Anomaly

(POV – Nekra)

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

However, Nekra was alone at the moment, 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 came 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 time to time, 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 moment to the fullest... After all, it had been a long time 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 something. The small figure briefly raised its hand, and the other dolls seemed to become more agitated, anticipating what would come next.

Then, in a graceful movement, 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 something uncommon for her, almost unknown — it wasn’t part of her essence.

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

At that exact moment, Nekra felt something. 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 movements, she rose from the bed. Something 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 became fun. That’s why there was no doubt: she would help him.

At that moment, 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 me. However, the reaction team members 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 me. 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 me.

What bothered me, 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 submerged, and, peculiarly, the volume of water seemed to decrease as we got closer to the park, as if it were retreating from us.

However, physically, this seemed 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 seemed like the ground was becoming shallower. But, for some 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 environment even more tense.

The clouds, in turn, were growing darker, and there was something unsettling in the air. Somehow, it felt like at any moment something could emerge from the clouds — a portal or something 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 members of the reaction team behind me merely 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 mental limits, but seeing how my mind had clearly changed since I became an anomaly, I also found it quite unlikely that I would succumb to mental 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 same 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 members were talking among themselves. Honestly, I wasn’t all that interested in what they were saying, but at the same time, 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 members whose name 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 members 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 member responded, clear concern in their voice.

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

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

Right at that moment, I noticed everyone’s gaze turning toward me, as if a single collective movement had drawn them in. However, not paying any attention to it, I kept my eyes fixed on the horizon, taking my time, 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 something like this, it felt like another world.

Sure, there was that time I went to a village and met 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 me.

“Well, I’ve read some 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 me of a knight, somehow” another reaction team member commented.

I blinked, surprised. Honestly, I wasn’t expecting that reaction. Instead of being scared, they seemed to be in awe, for some 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 me, like something was being drained from within. It was a brief moment, but enough to make me feel uneasy.

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

In the next moment, 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 moments, a faint golden sphere struggling to shine for brief moments before disappearing entirely.

As incredible as it seemed, 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 something was about to happen.

The clouds, thick and heavy, seemed 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 seemed to have settled in permanently, blocking almost all the light trying to come 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 some idea, since they had my reports with them, but I didn’t remember 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 extremely intelligent in their own way. To them, that detail might seem irrelevant, but to me, 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 time, uncertainty... How would I convince anyone to go through it without hesitation? But, well, I’d figure something out when the time came. I always did.