3rd POVInside the grand halls of a castle, reminiscent of Germany's Neuschwanstein Castle, King Richard sat in his study, immersed in ancient texts. The serene silence was shattered by the ringing of his smartphone, a jarring intrusion in the medieval setting. With a sigh of resignation, he answered, expecting yet another trivial matter."What do you want, Son?" he asked, his voice echoing slightly in the room. The video call revealed a startling scene: his son, Prince Nicholas, bound to a chair with iron chains, a menacing figure standing beside him."Greetings, King Richard," the stranger greeted with a sardonic smile, waving casually. "I'm Alex. Don't bother remembering my face; this is just a disposable human mask."King Richard's eyes narrowed, a mix of anger and concern flickering across his face. "What are you doing with my son?""Nothing," Alex replied with a playful tilt of his head. "The real question is what your son has done to me. He kidnapped my destined Luna. Even afte
"Remember, in a time of overwhelming complexity, there comes a point when invoking Xander's name thrice is all it takes for him to appear and unravel the tangled knots of any problem." Xander, with a dramatic flourish, spreads his arms wide, like a saint cast out from the heavens, his expression a mix of defiance and grace."What do you intend to do?" I inquired, my voice tinged with curiosity, occasionally unable to contain my amusement at his comical foolishness."Stop your overthinking, big-headed girl. I'll whisk them away for a bachelor party. We'll have a night with strippers, leaving you behind," Xander declared, his laughter ringing with a hint of mischief. "You should revel in the company of these girls. Right from the start, I never quite fit in here. I'll rush to them, embrace them passionately, and then... I'll make a grand, self-destructive gesture, all for the sake of ensuring you have a blissful travel experience in Paris.""Please, don't do that, Xander," I pleaded, my
"Bang!" Selena attacked a man with the nearest chair she could get, her laughter ringing through the air. The man fell with the broken bone and broken chair. Bianca, with equal fervor, snatched a handful of steak knives from the table, flinging them at the startled attackers. The knife stabbed into the attacker's muscle, ripping it.Although all of us were still inside Le Jules Verne, I, Aurora, along with Xanders, were immersed in a different world. We sat ensconced in the romantic ambiance of our candlelit dinner, the stunning backdrop of Paris's night skyline unfolding behind us.The orchestra, an ensemble of eight, played on undeterred, their rendition of Johann Pachelbel's "Canon in D" weaving through the air, filling the room with harmony amidst the action. Bottles and glasses were flying through the air. Even the table, along with its tablecloth, napkins, flowers, vase, and all its contents, was propelled in the direction near our side, but it did not reach us. This just added
"Adjutant! What happened here?" exclaimed a man, arriving with a contingent of ten. His voice echoed with authority and urgency."Vice General, they refuse to yield their space. They've finished dining yet linger without cause. They're deliberately looking for trouble with us. Please, assist me in expelling them," pleaded the adjutant, his face marred by blood and desperation. "They may be enemies in disguise."The Vice General, stern and resolute, commanded, "Everyone, advance and remove them."Yet, Bianca interjected firmly, "Not so fast." She seized the arm of a man attempting to enter, her grip firm and unyielding as she threw the man to the back. With more individuals attempting to breach the entrance, the conflict inevitably spilled into the interior of Le Jules Verne.Amidst the chaos, Selena, her eyes alight with wild, frantic glee, shrieked, "If you dare to eject us, I'll wreak havoc!" She began to hurl tables and miscellaneous objects with reckless abandon, her laughter pier
Yesterday night at 11:45 PM,Bianca's POV.Seated at the forefront of Le Jules Verne, the aftermath of chaos surrounded me. Blood, shattered glass, and broken chairs and tables were strewn about. Selena emerged from inside the restaurant, carrying bottles of red wine.“Wine?” She happily offered them to Nadine and me, our appearances marred by the recent scuffle; my torn attire revealed bruises beneath. Men lay scattered on the ground, wounded, their blood a stark contrast against the pavement."What should we do now?" I inquired, my voice laced with uncertainty, as I observed our disheveled reflections in the wine bottle.Nadine took a deep swig from the bottle and declared, "It's time you learned about our ways in the Shadow Troops." Her eyes shimmered with determination and a hint of recklessness. Pointing to the black crown symbol at Le Jules Verne, she explained, "This symbol, it represents Alex, our dark king. Those who are with us recognize it and keep their distance. But for t
AuroraFollowing breakfast, Nadine's plan was to visit a castle near Paris, and she had enticed me with the promise of an exciting adventure. We embarked on our journey with a convoy of four Sherpa lights. Nadine was driving, and I occupied the front passenger seat, while Selena and Bianca chatted in the back. Nathan, Ethan, and Lucas followed behind in another vehicle."Don't you think it's too early to have red wine in the morning?" I noticed Selena indulging in it."It's amazing; our hotel's red wine never runs out no matter how much we drink," Selena said as she took a sip from the bottle."Just like Xander's secret stash," I laughed. "It never runs out of chocolate.""I've never heard that he's into chocolate," Nadine added. "He may keep it just for you.""Really?" As we approached the imposing gates, a surge of unwanted memories flooded my mind.“Prince Nicholas' Castle?” I asked Nadine, my voice quivering with a mix of fear and disbelief. “Why have you brought us here?”“Don’t
Aurora“Nadine, I think we have a problem,” I murmured, my voice trembling slightly as I recounted the disturbing details of Jack's abrupt end to the video call.Bianca's fingers danced anxiously over her phone, dialing her father's number. Her face fell as the call went unanswered, the silence on the other end echoing our growing unease. Meanwhile, Nathan and Ethan were equally unsuccessful, their attempts to reach their families meeting the same void.“What should we do now?”Nadine, her brows knitted in deep concentration, finally spoke, “So, the Royal king broke his promise.” She reached for her phone with a determined grip. “I'll text Alex for more information. Let's try to stay calm. We'll find a way out of this once Alex is informed.”Clutching my phone like a lifeline, I dialed my grandmother, praying she would answer. &ldqu
XanderAs I sat in the café, I immersed myself in my thoughts and imagination repeatedly. Unlike others who might only think two or three steps ahead or merely 5 to 15 minutes into the future when making plans, I delved deeper. I meticulously planned from the beginning to the very end, revisiting and refining the strategy 5-10 times. My mind was adept at foreseeing potential errors and devising ways to preemptively address them, ensuring that every minute detail was accounted for.‘Because one single error, a human may die. Regret was the last thing I wanted in my life.’One of the shadow soldiers approached, breaking my concentration. "Sir, we have removed the iron door. Now, moving the box will be easier. We've also emptied its contents, and the box is currently concealing us as we're inside the warehouse.""Alright," I responded, standing up. I immediately called all shadow troops to attention. "I will go over the briefing thrice. If there's anything you don't understand, ask me. W
I looked at the baby he was so cute, but I know I had to act. I dressed him in new clothes and wrote the prophecy about his future role in saving the world on the cloth. He was destined to return here, to build a dome for humanity and fulfill his fate—perhaps he had already completed his mission. I donned the wrist device and fashioned a smaller one for the baby, so we could travel through time together. But first, I had to ensure that the future would be free of problems. The spheres were set to manage the environment, programmed to halt their work when CO2 levels reached 0.04%. As for who would rule in the future, I chose not to decide. The people must learn to govern themselves; some were already training to use the spheres. I couldn't always be their deity; they needed to become self-sufficient. With the baby in tow, I prepared to leave this era, knowing I would never return; it wasn't my place. Together, we activated the high-frequency drive, propelling us into the fourth
On the night the baby was born, the parents was sleeping soundly, unaware of the sphere descended to take a sample of the newborn's blood.It was painless. And the sphere quickly checked the DNA.As the results flashed on the screen, it not fit my DNA. But I saw a connection between myself and this baby—a sibling, perhaps.I didn’t now if I have messed up with the future or I still unborn in this time.Two years later, the woman I believed to be my mother was expecting again, this time a daughter. It was clear then that the baby wasn’t me.All I can do was waiting.In the five years since I came here, we constructed 76,910 domes worldwide, sheltering 500 million survivors from the once 8 billion-strong human population.The disparity was stark: some domes teemed with life, while others stood empty, their ecosystems meticulously engineered and automated, home only to selected wildlife.The advent of virtual exploration allowed people to survey these domes remotely, relocating if they f
"Show me where my parents are," I commanded the sphere with excitement. After long years, I was about to meet my long-lost parents.The sphere generated a screen for me to view, revealing a young man and woman, perhaps around 20 years old, entering the Eden Dome for the first time. They appeared bewildered and lost, their eyes wide with a mix of fear and wonder."Are you sure they are my parents?" I questioned, my brow furrowed in doubt. They were even younger than me. It felt odd, almost as if I should call them little brother and sister instead of parents."Yes, Master," the sphere responded affirmatively. "Your genetic DNA matches theirs perfectly.""But," I hesitated, scrutinizing the image, my heart pounding with a strange apprehension. "Send one sphere to them; I need to ask them something."The distance seemed vast, with our dome situated half a world away, creating a chasm between us."As you wish, Master."A sphere glided toward the man and woman in the distant dome. "Excuse
"Guys, please stop it," I implored, the urgency clear in my voice. "There will be no use."The spheres that had been hovering alongside each of the gang’s leaders and their members suddenly flared into a menacing red hue. "The host is showing harmful behavior. The security protocol will be launched," it announced in a dispassionate tone.Without warning, the spheres emitted a piercing frequency that targeted all guns, weapons, and harmful items. In moments, they disintegrated into fine atom dust, which the sphere then collected and whisked away, presumably to be repurposed as building material.The bear leader's and all gang’s members face registered shock, then eyes wide with disbelief and fear."In Eden, when you make a mistake, there are two options for you to choose from," I continued, my voice steady. "One, we simply expel you back to where you came from. Or, alternatively, you can e
In the dimly lit underground city, I had just finished selling my last can of food. Eagerly, I was about to purchase more slaves, when the bear gang leader approached me with his smelly body odour.Water was precious here; people wash their body once a year.His burly frame cast a long shadow as he strode towards me, flanked by two other gang’s leaders, their footsteps echoing in the small alley.“Alex, the fish seller,” he growled, his voice deep and menacing.“That’s me!” I responded with a cheerful smile.“We want you to take us to the fish factory. Can you, do it?” His eyes, sharp and probing, seemed to pierce through me, daring me to decline.“Sure,” I replied happily. “The owner already mentioned he'd be thrilled to have you all there. He said there’s plenty of food.”“Really?” he asked, scepticism written all over his rugged face.“Yes, take as many people as you can,” I urged, sensing their disbelief.The three of them exchanged looks of shock and disbelief. “Whatever,” one of
I stood in my house, gazing at the sprawling expanse of New York City below, dreaming of transforming it into a colossal dome.However, the architectural limitations soon became apparent, leading to a revised plan of constructing a network of smaller domes, each the size of a soccer field, interconnected like a honeycomb.This design was not only efficient but also practical in case of emergencies, such as shattered glass or structural failures. It could be easily detached and repaired without causing trouble to the entire dome.As the temperature inside the dome needed to be controlled for the plants and for the humans.The first group of eighty slaves, were settled in one of the completed domes. For the time being, they shared a common sleeping area, heavily medicated to aid their recovery and adjustment to their new environment.Each person was assigned a spherical device designed to help them acclimate to this "new Eden."At the night before, I was guiding them out of the undergro
‘No, I cannot move now before I know everything about them. I may wrongly save people and cause trouble. I need to study them more,’ I thought, my mind racing with caution.“Spheres 567, stay on the underground and record everything about their activities,” I commanded, letting them delve into the shadows.Finding one of the human underground hubs, I dispatched another hundred spheres to scout the area. Because humans may concentrate in one locale, and my hunch was spot on.Humans were crafting an underground city, intertwining with the natural caves and beginning to carve out a vast space within the earth's embrace.Through the spherical eyes, I glimpsed a colossal chamber that sparked memories of the largest underground city ever discovered, Derinkuyu in Cappadocia, Turkey, capable of sheltering around 20,000 people along with their livestock and food stores.But the population here seemed to surpass 80,000, with the capacity to house over 200,000. As I used the spheres to map the e
One had to remember where he was from. I had completed my research to elevate human frequency to a higher dimension, allowing passage through space and time. This ambition was fueled by my desire to meet my parents in the future.In my study room, I carefully handled the clothes that had swaddled me as a baby, left at the orphanage door. The fabric held the mystery of my origins. Despite using the gate to the past to uncover who had placed me at the orphanage, no one appeared. The clothes and I simply materialized out of nowhere.I placed the garment on the scanning blueprint machine, aiming to record every atom and deduce the era it hailed from. This information was pivotal for my journey to that specific time.The smart device strapped to my wrist was brimming with data necessary for the impending future war. In moments, the year 2112 flashed on its screen. Was it truly 80 years into the future?Activating the smart device on my left arm, my body began to feel ethereal, as the body
AlexI brought back a child, a five-year-old girl, to my mansion when I encountered Nadine. "Can you take care of this child as you do our own?" I asked tentatively."Who is she?" Nadine inquired, her eyes narrowing slightly in confusion and curiosity.I hesitated, grappling with the truth. The thought of Nadine possibly becoming a cruel stepmother to Aurora's daughter haunted me. But the weight of the secret was too heavy. As she could find the answer by herself anytime she wants."She is Aurora's daughter," I confessed. "I killed Nicholas, and soon Aurora will vanish from this world. This child is utterly alone, bearing no fault in these tragic events.""And her name?" Nadine pressed, her demeanour softening as she gently took the child into her arms, cradling her with maternal warmth.Shaking my head, I replied, "Aurora refused to name her. She's been living like a shadow among the maids, an unwanted soul.""How heartless can one be!" Nadine exclaimed, her face contorting in anger