It was a Sunday morning, two months later.
I had just returned from my usual early walk. Nothing special—just clearing my head before the day started. I was tired, so I lay down in my small apartment. No parents. No family. Nobody waiting for me anywhere. Just silence.
Then it happened.
The evacuation alarm tore through the city—not a normal siren, but deep and echoing, as if it came from the sky itself. All civilians must evacuate immediately. Leave the city now.
The walls shook. I jumped out of bed, grabbed nothing, and ran.
Outside, the streets were chaos. People screamed, cars crashed, debris littered every road. The sky opened, rain pouring in sheets. Everyone was running. I ran too, head down, heart pounding.
And I knew—they were watching me. Whispers, glances. Everyone knew me in this city as a loser. Weak. Worthless. Someone to forget. But none of that mattered. Survival mattered. I just kept running.
Then I saw him.
Dinkemeli. My friend. The one who had saved me once when I had nothing. He was pinned beneath a steel beam, blood running down his shoulder and side. Unconscious. Helpless.
Instinct took over. I sprinted, dodging falling debris, ignoring the rain that cut my skin and soaked my clothes. I lifted him carefully, dragging him to a slightly safer street, shielding him as the storm and chaos raged on.
I had barely caught my breath when I saw them.
My ex-girlfriend and the friends who had abandoned me years ago. Their systems glowed faintly under the storm, movements calm, confident. They saw me and Dinkemeli and, without hesitation, they pushed me. Laughed. One shoved me to the ground; another kicked my side.
I didn't fight back. I didn't even flinch beyond what my body naturally did to stay upright. I didn't know what I was capable of yet, and I had no reason to show it. I only focused on keeping Dinkemeli safe.
They mocked, pushed, and walked past, disappearing into the chaos, confident nothing could touch them.
Then the monsters came.
Not the same ones as before—bigger, faster, stronger. Their claws tore through the streets, bodies pulsing with energy that made the rain hiss when it touched them. My ex-girlfriend and her friends moved to fight, sure they could handle it. But it didn't take long before they were thrown aside, unconscious under debris.
I froze for a second, heart hammering. Fear and panic surged. I didn't want to fight. I just wanted everyone to survive.
Something inside me snapped.
Not anger. Not pride. Desperation. Fear. The instinct to protect Dinkemeli and the innocents nearby.
The power surged.
The rain froze midair for a fraction of a second. The monsters screamed as the ground warped, reality bending subtly around me. Energy shot out, pushing the creatures back, shielding the unconscious from harm. I didn't understand what I was doing. I only knew I had to act, had to stop them from dying.
When the chaos subsided, the street was eerily silent. My ex-girlfriend and her friends remained unconscious, unaware of what had saved them. Dinkemeli blinked at me, eyes wide, whispering, "You… you saved everyone."
I didn't answer. My chest heaved. My hands shook. For the first time, I understood that something inside me—something I didn't even know existed—had been awakened.
And far away, systems beyond human sight began to notice. Not fully, not clearly, but enough. The presence of this power would not go unnoticed for long.
That day, my life changed forever. Not because I wanted power, not because I was strong. But because I had no choice. And because I couldn't let the people around me die.