Zack's POV
Before anyone could react, Anna lifted her hand, well, Nicole's hand.
Arya interrupted, she stood up, her stance rigid, "Don't ever think about it, Anna."
Anna didn't answer, she flexed her fingers as if testing something. Then, she dug her fingernails into her other palm, pressing hard , enough to draw blood. Now, both of her hands are bleeding.
Nicole in Ellie's body cannot contain her pain anymore. She screamed.
Ellie lunged to stop her, but Anna yanked her arm back and slammed her against the table.
Mark rushed to check on her.
I cannot watch this anymore.
I stood up and grabbed Anna's wrist before she could do more damage.
"Enough!" my voice was firm, but deep inside my heart is pounding.
Anna twisted her wrist, testing my grip, but I did not let her go. I tightened my hold just enough to let her know that I am not playing any games. Before Jake could stand up and help me, she slashed me with the pocket knife in the face, making me let go of her hand.
She rushed to pick up the sword of Ellie and pointed it towards us, swinging it. Jake tried to lunged on her, but she quickly moved and Clark is not doing anything…Why?
"You want to prove a point? You already did. Alright? We get it, pain transfers. You don't need to torture someone else to satisfy your curiosity," I said while holding my face, dripping with blood. Arya and Jake helped me in standing up.
Anna let out a small chuckle. "Oh, Zack. My dear Zack. Always the problem-solver. But, you're missing something."
I stared into her eyes, her smirked irritates me. Then, it clicked, I figured it out. My eyes widened.
"So—you—you want to kill Nicole's consciousness, that's why you are inflicting pain on her body because you know that her body might recover from the physical trauma but she will not."
Anna tilted her head, her smirk deepening. "There it is. I knew you'd figure it out. Maybe there's hope for you after all."
Nicole was whimpering in Ellie's body while clutching her hands close to her chest. There was no injury or anything, but she feels the exact pain that was inflicted from her original body.
Anna swung the sword lightly, testing its weight as if daring one of us to come closer. I knew Jake was itching to take her down, but he also knew that she is not just some insecure girl. She is insane.
Jake suddenly asked me, "You think that what she's planning will work?"
"I honestly don't know," I said.
"You think if you push hard enough, she'll just disappear? That her mind will crumble and you will walk away with a new body, huh?" Arya said, her brows furrowed.
Jake picked up the sword of Mark, who is holding Ellie on the floor. The tension in the room is undeniable. Anna's grip firm on Ellie's sword, her knuckles turning white.
Jake tightened his hold on Mark's sword, his jaw clenched as he assessed the situation. He glanced at me, his eyes searching for a plan, a way to stop Anna before she could do more damage.
I exhaled sharply. "Anna, you don't have to do this. There's another way. We can figure this out without hurting anyone."
If Anna could hurt Nicole, the person who was with her since the beginning, then she wouldn't think twice to hurt us. Provoking her would do more harm than good. So, maybe I should be more empathetic and show her that I understand her. Maybe…Just Maybe, I could change her mind.
Anna's smirk widened, as she titled her head mockingly. "Oh, Zack. This isn't about figuring things out. This is about survival and this is how I intend to survive."
She took a step forward. Jake shifted his weight, ready to intervene, but I raised my hand to stop him. We couldn't afford making sudden moves. Not yet.
Clark, who had been silent this whole time, finally spoke up. "Anna, this is not you. You're better than this, I know you."
Anna's eyes softened for a fraction of second, but then she shook her head, her expression hardening once more. "You don't know me, Clark. Not really."
I could see the conflict in Clark's eyes. He cares about Anna, but not in the way Anna cares about him.
Jake, on the other hand, had no such reservations. He stepped forward, his sword raised. "Enough talk. If you want a fight, Anna, you've got one."
Anna's lips curled into a cruel smile. "Finally, someone with a backbone."
Before Jake could make a move, Anna lunged at him, her sword slicing through the air. Jake quickly blocked her strike, the clash of steel ringing out in the room.
Jake was strong, but Anna was relentless and determined, her movements fueled by a manic energy.
I turned to Arya, who was already moving to help Jake. "We need to stop her before she hurts someone else," I said, my voice urgent.
Arya takes out her dagger from her pocket. Jake was able to swung her sword in one quick motion, and the sword fell from hands and thrown across the room.
Arya lunged at her, and she didn't move. She let Arya get to her even though she had time to move? Why?
Jake kicked the sword far from Anna. He grabbed Anna's hands and tied it at her back using a sleeve cut out from his shirt.
But, there's something wrong. Anna was smirking…even smiling?
Jake pushed her forward while her hands are tied, and forced her to sit at the center table.
"Huh, that was easy," Jake said mockingly at Anna.
She didn't respond.
Mark picked up Ellie and helped her sit on the chair, far from Anna. Nicole was starting to recover and stood up, Clark is with her.
I sigh heavily. I looked at the timer.
[11:59…11:58…11:57…]
Wait…Where's Ambrose? I scanned the room and found him in the far end of the room. He was looking at his reflection on the mirror on the door. What the hell is he doing? Does he even care?
Then, as if he noticed I was looking at him, he walked towards the table and sat in the chair near Mark. As if ready to watch, what is going to happen.
Anna suddenly laughed out loud. "You thought we're done?"
She showed her hands up in the air. What happened to the tie?
Then, I saw the pocket knife on her right hand.
Damn! That's why when Arya lunged at her, she didn't move because she was aiming to get the pocket knife on Arya's pocket.
Before anyone could react, she slashed the pocket knife on her neck —on Nicole's neck.
"NO!" Clark yelled.
"What the—" Jake exclaimed.
Arya gasped.
I was shook to my core. Ambrose was just staring, expressionless.
Nicole in Ellie's body slammed her face in the table, unconscious.
Anna in Nicole's body, shivered and went unconscious. I hurried up to check their pulse.
Anna is still alive. But Nicole is not responding.
The system's voice echoed in the entire room.
[Survivor Anna has inflicted fatal damage to the host consciousness.]
Anna was starting to move as if waking up.
"What…wait…I did it? Didn't I?" she said while blinking and looking at her face in the reflection on the table.
[Survivor Nicole's consciousness is at critical levels.]
Anna's eyes widened, and so ours. "Wait…no"
Nicole's body— the one Anna was in—began to tremble uncontrollably. Then, her limbs locked, her breathing quickened. The wounds and injuries on Nicole's body was gone in an instant.
Anna was knocked unconscious again.
Arya was doing something. She was holding the helmet with her eyes closed. What is she doing? Then, when she opened her eyes, she hurried up and put the helmet and electrodes on Anna—Nicole's head.
"Come on, put the helmet on Anna's and Ellie's heads. Hurry!" Arya said without hesitation.
No one asked why, but they immediately followed Arya. Jake did the same thing to Nicole in Ellie's body and Mark on Ellie in Anna's body.
Arya's POV
As Nicole's body tremble, I held one of the helmet and just gave my 'new ability' the machine whisperer, a shot. Maybe, I could get something out of this. I took a deep breath and focused on it.
The world faded away, and suddenly, I could hear it. A low hum, almost like a whisper, rippling through the machine. It wasn't just a machine; it was a network of commands, a pulse of logic and sequences running through its core.
[Process Reversing...]
The system's voice rang in my head, but beneath it, I heard something else. A hesitation? A conflict?
I focused, pushing deeper, trying to understand. The system was designed to transfer consciousness, but there was a failsafe. Limitation embedded in its programming. If a consciousness reached critical levels, it triggered an automatic reversal, attempting to return the original mind to its rightful body. But there was a flaw. If a consciousness was too damaged, the process could fail.
Nicole might not make it.
No. I refused to let that happen.
I dug deeper, searching for a loophole. My mind raced as I traced the pathways of the system's logic. If the process was failing due to Nicole's unstable consciousness, then what if I redirected the system's energy output? If I could bolster Nicole's presence within her body, she might have a chance.
[Recalibrating Neural Stability...]
The system's voice faltered for a split second. I felt it. A shift. A weakness in its defenses. I pushed harder, feeding a command of my own.
[Stabilization Mode Activated. Consciousness Integrity at 53%...61%...74%...]
Come on, Nicole. Fight.
Then, it reached 100%.
I immediately put the helmet and electrodes on Nicole's body and ordered the others to do the same.
Then, suddenly the system's voice rang out.
[Transmigration process reversing…]
The tension in the room was palpable. No one dared to move. All of us are waiting for what's going to happen next.
Then, with a sharp inhale, Nicole's eyes snapped open.
She was back. Did I succeed?
Or is this still Anna?