Fractured Core

The first thing Aiden noticed when his eyes snapped open was the blinding cascade of lights... Thousands of flashing colors flooded his vision, each burst a searing strike against his retinas.

His breath hitched, a scream ripped from his throat not out of fear, but from the pain piercing every inch of his body.

What is happening?

The question gnawed at him as the lights kept flashing past. Freefalling sped up, and the world outside his normal routine dissolved into chaos. His mind raced for understanding until, as suddenly as it began, the flashing stopped. Silence. His eyes blinked rapidly, adjusting to the absence of light.

What appeared before him was strange and unnerving, countless specks darting at dizzying speeds.

The world around him pulsed, as if alive, as if breathing. Around him were countless cubes each one made of electric smaller cubes that seemed to pulse with veins of light. They connected to one another, curving and twisting in ways that defied logic, but each one felt alive in its own right.

"Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!" Aiden gasped, his body jerking as a bridge loomed ahead, its edges already too close.

He didn't have time to react. His body, on instinct, shot forward, narrowly missing the bridge as he sailed past it, having no time to process. He barely had a second to brace himself before the second bridge appeared before him.

It was too late.

He plummeted downward, only to snag the edge of the bridge with a desperate hand, fingers curling tightly around the ledge, his body trembling as he pulled himself up. He collapsed onto the bridge, gasping for air. He couldn't feel the cold air, passing on his body.

"I almost died… I almost died…" Aiden muttered under his breath.

Hands shaking, pressed against the surface of the bridge, heart pounding, his chest felt as though it would burst from the tension. He wasn't strong for this, there nothing he know what could cause this.

Everything feels like it's spiraling out of control. For the past few days.

This was unsettling him in ways he'd never been before. This was a scenario he never could've predicted yet here he was. He told himself it wasn't real. Despite already feeling and seeing the world around was different.

Aiden stumbled up, his legs like jelly as he took in his surroundings. His eyes flickered around the space, across the landscape. There was nothing like this in his world. Not the technology he knew... Not the cities he'd lived in.

Was this another world? or Just my imagination?

"What a technological built-up world." He muttered. His eyes narrowed as he studied what lay beneath his feet.

He realized what could really be loosely called a bridge, though its structure defied logic. It was a vast, semi-transparent expanse of shifting metallic panels and glassy veins, pulsing faintly with an eerie blue light. The material beneath his feet wasn't solid but rippled like water with every step, leaving faint footprints that evaporated into the air.

Along the edges of the bridge, jagged arcs of light shot upward, forming barriers that seemed to hum with life, flickering in and out of existence like struggling neon veins.

"I don't know… how is this possible?" Aiden whispered to himself. The weight of the situation settling over him.

'What kind of place was this?' The technology before him was far beyond anything he'd ever seen, far more advanced than the machines or gadgets in the online games he'd played. This was... real. Too real.

Twisting and Turning, the air around seemed alive, heavy with the hum thin strands of glowing particles floated around him, weaving into patterns before scattering like ash on the wind.

Occasionally, the ground beneath him shifted, not physically, but in a way that made his stomach lurch. He felt as though the world itself was tilting or folding upon itself.

Far in the distance, the horizon was fragmented, broken into pieces that overlapped one another like shards of a shattered mirror. Each shard reflected a different version of the world one with sprawling machinery, another engulfed in flames, and another completely dark, save for the glint of countless glowing eyes.

Aiden swallowed hard his mind raced."This can't be real. Then again... what even is reality anymore?" he muttered bitterly."I've got to get out of here…whatever this place is"

But deep down, there was a strange feeling stirring within him, something almost magnetic. It was as if, despite the particles around him, this world was somehow... meant for him. As he walked, memories of his free fall resurfaced. The thousands of specs moving like living particles, darting through the void. Could they hold the key to understanding this place?

Minutes later, Aiden found himself at the edge of a vast gathering. The scene that unfolded before him caused his breath to catch in his throat.

"What...?" he whispered, his eyes widening in shock.

Thousands of people stood around him, dressed in strange, mismatched armor and clothing that seemed like a bizarre blend of ancient and futuristic. It looked like a scene out of some kind of twisted combat tournament.

People were fighting, clashing swords with one another, while others battled grotesque creatures that emerged from the chaos. The sound of metal striking metal and the anguished cries of those struck by the creatures filled the air.

What are they fighting?

His gaze swept throught the crowd, some of the fighters appeared human, but others those attacking the strange creatures seemed to possess unnatural strength, or even animal-like agility.

"There other humans here…where they brought here like me?"

He felt completely out of place. It was like stepping into a fighting game, except this wasn't a game it was real, and the stakes were deadly.

As he stood frozen, watching the chaos unfold, a girl in the crowd caught sight of him. Her sharp gaze flicked toward him, and something in her eyes seemed to recognize his confusion, his unfamiliarity with this world. Her eyes narrowed suspicious.

"What's this normal man doing there?" she muttered to herself.

A man beside her, noticing her distraction, turned to her with a puzzled look. "Mira, what's wrong?"

She motioned toward Aiden with a subtle tilt of her head. "There's somebody normal here… I know some people joined today, but not without having some kind of protection."

The man frowned. "He must be some idiot who was either forced to join or betrayed."

Mira didn't respond immediately. She simply hummed thoughtfully, her eyes still tracking Aiden's every move. She couldn't be bothered with the stranger right now she had her own battles to fight. But something tugged at her. There had to be a reason he was here. A reason he had crossed this threshold.

Meanwhile Aiden felt the weight of the situation press down on him. He gazed into the ever-shifting void that stretched around him, he could almost feel the world itself breathing. It wasn't just a place; it was alive, hungry, and infinite.

He wasn't sure if it's a being or he is tiny spec in life. The thought sent a chill down his spine, making him feel smaller and more insignificant than he had ever felt before.

'So, this is it.' he thought, his voice a quiet whisper in his mind. Thrown into some twisted technological world where everyone's playing hero... except me. I'm just the loner without a role.

Aiden's eyes widened as a chilling presence suddenly bore down on him from the corner of his vision. A creature was coming straight for him. He barely had time to process its body before his instincts kicked in, his heart pounding like a drum in his chest. He couldn't think what is was or if it's after him.

The creature was long and sinuous, spanning nearly 15 feet, its body moving in impossible ways as though it didn't fully conform to the laws of physics. It's form seemed to be constructed from semi-transparent, glass-like scales, each refracting light into eerie, prismatic patterns. The scales shimmered faintly, revealing an intricate network of vein-like energy conduits.

It's head a triangular and sleek, with sharp edges that gave it an almost mechanical. Two large, burning amber eyes glowed like molten lava, their gaze piercing and hypnotic. Along its jawline, rows of jagged, silver teeth glinted with a faint metallic sheen, each tooth too sharp and too perfect to be natural. It had a split lower jaw, which opened unnaturally wide, revealing a glowing void-like throat lined with undulating energy tendrils.

Along its spine, jagged spines rose and fell with each movement, sparking faintly with electrical discharges. From it's sides, faintly glowing tendrils of energy dangled, twitching as though they were alive, occasionally lashing out to sense the environment.

"Oh great, a monster the size of a bus. Just what I needed to top off this surreal nightmare. I wonder if it takes appointments to kill me, or is this a walk-in situation??"

He felt a knot in his stomach. He Aiden step back at that moment, the creature it lunged, it's body seemed to phase forward, closing distances unnaturally fast, leaving a faint afterimage in it's wake.

Already infront of him, his arms felt like lead, his breaths were ragged. He didn't know what to do.

At that moment, the creature vein coursed along its body, radiating a faint heat. At the crown of its head, a glowing crest pulsed with a rhythmic energy. It's body veins glowed brighter when it signaling its heightened state of aggression.

Aiden stumbled back, falling onto the ground. As It's tail sharp, serrated, and dripping with a black, viscous liquid slammed down with such force that it sent a shockwave through the air. The liquid evaporated into mist upon contact with the ground.

As he fell the crystal tied around Aiden's neck he hadn't even notice it. Suddenly cracked with a faint, eerie sound, shattering into dust before being reformed and returned to its previous shape, as if the world itself was bending and breaking around him. The crystal crack from the shockwave from the tail.

"Why do you attack me!" He shouted.

However the creature like it had one thing on it'd mind so it roared that it's tail slammed down missing him between his legs. Its tail ended in a sharp, blade-like appendage serrated and dripping with a viscous black liquid that evaporated into mist upon hitting the ground.

I need to get out of here!

Aiden began breathing rapidly stood up, he turned to run away all the people who were fighting the other creature were shaking there head. They knew what was about to happen.

Just as Aiden thought he might have a chance to outrun the creature, a sudden voice echoed through his mind.

'Slam your foot down, boy!'

Aiden froze, heart skipping a beat. What was that voice? He had no time to wonder as the creature closed in.