Anomaly Chapter 95 – Storm [11]

(POV – Nekra)

Nekra was in a place with a peculiar appearance, but surprisingly comfortable. There was no darkness — the environnt was always lit, which she liked. Additionally, the humans — as Eve had told her they were called — always offered her delicious food, sothing Nekra appreciated even more.

However, Nekra was alone at the mont, as White had gone on an adventure. She was sad she couldn’t go with, but White promised that, in exchange, they would play a lot when he ca back.

Even though she was alone, Nekra wasn’t entirely helpless. Little beings surrounded her, moving around her — White called them "dolls" They were the ones keeping her company now, filling the silence with their peculiar presence.

From ti to ti, a strange person would appear to visit her. Although Nekra felt uncomfortable with their presence, White had told her to be kind to that human, so she was.

Still, all Nekra really wanted was for White to return soon. She couldn’t wait to play again. She wanted to enjoy every mont to the fullest... After all, it had been a long ti since they’d been together.

As these thoughts passed through her mind, Nekra noticed one of the dolls on the bed. Others, scattered across the floor, also turned their gazes toward her, as if waiting for sothing. The small figure briefly raised its hand, and the other dolls seed to beco more agitated, anticipating what would co next.

Then, in a graceful movent, the doll leaped, gliding through the air with an almost supernatural lightness, as if flying, before gently landing on the floor. Both Nekra and the other dolls applauded excitedly, praising her performance.

Nekra displayed a subtle smile, without even realizing it. Smiling was sothing uncommon for her, almost unknown — it wasn’t part of her essence.

However, at that mont, she was having fun. She had never experienced so much fun as she did now. Whenever she was with White, everything beca lighter, more interesting... more fun.

At that exact mont, Nekra felt sothing. Her gaze instinctively turned toward the sky, fixing on a specific direction. The subtle smile disappeared from her face, replaced by her usual expression — cold and unshakable. With smooth movents, she rose from the bed. Sothing inside her told her, with absolute certainty: White was in danger.

White was everything to Nekra. Whenever they were together, Nekra felt a happiness she had never known before — with White, everything beca fun. That’s why there was no doubt: she would help him.

At that mont, she made her decision. Her face remained expressionless, as always, but her thoughts told a completely different story.

(Nekra... would embark on an... adventure...) she thought to herself. She could hardly wait to reunite with White.

***

(POV – Protagonist)

We walked in silence toward our destination. Well, technically, I could never speak, so it didn’t make much of a difference to . However, the reaction team mbers also remained silent, and that was unusual. They used to talk a lot — at least among themselves — but now, the silence hanging in the air made the atmosphere even stranger.

I wasn’t stupid, at least not to the point of not noticing the mood around . Since my demonstration of strength against the mutant fish, I could tell they were distancing themselves, but it didn’t seem like they were afraid of .

What bothered , though, was that I couldn’t exactly understand the reason for this distance, which only heightened the sense of uncertainty in the air.

Anyway, putting this strange situation aside, the park we were heading to was now much more visible, at least for now. The impression I had was that it was just a regular park, with a few trees and pleasant picnic areas.

Additionally, contrary to expectations, the area wasn’t subrged, and, peculiarly, the volu of water seed to decrease as we got closer to the park, as if it were retreating from us.

However, physically, this seed impossible. At least with the depth I could perceive so far, there should have been a wall of water around the park. But none of that was there.

On the contrary, the closer we got, the more it seed like the ground was becoming shallower. But, for so reason, I had the feeling that, instead of becoming shallower, the ground was actually deepening even more.

My little feet kept moving over the dark mist created by my Alter Ego as I carefully observed the place we were heading. The rain was falling heavily, and the winds were picking up, making the environnt even more tense.

The clouds, in turn, were growing darker, and there was sothing unsettling in the air. Sohow, it felt like at any mont sothing could erge from the clouds — a portal or sothing similar, as if the sky were about to open.

“Let’s hurry. The weather’s getting more unstable, and it’s hard to tell how much worse it can get in the next few minutes. If we get trapped in this storm, we might never get out” the leader ordered, with a serious expression on his face, his eyes fixed on the clouds above us.

The mbers of the reaction team behind rely nodded, and then we all began to walk faster. Definitely, this wasn’t a pace that a child could keep up with. Of course, I wasn’t a child. Besides, I didn’t tire — at least not physically.

I never tested my ntal limits, but seeing how my mind had clearly changed since I beca an anomaly, I also found it quite unlikely that I would succumb to ntal fatigue.

After a few minutes of walking, we arrived at a building. With the help of my Alter Ego, we climbed to the top of the building and managed to observe the surroundings. In front of us, there were no more buildings — just the park, the destination of our mission.

Though the news that we had arrived was a relief, there was a reality we couldn’t ignore: I wouldn’t be able to use my Alter Ego the sa way to keep moving forward, not that I really understood how it worked in the first place.

As I looked around the edge of the building, the reaction team mbers were talking among themselves. Honestly, I wasn’t all that interested in what they were saying, but at the sa ti, it wasn’t like I couldn’t hear them. I guess that’s one of the downsides of having enhanced hearing. Anyway, their words were crystal clear in my mind.

“So we’re stuck here until we figure out how to get to the park?” one voice said, probably from one of the mbers whose na I still didn’t know.

“We could use the elevators to go down. From what I noticed as we walked, it doesn’t seem like the inside of the buildings has been affected by the water” one of the reaction team mbers replied.

“Are you out of your mind? Did you forget there’s a giant monster swimming in that water? If we go down any further, we’d be sitting ducks for that thing” another mber responded, clear concern in their voice.

Overall, that was the kind of conversation they were having — nothing that directly involved , and definitely nothing that interested . To be honest, I didn’t really care, or at least not until they started talking about , which, as expected, didn’t take long.

“By the way, did you guys see what I saw earlier? I an, those humanoid fish things, or whatever they were...” one of the soldiers asked in a whisper, their voice low and cautious.

Right at that mont, I noticed everyone’s gaze turning toward , as if a single collective movent had drawn them in. However, not paying any attention to it, I kept my eyes fixed on the horizon, taking my ti, swinging my legs gently as I sat on the edge of the building.

It was a strange feeling, almost nostalgic, to be there, outside the walls of the facility. It had been so long since I last experienced sothing like this, it felt like another world.

Sure, there was that ti I went to a village and t Nekra, but I didn’t really get to take in the surroundings. I was too caught up in my own shadowed world to notice anything other than the darkness around .

“Well, I’ve read so of the reports on the [Angel of Death], so I more or less knew what to expect, but honestly, seeing it in person was way more impressive than I imagined. It had a presence that reminded of a knight, sohow” another reaction team mber comnted.

I blinked, surprised. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that reaction. Instead of being scared, they seed to be in awe, for so reason I couldn’t quite understand.

Maybe it was because we had taken down most of the mutant fish? I had no idea, but I let it slide.

The question now was: how exactly were we going to get to the park? We couldn’t fly, and if I could at least use my ability to move through the shadows, things would be very different.

It was just a fleeting thought, but as soon as it crossed my mind, a strange sensation took hold of , like sothing was being drained from within. It was a brief mont, but enough to make feel uneasy.

The next second, when I turned my gaze, my Alter Ego appeared before . I stayed seated, swinging my feet gently, taking my ti as I calmly watched it.

In the next mont, my Alter Ego slowly turned, casting a fleeting glance at its reflection before transforming into a thick black mist. With supernatural speed, the mist rose, climbing toward the sky as if pulled by an invisible force.

As it gained height, the mist began to expand, taking shape, but in a controlled way. It didn’t spread wildly, just enough to partially cover the sky, creating a dense dark curtain that obscured the light.

Interestingly, the sun was still visible, though in its final monts, a faint golden sphere struggling to shine for brief monts before disappearing entirely.

As incredible as it seed, it wasn’t completely dark, although the sky was weighed down by a heavy blanket of clouds. The atmosphere was, indeed, quite strange, as if sothing was about to happen.

The clouds, thick and heavy, seed ready to swallow up the sunlight, but curiously, there was still a faint glow on the horizon. However, as the shadow spread, it took over part of the light that still tried to escape, creating an almost oppressive atmosphere.

Where we were, this effect was most noticeable; the building we were in was like a refuge, where the shadow seed to have settled in permanently, blocking almost all the light trying to co through.

In a way, we were surrounded by darkness, but it was partial darkness, as if the day still refused to give in completely.

I noticed the reaction team’s reaction. They didn’t seem scared, but confused, as if they were trying to understand what was happening.

Well, maybe they already had so idea, since they had my reports with them, but I didn’t rember making it clear that I didn’t necessarily need shadows to move.

But, thinking about it, Laura and Emily had probably already figured it out, since both were extrely intelligent in their own way. To them, that detail might seem irrelevant, but to , it was a huge help.

After all, with shadows around, I could use my ability to move through the shadows to transport the group to the park quickly and discreetly, without drawing attention.

Of course, it wasn’t like the situation was completely solved. Even if I could open the portal, how would I get them to go through? I couldn’t just ask them to step into a clearly suspicious portal created by an anomaly that already raised a lot of questions.

Plus, there was the issue of ti, uncertainty... How would I convince anyone to go through it without hesitation? But, well, I’d figure sothing out when the ti ca. I always did.