Chapter 36: The Flames of Rebirth
Abdu’s blade whistled through the air, a relentless storm of steel cutting down everything in its path—everything except Sane, who for his own sake he couldn’t touch amidst the chaos. My friends fought desperately, their breaths ragged, their lives teetering on the edge. Time was slipping through my fingers like sand.
The plan had to work.
“2.0! I need your help!” My voice cracked, raw with urgency as I reached out to the entity in my mind. “Tell me how your atomic manipulation works!”
‘It’s not something I can just explain,’ 2.0 replied, his tone steady yet pressing. ‘I have to show you.’
“Then show me! I want to...”
‘I’m inside your head, Cipher. I know what you want. Quantization of energy!’
A 3D image of an atom flickered into my thoughts—electrons spinning in tight orbits.
And then he continued, ‘When an electron drops from a higher energy level to a lower one, it releases energy as electromagnetic radiation. You want to harness that to boost your speed. But it’ll take time—more than you can fathom.’
“Then take me back to that place!” I demanded, my pulse hammering with urgency. “Where time doesn’t pass!”
‘Are you sure?’
“This is the only way to stop Abdu. Do it!”
In an instant, 2.0 plunged me into the frozen depths of my mind—a timeless void where memories froze and seconds unraveled into eternity. There, he peeled back the secrets of atomic manipulation. I watched, mesmerized, as 2.0 taught me how he reshaped molecules, knitted my wounds shut and he once transformed my skin.