In front of a tombstone marked "Kamal Mohamed" stood a thin old man in a dark black suit. He stared motionlessly at the grave until another person, wearing a hooded black jacket, stood beside him.

The Old Man: "I warned him not to go to you. He thought you were in big trouble, so he went immediately. I told him if you were in trouble, he'd be the last person who could help. He didn't listen. And now he is dead, and the world is looking for you. You couldn't even attend his funeral. You haven't visited his grave until now, a month after his death."

The sky began to rain lightly. The rain intensified.

The Young Man (angrily): "Stop!".

The old man opened an umbrella. "The weather was beautiful today. I don't know how it became so stormy ." After a moment of silence , he continued: "You know, Ahmed? If you'd stopped your foolish ideas and worked at the company as your father always asked, this wouldn't have happened. But you thought you were superhuman, wanting to uncover that incident's secret and do what governments couldn't. You bet everything on a stupid, naive idea. Your bet was lost from the start, fool. Now you've truly lost everything; your father and the safety of your own home."

Ahmed grabbed the old man by his clothes, tears in his eyes: "Why, Uncle Hassan? Why tell me this now?".

The Uncle: "To remind you, you chose this difficult path. They say if you're in a hole, stop digging. That's not your situation. Even if you stop, you'll never get out. Your only solution is to keep digging, breaking all laws of physics, until you come out the other side. Either that or die here. Your chance to choose is over."

The rain intensified to a storm. Ahmed left and went to Sekhmat, who sat far away.

Sekhmat: "I don't know what discussion happened, but it doesn't look like it went well; you washed the whole place."

Ahmed: "I thought coming here before the plan would make me feel better. I was wrong."

One month ago

Ahmed sat in front of his father's injured body, screaming, crying, and hitting the ground. He turned to Sekhmat, who was treating the wounded, and screamed: "You!! Come here! He needs you!".

Sekhmat approached, placing a hand on Ahmed's father: "I'm sorry, there's no life in this body."

Ahmed pulled him forcefully: "Then bring him back like you did me! You returned my heart!".

Sekhmat, sadly: "No one can bring life back to a dead body. You didn't die; Gear users' bodies don't work like normal humans'...".

Ahmed interrupted, hitting his chest: "I don't care about this nonsense! Just bring him back!".

Sekhmat was silent as Ahmed screamed until his vocal cords tore. As rain poured and everyone stood in silence , Youssef shot Ahmed in the head to knock him out and carried him: "Time is not on our side. We must go. I hear sirens approaching."

He looked at Maryam, who nodded, made a staircase into the ground, and they all descended. Maryam closed the path behind them.

Ahmed was taken to the System again. The place was the same, but flooded. Ahmed sat, head bowed in sadness.

The System: "What do you intend to do?".

Ahmed (without looking): "Nothing. Nothing has meaning anymore."

The System: "Do you really think you have the freedom to surrender?".

Ahmed: "It doesn't matter. I don't understand anything, I can't even use you. Surrender or not, I'm just a zero."

The System: "Exactly. But why do you think you're here? By chance?". Ahmed looked but didn't respond. "You aren't like them. You're a burden. Trash that can't stay conscious for 5 minutes. But you overlook their common point: they all use what they trained and learned. Do you use what you've learned?".

Ahmed woke up on Youssef's back but pretended to be unconscious, listening. They were still underground, Ali and Sekhmat arguing.

Ali: "We can't tell you anything while you're wearing that mask."

Sekhmat: "I can't remove it. I have people to protect. Today's friend is tomorrow's enemy. I can't trust anyone."

Ali: "You think we don't have anyone to fear for? Wait... we really don't!".

Maryam: "Why don't we start by explaining what happened here?".

Sekhmat: "Fine."

Maryam: "I'll start. We were talking in the hotel room when I felt the ground change. I pushed them away, then those spikes hit me."

Ali: "Youssef and I got out and found that bastard 'Omar' did it, so I distracted him...".

Sekhmat: "Wait, you knew him beforehand?".

Ali: "Take off that can and I'll tell you. Anyway, I distracted him for Youssef's attack and went to help the others. I found Ahmed, his condition similar to now, woke him, and went to help Maryam. Then that idiot attacked me." He pointed to Youssef.

Youssef: "I don't know what happened. I thought I defeated the bastard, but he vanished. When I looked, I saw him near Ahmed and attacked. You say I was attacking you, so he tricked me somehow."

Sekhmat: "My turn. I heard about the hospital incident and came to investigate. While I was at the hotel, it exploded."

Ali: "You were here from the start? Why didn't you help if you're good?".

Sekhmat: "I don't know you or him. I observed from afar. I only helped when I was sure you weren't involved."

Ali: "But your intervention was epic! You came from the sky! How?".

Sekhmat: "Let's say it's part of my abilities."

Youssef: "Where is Omar now?".

Sekhmat: "Far enough. I moved him to the farthest place possible. Now, tell me who you are."

Youssef: "We'll tell you. But if you don't give us useful information, we'll kill you here."

Sekhmat: "Fair enough."

They told him about their Teacher, how they got here, and why, but omitted their personal pasts.

Maryam: "Now you. Why that mask? Why a name like an Egyptian goddess? The Sekhmet I know is female and unrelated to Horus."

Sekhmat: "Your story is strange and mysterious, but mine isn't much different. I don't know why I'm called this; it's what my teacher called me. I don't remember my past, only that I am a warrior trained by my teacher Horus to stop his enemy's advance in the future. I did that years ago and finished my mission. Now I await the next one."

Ali: "What? Why do you talk like that makes sense? Who is this enemy? How did you stop him? Is 'Horus' real?".

Sekhmat: "Horus is my teacher and leader. That's all I remember, except my great respect for him. But I remember his last words. Telling you isn't a problem; if you were enemies, you'd already know this."

Youssef: "Just tell us, and we'll decide if you're an ally."

Sekhmat: "'You are on this mission because Set sent another person to the future to colonize it, claiming future inhabitants will defile our lands. How he knew isn't important. You'll go with the other warrior, pretending I support Set. Your mission is to hinder the other warrior and eliminate him. You must feign loyalty while doing the opposite. We can't actually send you to the future, so we'll seal you in special tools I made, preserving you in a coma-like state for hundreds of years until someone releases you...'".

Ali: "You're an envoy from the ancient civilization!!??".

Sekhmat: "If you interrupt me again, I won't finish. I hate interruptions. '...I'll tell you what I know about the Ancient Weapons you and "Askam" (the other warrior) use. Their origin is a mystery, but this may help. They have five basic parts. Whoever controls them controls nearly all matter. The first controls solids. The second controls thermal energy. The third controls non-solids (gas or liquid). The fourth controls living cells and organic materials. The last controls lightning-like energy. These colored weapons aren't the only ones. Others exist, but I know little. One turns solids into a new, stronger matter uncontrollable by other weapons. The second is difficult, creating dangerous illusions; stay away from it. The third transports anything, anywhere, in moments. The fourth transfers power to anyone, putting them under your command; it can create armies. I don't know about the others. After your mission, search for your next one. You'll recognize it when you find it. Goodbye, my dear student.'".

Ali: "Did anyone notice he called the Gear 'Ancient Weapons' thousands of years ago? How old are they? Did you finish your mission?".

Maryam: "You finished it a few years before the vehicle fell, right?".

Sekhmat (surprised): "Yes, how did you know?".

Maryam (tears in her eyes): "I've spent my life looking for you. You're proof my father wasn't crazy. He saw your mission but didn't forget it like the others."

Sekhmat: "Strange. Everyone who saw the mission should have forgotten it."

Ali: "Did you really move the pyramids, as Maryam said?".

Sekhmat: "Yes, but everything returned to its place."

Silence. Sekhmat then said: "Right, how did you find that Gear Omar got? It was initially with your sleeping friend."

Youssef: "I think he'll answer himself. He woke up a while ago and is pretending. I can tell from his breathing and heart rate."

Ahmed got off Youssef's back, calmly cleaning his clothes: "I only know it's an ancient heirloom in my mother's family. It protected me from deadly situations, but it stopped working after I got my own Gear. The System called it the Devil's Gear. That's all I know." He paused. "I thought time would bring answers, but things just get worse and more complicated. I want us to organize all this information now."

Ali (surprised): "Now? Can't we get out of here first?".

Ahmed: "Now. I don't know when the next chance will be, or if Sekhmat will stay, or how many minutes I have left to live ." He looked at Maryam: "I need a solid stone to carve on the wall."

She got him a stone, and Ahmed began carving while the others sat.

Ali (low voice): "Finally, he's doing his job. I'm excited."

Maryam: "What do you mean?".

Ali: "Usually, the team has a comic guy like me, an angry brute like Youssef, and a smart planner. I think that's Ahmed."

Maryam: "And me?".

Ali (questioning): "I don't know. Usually, the writer adds a weakly written healer girl..." He paused, blushing, and looked down. "Maryam, do you think Sekhmat is a girl?".

Maryam (angrily): "What nonsense is that!?".

Ali: "I don't know. I'm confused these days."

Maryam: "You've ignored all the crazy events, and your theory is this half-naked bodybuilder is a girl. Sometimes, the way your brain works amazes me."

Ali: "I'll take that as a compliment."

Ahmed (pointing to the wall): "This is the character map of everyone involved with the Gear."

Youssef: "Where's your mother? Isn't she the old Devil's Gear bearer?".

Ahmed: "She doesn't know anything; she just inherited it."

Youssef: "That's what you know. She wouldn't tell a child. Add her."

Ahmed, annoyed, added her, knowing Youssef was right.

Ahmed: "Anyone else?".

Maryam: "I think that's everyone important."

Ahmed: "Okay, here's the timeline as I know it: Horus sent Sekhmat to stop 'Askam' (a follower of 'Set'), succeeding years before the ship incident. Then the ship incident. Then, the Teacher trained Youssef, Ali, and Maryam, sending them to me for unknown reasons. Finally, me, Ahmed—who got the Devil's Gear from my mother—illogically received the King's Gear when it fell from nowhere. After all this, Omar attacked us, revealed as a Devil's Gear user, and stole my inherited Gear, before Sekhmat magically sent him away. Any objections?".

No one spoke. Ahmed continued: "Now, questions. You bastards told me we regenerate. Why did I feel like I was really dying when Omar tore out my heart?".

Ali: "Did you think you were immortal? I told you the Gear is in the heart. It's obvious you'll die if it's crushed. The heart is the center; other organs are just regenerable additions."

Ahmed: "I'll overlook that. You did something that made your eyes glow yellow."

Ali: "I explained that. It's the third state: Focus."

Ahmed: "On your eyes? What's the use?".

Maryam: "Not just eyes. We focus our nervous system and brain. It makes reactions faster and multiplies senses, but negatively affects eyesight for an unknown reason. Our eyes seem too weak for it, weakening our vision. But we 'see' better overall because of other senses."

Ahmed (rubbing his hair): "So you're more like a bat or snake in that state. I really need to learn a lot."

Youssef (to Sekhmat): "Most important question: What do you know about the fallen vehicle or Atlantis?".

Sekhmat: "Nothing. But they didn't come with good intentions. There are suspicious movements. I feel a huge event is coming."

Ali: "Aren't we going to get out of here? A whole chapter and we're underground."

Maryam: "Where should we go?".

Ahmed: "I have no money for tickets or rooms. My cards are lost."

Sekhmat: "I can lend you money."

Ahmed: "Why don't you just book the rooms?".

Sekhmat: "So you can ask my name? I'm watching you, not the reverse."

They surfaced safely, and Sekhmat returned with money. They booked rooms in a lower-quality hotel. Ahmed couldn't sleep, thinking about the day, but eventually did.

He woke the next day to a strong slap. He was tied to a wooden chair in a dark room. A person in a black suit sat opposite him: "Who are you?".

Ahmed: "I used to wonder about their cold reactions in difficult situations. Now I get it. I've gotten used to it."