Everyone stared at him with curious and angry faces, as if they could just not believe what they had just heard. Some were prepared to stand and confront him, while others were already preparing their seals.
“You’ll know why in the next dream.” Crystal said as she sat down
“The first dream recalls the background, the second dream recalls the worst part of your life, and the third dream recalls where you were at the tragedy 3 years ago, the greatest change in the life of humanity.” She continued
“I see. What made you stop trying to kill me though?” Jerome asked
“I thought you knew what happened. But now, knowing that you have no knowledge of anything at all, I don’t want to kill you until you know why I have to.” Crystal said
“Then perhaps I should prepare to leave.” Jerome said as he walked out
“Wait!” Crystal said
Jerome stopped in his tracks and looked back towards her.
“The next dream is the last dream, it’ll also be the longest. Know that after that dream, we are enemies once again. You’re only here to know what happened, and its contents will show you why you should have been dead by now.” She continued as her seal started to light up
Her eyes began to water, and her clenched fist shook nonstop.
“I’ll never forgive you for what you did. And not only me, everyone in this room, everyone on this street, everyone on this city, and everyone who still lives in this devastated dystopia, will never forget and forgive the sin you cast upon them all, simply because of your fear and selfish desire.” She said
She stood up and pointed a knife towards Jerome.
“There shall be no mercy for the merciless.” She said
Jerome looked at her with shocked and confused eyes, unable to process her words and actions. He bowed his head and smiled upon her.
“Once I wake, you’re free to do as you please.” He replied before he walked away
His steps were slow and heavy, creaking steadily on the old wooden stairs. What could he have done to create such a reaction, and just how important were his actions before the fall? Jerome continued to ponder around those questions, but ultimately, the answer was on the final dream.
Destroyer was his brother, Crystal was his sister. Both were important figures in his life, but now, they are all so separate. It was as if they never knew each other to begin with.
Perhaps this final dream was also the contents of the tape that Destroyer brought with him, and after he was unable to enter the apartment, he left with the tape.
Bits and pieces of the puzzle slowly came into place, and things that were previously hidden were revealed now.
Some completely forgot their past, while others knew their past completely. The reason behind it was still unknown.
He twisted the knob of the door of his room. Inside was the Mind Displayer Machine, ready to commence the projection of his final dream.
Which secrets would come to light? Which details will finally be revealed? How would the world of today reveal itself to him one more time after he realizes the reason before it? All those questions entered Jerome’s mind as he placed the helmet on.
He closed his eyes, and felt the warping feeling of the Mind Displayer Machine taking him to the depths of his memories.
He arrived in their house. The lights were off, the place was dark, and the entire area was a mess. The items were scattered all over the floor, and dust built up on even the fullest of rooms. It seemed as if nobody has lived there for weeks, or even a month.
He walked around the place and moved up to the second floor. From the stairs, he heard two people discussing, their low, echoing voices bounced around with anger.
He entered the nearest room and saw himself and Nicholas arguing in their bedroom.
“How dare you use her disease as a passport to your bizarre world-breaking idea!” he said
“You don’t understand! My device, my machine, it could cure all the world’s diseases with one click of a button! And many, many more” Nicholas replied
“By changing a human from the inside?!” Jerome said
“Here, let your eyes prove my idea for themselves.” Nicholas said as he grabbed the car keys in a hurry.
Jerome followed him as he moved downstairs. The current Jerome followed closely, until he was immediately transported into the laboratory in the middle of the city.
He was in an unknown room, and before him was a huge machine that rose many stories high. A faint blue light glowed from within, and a slight buzz could be heard from the inside.
Loud and heavy footsteps began descending from the stairs, down the where he was, and the voices of two arguing individuals increased with every step.
Both Jerome and Nicholas busted through the door, still in argument against each other.
“Look at it Nicholas, just look at that monstrosity!” Jerome shouted
“So, you found out?” Nicholas replied as he pulled a lever down
“You’re destroying molecules and recreating them inside the human body! You’re forcing an evolution that will never come! You’re playing god! They were all in your journal! What is in that mad mind of yours?!” Jerome yelled as he followed Nicholas around
“With this, nobody has to die out of diseases, nobody has to cry tears of pain anymore! Humanity will evolve and become an empowered race! Nothing will hold us back!” Nicholas yelled back as he pressed buttons on the machine
“There is no need for that, we only need to help Crystal!” Jerome yelled
“My mission is to help all of humanity.” Nicholas replied
“No, I’m not letting it happen!” Jerome said as he walked towards the huge power cord that powered the machine.
He held it tightly with his hands. It was thick and rough, coated in heavy rubber. It was hot too, almost as hot as live fire, but Jerome paid no heed and pulled on it. Nicholas closed the panel of buttons he was working with and pushed Jerome out. The faint blue light increased in illuminance as sparks of lightning crept out of the machine. The engine within the machine began turning, and the whirring of the machine echoed throughout the laboratory, its volume so loud that they could barely hear themselves within the room.
Jerome stood up and punched Nicholas down. He once again took hold of the cord and began pulling even harder. The sparks went around his body, electrifying and illuminating some nerves within his body. Nicholas stood up and pushed Jerome away once more. He reached into his lab coat and pulled out a gun, with its end aimed at Jerome.
He shook his head, as if he told him not to come closer, but Jerome rushed in. He fired a bullet the moment Jerome ran, but all the sparks made it hard to see, and the bullet barely grazed Jerome on the shoulder.
Jerome took hold of Nicholas’ coat and pushed him into the machine, shocking him with all the volts used to power the contraption. Crystal suddenly entered the room, carried by Jane, her best friend.
The current Jerome looked at them and thought that Jane was familiar.
“Omnipotent Vision?”
Crystal’s eyes widened, and their jaws dropped. The scene before them was a murder scene taking place. She tried to run towards them, but just a she took a step, a high-pitched noise came out of the machine and an explosion took place.
Everyone was zapped by the machine, illuminating the nerves within their body. The pain felt like a trillion hot rods pushed themselves deep into their bodies, so intense that their brain could only process what little it could.
Unable to bear the pain, their lights slowly began to fade, when a second explosion took place. Then everything turned dark.
Nothingness stood before Jerome, who was in shock from the scene from before. He crossed his arms and whispered: “Ernisum Maxima Na!”
The simulation stopped, and a huge gust of wind blew away the people who surrounded Jerome and their weapons along with them.
He was back to the real world, and everyone was prepared to attack him the moment he woke up.
The female breaker stood and attempted to trap him with thin air, but he was able to destroy it with his advanced air manipulation techniques. He gathered air into his hands and looked at the girl as he threw it at her, pushing her hard into the wall.
“Stop, all of you, stay down!” he said.
“You should know what happened by now. You killed all of those people who died that day, and you gave us this curse of power!” Crystal yelled
“No, that’s just what you believed had happened that night. That’s wrong.” He replied
“The machine was never there to heal you, it was to recreate humanity into what we are now. But it could’ve been far worse. It could’ve created a world of monsters.” He continued
“No way that can be true. He promised me that he’d cure me.” Crystal said as she stood up.
“In your memories, that is. You didn’t know much. His plans were all over his office. His journal had it all. I remember everything now. Even if it wasn’t in my dreams, I could connect my memories. Its almost as if the MDM carved everything out and placed them to where they belong. That machine wasn’t there to save you, or Jane, or anyone. It was a machine to reinvent society as a whole.” Jerome said.
“What are you saying? He said that all it would do is kill off the cancer cells.” Crystal said
“While rearranging you from the inside. It does that and more. These powers, the deaths, they were all because of one man, and his title truly fit his name. The inventor of ReSociety, Dr. Nicholas Johnson, the Destroyer. He is to atone for his sins.” Jerome said.
“How can you assure me that I can trust you when my last memory was you pushing Nicholas into his own machine?” Crystal asked
“How can you choose a man who tried to shoot his own brother over me?” Jerome replied
“How can I choose any of you when both of you tried to kill each other?” Crystal asked.
“Simple. One tried to destroy all of humanity, the other tried to save it. Who do you think is the more trustworthy one?” Jerome replied
Crystal and everyone else in the room froze at that moment. None of them knew how to react. The man they hated was the man who attempted to save them but failed to do so.
“And Jane. She lived.” Jerome said
“Where is she?” Crystal asked
“She was here, with me. She was with me. In the parking lot. I know she's there, come!” He replied
They rushed to the parking lot to see a girl lying on the ground. Her skin was wounded, and she was barely breathing. Jerome dashed to her and lifted her in his arms.
"What happened?" He asked
"Destroyer... you can't trust him." she said, before passing out,
They rushed her inside and laid her down on one of the empty rooms.
Crystal held on to the wall beside her. The two breakers close to her tried to comfort her, but she pushed them away.
“There is no time to weep. Let Jane rest. Now we know who to kill.” She said
Everyone looked at each other, as if accepting their new mission from their leader.
“Jerome, where is he?” Crystal asked
Jerome stared at everyone and readied his seal.
“I do not know. But if I had a clue, I’d say that he is where he attempted to murder all of humanity. “he replied
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