such power… could he craft a reality where it was just him and his sister again? No war, no chaos, no Miya, no interference. Just them.
Miya's sharp voice cut through his temptation. "Don't listen to him, Ren! He's twisting you. People like this don't build for peace. They build for control. For destruction."
Sissy stepped beside her, glaring at Marl. "You expect him to just help you finish some experiment? After dragging us here like prisoners? You're insane."
But Marl's laughter rolled out again, echoing against the metallic walls. "Prisoners? Oh no, no, no. You're guests. Guests at the dawn of something far greater than you can comprehend. I don't need all of you—I only need Ren. The rest of you can choose whether you stay and watch history, or leave and be forgotten."
Ren's chest tightened. His eyes remained fixed on the blueprints, tracing every line, every impossibility suddenly made tangible. His heart ached as his sister's face surfaced in his mind, the warmth of the life they'd lost flickering in him like an ember refusing to die. Marl's words whispered to that selfish longing, wrapping it like a chain.
"What if… what if this is my only chance?" Ren muttered under his breath.
Miya's face fell. "Ren…" She stepped closer, grasping his arm. "Don't do this. You can't trade everything away just because of your grief. You don't know what his true purpose is."
Marl's smirk widened, as though her warnings amused him. "Ah, the voice of morality. So predictable. But Ren, listen not to fear. Listen to yourself. With your help, I can complete the A-Foster. And with it… who's to say you cannot shape a reality where the people you've lost still live? Where your sister never left you? Where everything is as it should have been."
Ren's heart throbbed painfully. The selfish part of him—the one that had been buried beneath duty and survival—screamed louder than Miya's protests. He turned toward Marl, his decision heavy on his lips.
"…I'll do it."
Sissy's eyes widened in disbelief. Miya's grip on his arm tightened, but he pulled free.
"You can't be serious!" Miya snapped. "Ren, this isn't you. You're letting him manipulate you."
But Ren's face had hardened. "Maybe it's selfish. Maybe it's wrong. But if there's even a chance… a chance to be with her again, I have to take it."
Marl clapped his hands together gleefully, his laughter booming through the chamber. "Marvelous! Oh, absolutely marvelous. You won't regret this, Ren. Together, we'll rewrite the possibilities of existence itself."
Miya turned away, fury burning in her eyes, while Sissy shook her head, muttering under her breath. This will end badly. I can feel it.
The screens around them flickered suddenly. Marl froze, frowning at the interference. Across countless monitors, static erupted, then cleared into streams of data. Lines of red text scrolled faster and faster.
In the Sentient Headquarters, alarms blared. Technicians rushed between stations, their voices overlapping.
"Anomaly detected!" one shouted. "It's escalating—signal converging near Zone Delta!"
A commander slammed his fist against the console. "Track it. Now. We can't let it slip again."
The screens in Marl's chamber glitched briefly, unnoticed by Ren but not by Miya, who glanced around warily.
Meanwhile, in a parallel world, the Summers gathered in their sanctuary. A storm of unease passed between them, the air heavy with dread.
"I can feel it," one whispered. "Something's shifting. The threads of balance are trembling."
Another clenched their fists. "If the anomaly grows stronger, the barriers between worlds will collapse. And if that happens…"
They left the words unfinished, their silence darker than any conclusion.
Back in Marl's chamber, he raised a glass of some strange liquid, toasting his own victory. Ren stood beside him, torn between excitement and guilt, while Miya and Sissy exchanged a glance that said it all—distrust, frustration, fear.
The chapter closed with the Sentients tightening their net, the Summers stirring with worry, and Ren unknowingly stepping deeper into a web from which there might be no return.
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