Location: Inside the Orrhion Chip - Leo's Inner World
Time: The Projection
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The world dissolved into a haze of flickering light—fragments of reality tearing apart like paper in a storm. Leo's body felt weightless, his senses overwhelmed by a cascade of sensations he couldn't name. Colors he had never seen. Sounds that existed beyond hearing. The air itself seemed to vibrate with a presence that was ancient, alien, and utterly hostile.
And then the world reformed.
He stood in a vast, cavernous space—a world of writhing, pulsating energy that stretched in every direction. The ground beneath his feet was not ground at all, but a shifting, liquid membrane that pulsed with a sickly, vibrant light. The walls were not walls, but veins of glowing protoplasm that twisted and coiled like living things.
At the center of it all, it waited.
It was a nightmare given form—a massive, heaving mass of gluttonous, protoplasmic flesh. Its body was wreathed in a radiance that burned like lava, shifting between shades of sickly green, deep purple, and blood red. Runes—ancient, incomprehensible symbols—formed and dissolved along its surface like living tattoos, each one pulsing with a light that seemed to feed on the darkness around it.
Dozens of eyes—each one cold, predatory, and utterly alien—opened across its form. They blinked in staggered patterns, their gazes fixed on him with a hunger that made his soul recoil.
Leo's breath caught in his throat. His body trembled. His mind struggled to comprehend what he was seeing.
What... what is this?
The creature opened its mouth—a gaping, tooth-filled maw that seemed to stretch impossibly wide. It roared.
The sound was deafening—a primal, guttural shriek that shook the very foundations of Leo's being. He felt it in his bones, in his soul, in every fiber of his existence.
His legs gave out. He collapsed to his knees, his hands pressing against the pulsating ground.
"Please tell me this is fake," he whispered, his voice cracking. "Please tell me you're using some bullshit spy VHS headset that you put into my eyes when I wasn't looking. Please tell me I was just too slow to notice."
A voice echoed through the cavern—calm, steady, and utterly unimpressed.
"That's not a headset, Leo."
Leo's head snapped up. He knew that voice.
"Elijah?"
"The one and only."
Leo's gaze swept the cavern, searching for the source of the voice. But there was no one there. Just the creature. Just the writhing, pulsing, hungry thing that stood before him.
"Where are you?!"
"Everywhere and nowhere. I'm in your head, Leo. Or rather, I'm in the chip. The same place that thing calls home."
Leo's eyes widened. "Wait—this is inside me?!"
"Bingo."
---
The creature—Orrhion—lunged forward, its massive form moving with a speed that defied its size. A wave of energy erupted from its body—a shimmering, liquid blast that arced toward Leo like a living thing.
Leo's body reacted on instinct. He threw himself to the side, the blast passing harmlessly by his ear. The ground where he had been standing dissolved into a pool of writhing protoplasm.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" he screamed.
"That's Orrhion," Elijah's voice said, calm and steady. "The lovely pet the Mysterium clan has been rearing. Its snacks? The energy you've been feeding it through your suit."
Leo's mind raced. "You mean... the aethernova suit?"
"Not exactly. The suit is a bridge—a string that ties you to the creature. The energy you harness through the suit... well, majority of it is sent to Orrhion. A tiny portion is sent to you."
Leo's voice was barely a whisper. "So I'm just... food?"
"In your case, unfortunately, it seems you're just basic cannon fodder. A treat for the creature. You weren't meant for symbiosis."
Leo's body trembled. His hands clenched into fists. His voice cracked with a mixture of fear and anger.
"Even before I was born... I was already chosen to be a food resource to this thing?"
"Open your eyes, loser. See what's around you. Where do you think we are?"
Leo's gaze swept the cavern. The writhing walls. The pulsating ground. The creature that loomed before him, its eyes fixed on him with cold hunger.
"You mean... this is inside me? This has been inside me my whole life?"
"Exactly. And seeing that you have two siblings, it wouldn't be all bad to conclude that perhaps whatever you hold within yourself was greater than that of your siblings."
Leo's voice was quiet. "Greater?"
"In a way. The parasite feeds on potential. The more potential, the more it grows. The more it consumes. You, Leo Jerkins, were chosen because you had the potential to be something more. Something dangerous. Something worth consuming."
Leo stared at the creature. His expression shifted—from fear to confusion to something else. Something darker.
"You mean... my father knew?"
"Oh, he more than knew."
Leo's hands clenched into fists. His voice carried a note of cold fury.
"Don't tell me... that he is responsible for my mother's death."
The creature's runes flared. Its body pulsed with light—brighter, hotter, more aggressive. The energy around it intensified, the air growing thick with the weight of its presence. Its attacks came faster, more violent. It was feeding on Leo's anger.
"Exactly," Elijah said. "That's the whole point. The more destructive you are to yourself, the more it strengthens itself."
Leo's voice was barely a whisper. "Wait... don't tell me you were in the same situation as myself?"
A chuckle echoed through the cavern.
"What do you think?"
Leo's expression shifted—skeptical, confused, almost accusatory.
"Why are you telling me all of this? I'm just a dummy guinea pig for you. Something to be used and disposed of."
Another chuckle.
"Even a hatched chick, in the end, is raised to lay eggs. But sometimes... the chick learns to fly before the farmer can collect."
Leo's expression softened. His voice carried a note of hesitant humor.
"I don't know whether to feel good or bad from your words."
"Well, there's a reason I'm showing you all of this, Leo."
"What's that?"
The chuckle returned—darker this time. And then Leo felt it. A sudden, forceful pull—a sensation of being dragged deeper into the projection, his consciousness merging with something beyond himself.
The world around him shifted. He was no longer an observer. He was the projection. He was the form that Elijah had created—the shape that the creature was attacking.
He looked down at his hands. They were not his hands. They were formed of shifting, flickering light—a projection of Elijah's own will made manifest.
"What the—"
The creature lunged. Its massive form slammed into him, its protoplasmic body wrapping around him like a living vice. The impact sent him flying across the cavern, his projection form crashing into the writhing walls.
He felt it. The pain. The damage. It was real—or as real as anything in this place could be.
"THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" he screamed. "ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?! SERIOUSLY, IT ISN'T FUNNY!"
The creature didn't stop. It kept coming, its attacks faster, more vicious. The runes along its body flared brighter, its energy surging with each blow. It was like a wildfire—uncontrolled, unstoppable.
Leo scrambled to his feet, his projection form flickering and unstable. He ran, the creature's blasts crashing against the ground behind him, each impact sending waves of energy through his body.
The creature's attacks continued, its form shifting and pulsing, its energy growing with each passing moment. Leo's projection flickered, becoming translucent. He could feel himself fading, his consciousness starting to slip away.
He's right, Leo thought, his internal voice carrying a note of cold determination. This thing feeds on destruction. On negativity. On self-denial. If I don't fight back... I'm going to die.
He clenched his hands into fists. His body trembled—not with fear, but with something else. Something that had been buried deep within him for years.
Fck this.*
The creature lunged. Its massive form arced toward him, its maw gaping wide, its energy crackling with destructive power.
Leo didn't run. He didn't hide.
He threw himself forward, his fist clenched, his eyes blazing with determination.
His fist connected with the creature's midsection.
The impact sent him flying backward—but not before he saw it. A flicker of something—a ribbon of light that coiled around his fist like a living thing. It was see-through, almost invisible, but it was there. And when it connected with the creature, something happened.
The creature's energy stuttered. Its form flickered. A portion of its power—small, but undeniable—was neutralized.
Leo hit the ground hard, his body skidding across the pulsating membrane. He pushed himself up, his eyes fixed on his fist.
"Don't know what I'm seeing," he muttered, "but it just came out of nowhere. When I decided to just send myself towards that thing with my gritty self-lie that I could face it..."
He stared at his hand, his expression one of dawning realization.
"Is this... the will? The gritty self-lie I put into myself? Or should I say... confidence? Don't know whether I ever felt this way for myself. Don't want to care or know."
The creature roared again, its form surging toward him.
Leo stood his ground. His voice carried a note of quiet determination.
"Where is this energy coming from? Don't tell me... it's from the state to which I give myself."
He lunged forward, his fist arcing toward the creature's midsection. The impact was the same—a flicker of light, a small but undeniable absorption. The creature recoiled, its form flickering.
Leo's lips curved into a grin.
"Great. How do I beat this thing?"
He noticed something. The creature's energy—the protoplasmic mass that it had absorbed—was flowing into him. Not much. But enough. The runes along its body were lighting up more, but something else was happening. The energy it absorbed was being converted. Transferred.
So the chip is aiding it, he thought. But I'm the one with the chip. Do I imagine myself absorbing its energy? Or...
He closed his eyes. He imagined the creature's energy entering him—the writhing, pulsating protoplasm flowing into his body, merging with his own.
Nothing happened.
He tried again. Still nothing.
The creature's attack caught him off guard—a massive blast of protoplasmic energy that slammed into his chest. He flew backward, his projection form flickering wildly. He hit the ground hard, the breath leaving his body.
No room for surrender, he thought. No room for doubt.
He pushed himself up. His eyes blazed with determination. The energy around him began to shift—the see-through ribbon of light coiling around his neck, his eyes, his hands. It was growing. Brightening. Becoming something more.
"You think I'm weak?" he muttered. "You think I'm just food? You think I'm nothing?"
He lunged forward, his fist connecting with the creature's form. The impact was stronger this time—the ribbon of light flaring with power. The creature recoiled, a portion of its mass dissolving into flickering motes of energy.
But it wasn't enough. The creature kept coming, its attacks relentless.
Leo's mind raced. The energy must belong to Elijah, he thought. It's like when he isn't in self-denial of himself. When he just lets himself go with the flow of intent and focus... the energy radiates into this projection.
He closed his eyes. He let go. He stopped fighting himself. He stopped doubting. He stopped denying.
He simply... was.
The energy around him surged. The ribbon of light blazed brighter, coiling around his arms like serpents of pure will. He could feel it—the power flowing through him, not from Elijah, but from himself. From the state he had given himself.
His smile widened.
"I get it now."
The creature lunged. Leo met it head-on.
His fist connected with its form—and this time, the impact was different. The energy around his fist wasn't just neutralizing. It was absorbing. The creature's protoplasmic mass began to flow into him, drawn by the ribbon of light.
The creature screamed.
It was a sound of pain—a primal, guttural shriek that echoed through the cavern. Its form flickered and writhed, its eyes wide with something that might have been fear.
Leo's voice was calm, cold, and utterly certain.
"You've been feeding on me my whole life. Now it's my turn."
The energy surged. The creature screamed again.
And somewhere in the distance, a voice chuckled.
"Now you're getting it."