(The tires of hundreds of cars moved in a steady rhythm through the wide streets of Tiberium. The sun, newly risen, reflected off the windows of modern buildings. The entire city seemed like a golden mirror—shining, alienating.)

(People walked slowly, barely three kilometers per hour, absorbed in technology, in screens, in novelty. They never looked up, not even for a moment. They knew everything by heart: the route, the sounds, the smells.)

Kael (narration): 

I always see people like this,

like me,

like people I know...

Mediocre.

[Scene 2 – Rooftop of the Institute – 9:41 a.m.]

(The sky was clear, the sun was blazing but gentle. The institute’s rooftop was enclosed by green fences covered in ivy. To the east, far in the distance, temples and Buddhist monuments stood among the mountains. To the west, a few houses, apartments, scattered hotels. And to the north…)

(Kael squinted.

He counted silently.)

—Ten… thirteen… fourteen… twenty-one. Twenty-one people with large signs… Catholicism. The rest… is blocked. Buildings. They’re like a virus. More and more places are infected by those constructions —he muttered with disdain.

(The rooftop access door opened outward. Kael turned, calmly. He saw him. The same dark figure from before.)

—I asked for a chance last time. Now tell me who you are.

(The figure—fuzzy, black, with no visible face—replied in a distorted, genderless voice:)

—You must know… what you saw in the book… the Cod—

—Hey —Kael interrupted—. Answer my question. I don’t know who you are, and you want me to accept your words, that weird book, and everything that’s happening to me...

(His gaze hardened.)

—How do you see me? Like some experiment? A loyal dog doing what his master says without even knowing why?

(Silence.)

(The figure insisted:(

—That doesn’t matter righ—

—What!? —Kael snapped, raising his voice—. You’re screwing with me right now.

—You can just appear in my life like it’s nothing, I can’t even see you clearly, can’t make out your face, and you say it doesn’t matter…

—I won’t listen to another word until you tell me who you are.

(Silence. Then, one final phrase emerged from the shadow:)

—What you must do i—

(Without hesitation, Kael pulled a pen from his pocket and threw it hard at the figure.)

Bang!

(The door slammed shut. The pen ricocheted violently off the wood. Everything returned to silence.)

[Scene 3 – On the Way Home – 3:12 p.m.]

(The noise of students gradually leaving the institute faded. Kael walked with slightly dirty shoes, his backpack slung over one shoulder. He exited through the main entrance. The sun no longer burned. It was as if the day had started to age.)

(Walk. Just walk. Entire blocks.)

(Until he got home.)

(He entered. Lazily took off his shoes and left them by the entrance. A thick air greeted him. Just past the hallway, he stopped. He looked at the door to the living room.)

(And then the memories came.)

(His mind replayed images:

The joyful shouts of his siblings.

His mother’s hands cooking.

His father’s tired but noble face.

His grandparents’ warm embraces.

The laughter of friends in a community that no longer existed.)

(Then… it all faded.)

(He returned to the present.

The dark hallway.

The closed door.

His uncle working outside.

And him, alone.)

(He went into his room, let his backpack drop to the floor, and collapsed onto the bed, face up. He stared at the ceiling, unmoving.)

(In a barely audible voice—calm, yet tinged with despair—he said:)

—I don’t want to be me.

[Scene 4 – Kitchen/Bedroom – 8:30 p.m.]

(The kitchen smelled of something simple. Kael had made a quick dinner. He sat at the table, but didn’t start eating. Instead, his eyes drifted toward the desk. On it, the strange book.)

(The Codex.)

(He looked at it for a long time. Took a deep breath. Then stood up, set the plate aside, and picked up the book.)

(He opened it.)

(Nothing.)

(Minutes passed. Nothing happened. No lights, no voices, no signs. Nothing supernatural. Just blank or unreadable pages.)

(He set it aside.

Returned to his dinner.

Ate in silence.

Then turned off the desk lamp.)

(Just before the light faded completely…

a line began writing itself at the end of the book.

But Kael didn’t see it.)

---

Codex Gnosis Dei – Fragment VI

Tomorrow, one shall come, born to break the cycle.

He shall wear no crown, nor visible light.

But he shall walk among the signs with a name given by Heaven.

Where he treads, destiny splits.