Kamcy

  “Sir!”

  Whose that? Why does the voice sound so familiar?

  “Sir, sir, please wake up.”

  My eyes snapped open immediately, confusion washing over me in a cold wave. I was seated upright. Before me sat a group of soldiers, guns in hand, clad in full tactical gear.

  …That’s right. I was on a mission.

  My mind felt groggy, like it was fighting desperately to catch up with my body and the chaotic thoughts racing through my head. But still… what was that voice? I knew it. I had heard it before. Where, though? I couldn’t place it.

  No… wait.

  I remember now.

  That dream.

  I’ve always had it.

  Though I lose all recollection of it whenever I wake up, the only thing that stays with me after each dream is the fear. That suffocating, bone-deep fear… like something terrible happened. Like something irreversible.

  Even now, I couldn’t remember what it was about. Just that I remembered the voice.

  Shaking my head, I looked down at my body and noticed I was strapped to the chair of a moving vehicle. A cross seatbelt held me firmly in place, pressing against my chest and waist.

  Turning my face slightly, I finally focused on the interface hovering within my vision.

  It looked nothing like it had before.

  What the hell actually happened?

  In front of me was an interface that read:

  [Name: Kamcy]

  [àse: inert]

  [Tier: 9 (peak)]

  Despite the minor changes in the text, I could still make out what most of it meant. The only real change was the wording, from “state” to “àse.” That clarified things. The esoteric energy was indeed called àse.

  The “Tier: 9 (peak)” part caught my attention.

  I quickly surmised that tiers were divided into either two or three stages. More likely three. That would be confirmed once I formed my core and saw what changed.

  The rest of the HUD, though…

  Well, that just confused me.

  [Innate Skill: inert]

  [Contracts: Open Potential (inert)]

  [Please awaken core to fully access features]

  Seeing that last line gave me at least a direction. A goal.

  Awaken core.

  But now I was confused again.

  Was this a system?

  Like in those novels?

  If so… this was a pretty shitty one. There were no instant cheats in sight. No stat boosts. No “Congratulations, you have acquired God-tier ability.”

  Wait.

  Does that make me some sort of protagonist?

  Or is this one of those situations where multiple people get systems?

  My spiraling trail of thoughts was thankfully interrupted before it could go any further.

  “Sir, are you alright? … He’s awake. Tell the captain he’s awake. Sir, are you alright?”

  The soldier seated opposite me finally noticed I was fully conscious. He quickly unbuckled his seatbelt and rushed over, checking me like I was fragile glass. His voice sounded both ecstatic and scared, like I was someone important.

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “Sir, can you hear me? Sir—”

  “I’m fine.”

  I finally responded, cutting him off and putting an end to the mother-hen routine.

  “Kamcy, this is the captain. Are you alright?”

  I turned toward the source of the voice and quickly realized it was coming from a radio mounted on the vehicle’s wall.

  “I’m fine… Captain. I just felt dizzy, that’s all.”

  There was a short silence.

  “…Alright then, young man. If you say so. We are a few minutes away from our first outpost, so prepare yourself. Your partners Orezi and Khadija will fill you in. If there’s anything you wish to voice out, the channel is open.”

  His tone sounded rather experienced and confident, like he’d done this for years.

  “…Yes, Captain.”

  I gave him the respect his position deserved.

  Someone sure fit into their role quickly, I joked mentally.

  “Hey, silent man. You almost gave us all a fright. Was that a health thing or something?”

  Just when I thought I’d finally be left alone with my thoughts, Ijeoma’s chirpy voice crackled through the speakers.

  “Leave am na. Always trying to act nonchalant, and he’s not even up to the task.”

  As if to make things worse, a small panel slid open between the driver’s section and us, and Orezi’s voice came through—half mocking, half joking. At least I hoped he was joking.

  There was an attempt to stifle laughter in the truck.

  I turned slightly and caught a soldier trying to suppress it. Helmet on. The moment my eyes locked onto them, they shifted uncomfortably under my stare.

  “Ah, I’m sorry, sir,” came the voice quickly.

  Definitely female.

  I just shook my head and chuckled lightly. A small wave of laughter followed, easing the tension in the vehicle.

  “To be sincere, even I don’t know what happened, honestly. Never happened to me before.”

  I played along to keep the mood light.

  “Na so dem dey talk,” Orezi shot back from the front, laughing.

  I ignored him. Responding would only give him more ammunition.

  Instead, I leaned slightly toward the speaker.

  “Thanks for worrying about me. But don’t worry, I don’t plan on making it a habit. One dramatic fainting episode per mission is my limit.”

  There was a small pause, then another wave of laughter.

  “Alright, if you say so,” Ijeoma replied, and the radio went silent.

  “Good to see you’re alright,” Khadija finally spoke. She was seated across from me, near the dividing section, posture straight as always.

  “Thanks. So, you guys were meant to fill me in?”

  She nodded.

  “Yeah. We’re reaching our first post soon, like the captain said. It’s one of the three sectors on our way to the main checkpoint.”

  She continued calmly.

  “Home base lost contact with them a few days ago. The likely theory is that they were attacked by the Swarm and are all dead. But on the unlikely chance they survived and shut down communications to conserve power and defend against the Swarm, we’re to stop by and check. We’ll need to access the lead commander of the base to retrieve a classified item, and also check for survivors,” she concluded.

  “That doesn’t sound complicated at all.”

  The plan sounded clean on paper. But something about it felt off. Too convenient.

  I was ninety percent sure everyone on that base was dead.

  “So the place contains scientists or something? And are we given authority to know what this classified item is?”

  If this was another field experiment disguised as a mission, I needed to know what I was walking into.

  “First, it’s mainly a military and storage station. It was meant to serve as a defensive post in case the Swarm broke through the first two points. Secondly… negative. We don’t have clearance to know what the classified item is.”

  “Great,” I muttered.

  Everything about this screamed staged test.

  I sighed.

  “Thanks for the info anyway.”

  She gave a curt nod and went back to staring at the metallic wall. The rest of the soldiers did the same. There was nothing else to do but wait.

  “Afa, make person play music na,” Orezi’s voice called out.

  I saw him stretch his hand toward what looked like a stereo console.

  “Please don’t do that, young man. We are ordered to maintain as much silence as possible,” the captain’s voice came through again, shutting that down instantly.

  “This big tank never make enough noise reach. If anything wan happen, e go happen,” Orezi retorted.

  The moment he said that, a cold prickle ran up my spine.

  He just jinxed us, hadn’t he? Or maybe me thinking that is what would be jinxing us.

  I turned my head slightly, about to focus back on the interface—

  That was when my senses exploded.

  It was a feeling I was now quite accustomed to, something I had learned to trust in a year of torment. It was none other than my instinct. So without any delay, I acted.

  “MOVE!!”

  I grabbed the soldier beside me by his vest and pushed him violently, shoving him hard into the man next to him. Their armored bodies slammed together with a crash.

  They didn’t even have time to protest before a long, chitinous blade—jagged and glistening—punched through the armored plating of the vehicle where the soldier had been seated a split second earlier.

  Metal screamed as the blade tore through it like paper.

  It didn’t stop there.

  It drove forward.

  And pierced straight through the midsection of the soldier seated opposite us.

  There was a sickening, wet crunch.

  The blade burst out through his back in a spray of blood and shredded fabric.

  For a split second, there was silence.

  Then came the sound.

  A choking gasp.

  The soldier looked down.

  The blade had punched clean through his abdomen. His armor had caved inward. I could see the ruptured edges of metal curled around the wound. Blood poured out in thick, dark streams, soaking his uniform instantly.

  The blade twitched.

  And when it retracted—

  It tore everything with it.

  Flesh ripped.

  Organs dragged.

  A string of intestines followed for half a second before snapping loose and slapping wetly against the floor of the vehicle.

  The soldier’s body slumped forward.

  His stomach cavity was open.

  Not just pierced.

  Open.

  I could see torn muscle, shredded tissue, and something pale and pulsing that spilled partially onto his lap before sliding down.

  Blood sprayed across the interior wall.

  Across my face.

  Across the helmet visor of the soldier next to me.

  “Wetin be dat one?!” Orezi yelled from the front.

  The vehicle jolted violently.

  Metal groaned.

  Something massive scraped along the outer hull.

  The peaceful ride was over.

  And whatever had just stabbed through reinforced military armor like it was foil—

  Was still outside.