Chapter 3: A Harsh Lesson

  The luxury of the white marble chamber felt suffocating. Behind three desks, the Council sat in a state of visible decay; despite the heavy hoods shrouding their faces, sweat dripped onto the tables as they stared at the flickering ruin on their screens.

  "Sir?" Rin’s voice broke the heavy silence, her concern sharp and immediate.

  "It’s a massacre," the Council on the left muttered, his fists clenched so tight his knuckles went white. "FLUX is breaking. ANTI is gaining ground, turning our own brothers against us."

  "A true red season," the Council on the right added, his voice thin and trembling.

  "Red season?" Rin’s voice cracked into a sob, then rose to a scream. "These are people dying!"

  "We know, Rin," the center Council countered, his voice weary. "But the Outland demons are draining us dry. We have no Elites left for defense, and with ANTI striking simultaneously... the Mainland is crumbling."

  On the screens, the horror played out in high definition. They watched a FLUX soldier vaporize a demon’s head with an energy beam, only for the flesh to knit back together instantly. A claw pierced the soldier’s throat, splashing blood across the camera lens before the feed went black.

  "Hit the heart!" the Council on the right shrieked in sudden agony, as if he could reach through the glass and save them.

  The middle Council slumped back. "If we only had more to send. If we still had her."

  The next slide showed the Mainland: a silent graveyard of civilians slaughtered by ANTI. On a blood-slicked wall, the mockery was clear: Come out, come out, FLUX!

  "Let me handle the Leeseo case," Rin demanded, her grief hardening into a sharp, cold edge. "Let me find their hideouts."

  The Council didn't even look up. They remained huddled over their screens, figures of broken authority. Pissed and ignored, Rin turned on her heel and stormed out of the chamber.

  ***

  The training room was a sterile, lime-green cube lined with flickering monitors and motion sensors. Leeseo stood in the center, her fingers nervously twisting the pink bracelet on her wrist. The heavy fabric of her new combat pants felt alien against her skin, a constant reminder that her life as a normal trainee was a distant memory.

  The pneumatic doors hissed open. Seonho stepped in, flanked by Rin, who looked uncharacteristically stern, her bo-staff gripped tightly in her hand.

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  "Seonho!" Leeseo’s face lit up. The dread that had been pooling in her stomach evaporated instantly. She ran toward him, but the tip of a metal staff suddenly blocked her path.

  "Stop right there," Rin commanded, her voice cold.

  Leeseo stumbled back, blinking in confusion.

  "What did you say she did to you again?" Rin asked, her eyes never leaving Leeseo.

  Seonho chuckled, trying to lighten the tension. "Oh, she turned me into a choking balloon floating in the air. You know, like Pennywise’s balloon. Very festive."

  Rin didn’t laugh. "I don’t get it. Leeseo didn’t have these powers before she was taken. Flux gives us strength and speed, but the ANTIs turned her into a Jedi."

  "Can I... play with Seonho now?" Leeseo asked softly, looking hopeful.

  "What's my name?" Rin asked but she didn't get any answer.

  WHACK.

  Without warning, Rin swung the staff, striking Leeseo’s upper arm. Leeseo let out a piercing scream and crumpled to the floor. "Ahhh! It hurts!"

  "What are you doing?!" Seonho shouted, teleporting instantly to Leeseo’s side. He cradled her shoulders, glaring at Rin.

  Rin looked genuinely baffled. "What—she forgot her training, too? She could've easily blocked that! Why?"

  "I don’t know! You didn't have to do that!" Seonho looked down at the trembling girl in his arms. "Leeseo, look at me. Do you still remember any close-quarter combat? Martial arts? Anything?"

  Leeseo shook her head, tears blurring her vision. "I don't—I don't know what those are..."

  Rin stepped forward and roughly pushed Seonho away. "Then let's make her remember."

  Before Seonho could intervene, Rin’s fist connected with Leeseo’s jaw. The younger girl hit the ground hard. She wasn't bleeding externally—the Flux enhancements made her skin like tempered leather—but the impact echoed through the room.

  "Rin, stop!" Seonho lunged, but Rin was faster. She tossed a small metallic cube at his feet.

  The device expanded instantly, shimmering into a translucent blue energy cage. Seonho’s eyes flared a brilliant, angry blue. He tried to teleport out, but he simply slammed his head against the solid light barrier. The cage was designed specifically to disrupt spatial displacement.

  "Let’s shake that Jedi out of you!" Rin yelled. She kicked Leeseo in the ribs. "Fight back!"

  Leeseo was sobbing now, her face bruised and messy. "Please... no more..."

  "I said... FIGHT!" Rin swung the staff downward with a sickening thud.

  "RIN!" Seonho screamed, slamming his fists against the blue walls. "SHE WAS ALREADY TORTURED BY THE ANTIS! YOU WANNA TORTURE HER HERE TOO?"

  "If we don't play like them, we won't win!" Rin shouted back, her staff hovering inches from Leeseo’s head. "How do we know this is even the Leeseo we know? She won't even laugh at my jokes!"

  Rin began her final swing, the metal whistling through the air. Then, it stopped inches from her target's face.

  Suddenly, the air in the room grew heavy. The monitors on the walls began to crack, the glass spiderwebbing outward.

  Leeseo stood up. Her movements were slow, jerky, like a marionette being pulled by invisible strings. Her eyes weren't brown anymore. They were a glowing, terrifying electric blue.

  "I said..." Leeseo’s voice sounded distorted, layered with a hum of raw energy. "STOP!"

  She threw her hands outward. A massive telekinetic shockwave erupted from her. Rin was flung across the room like a ragdoll, slamming into the far wall and sliding down, unconscious.

  The energy cage around Seonho shattered into a thousand sparkling shards, sending him tumbling to the floor. Above them, the heavy monitors groaned and tore away from the walls, crashing onto the green floor.

  The blue light in Leeseo’s eyes flickered and died. She swayed for a moment before her knees buckled.

  Zip.

  Seonho materialized beneath her, catching her before she hit the debris. "There, there, tiger," he whispered, his voice trembling with a relief and sadness. "Rest for now."

  ***

  Meanwhile, in the dimly lit sanctuary of the Council, a tall woman sat cross-legged on the floor. She was meticulously cleaning her nails with a small file, her long legs stretched out confidently.

  "This is a Code Z mission," the Middle Council member stated. "We need an elite to deal with it."

  The woman—Yaejin—smirked, not looking up. "You found her, huh? You found the traitor that perverted our enhancement formula."

  "Yaejin, this woman is dangerous—"

  "I know what she is," Yaejin interrupted, standing up with a grace that suggested a predator. Her eyes were sharp, cold, and calculated. "And I want her dead."

  ***

  The Outlands. Far from the hidden high-tech halls of Flux, a woman stood atop a skyscraper overlooking the city. A deep red shroud billowed around her, partially obscuring the gold mask that covered her face. A long, ornate sword was strapped to her back.

  She tilted her head back, sniffing the air as if catching a scent on the wind.

  "Yaejin..." the woman in red whispered, her voice like grinding stones. "She’s coming."

  Transfer.