Dark Apocalypse

Episode 8

The Cost



Ever since he had awoken, the world had seemed unsettling to Adam. Witnessing the city engulfed in flames and reduced to ruins had only intensified that feeling. And after seeing zombies feasting on human flesh, to be honest, Adam had become like a frightened bird, on edge and jumpy at the slightest disturbance.

At that moment, a sudden voice in his mind nearly made his heart leap out of his chest! He felt as though his heart had stopped for several seconds, and a scream almost escaped his lips, only to be hastily muffled by his trembling hands. The consequences if it hadn't been...

"Who?! Who's there?! Who's speaking?!"

Adam dared not raise his voice, fearing the nearby zombies might hear him. Although from where he stood, there was still some distance and a corner separating him from the field where the creatures lingered, a single sound might doom him if it attracted their attention.

Yet he couldn't ignore the voice that had just spoken; he scanned his surroundings nervously, trying to locate the source of the sound. Despite his fear, he clung to a sliver of hope—if someone could speak, then it wasn't a zombie!

Was there another survivor? Someone alive!

In this situation, finding a fellow survivor would be a blessing, though Adam was also wary; he knew that another human could be as much a danger as a saving grace. His joy was tempered with caution.

But after a thorough search, there was no one to be seen. Had he imagined it?

"No, that can't be! I definitely heard it!" The voice had been so clear, almost as if it had come from right beside him...

Beside him?!

A shiver ran down his spine. There was nothing nearby; how could there have been a voice?

"A ghost?" Adam, a staunch atheist, had never believed in gods or spirits, but how else could he explain this? And if zombies from movies could materialize in reality, who was to say that vengeful spirits couldn't?

"Ghost, my foot! You i***t!"

It came again! That voice! This time, Adam was more prepared, and he distinctly heard it—it was a woman's voice!

"The voice... so cute... and kind of... tsundere?"

Adam shook his head, discarding such absurd thoughts and focusing on searching again, determined to find the woman who was playing tricks on him. It was broad daylight—there was no way it could be a ghost! And her tone clearly suggested otherwise.

But there was nothing around, no place anyone could hide! A chill crept down his back; could it really be a ghost? A ghost who didn't know she was a ghost and still teased people?

"I already told you I'm not a ghost! How stubborn can you be?!"

The voice rang out again, sounding both exasperated and amused, as if annoyed by Adam's skepticism. He picked up a fallen police baton from the ground to give himself a semblance of courage.

"You... i***t," the female voice seemed half amused, half exasperated.

Suddenly, a thought struck Adam. He realized that the voice hadn't come from around him at all. It was...

"Finally figured it out, have you? What a moron! Is your IQ really only nine?"

D*mn it! Adam cursed under his breath. The voice had been resonating directly inside his head! It hadn't crossed his mind that something like this was possible, so he had assumed the source was external. But no, the voice was echoing within his mind!

"Someone in this world actually knows how to project their voice into another's head? Aren't those martial arts stories just make-believe?"

"Voice projection, you say... You are hopeless," the woman sighed, sounding exasperated.

"Who are you?! Come out! Stop hiding like some spirit!" Adam clutched the baton tightly, convinced now that someone was using an ancient martial arts technique to prank him.

"Enough, we're running out of time. Let me be straightforward. I'm not using some mystical trick to speak to you. I'm transmitting an electric signal directly into your brain, which you interpret as a voice. Understand now?"

"So... you're an... electric-wave girl?" Adam nodded, as if finally grasping it.

"Electric-wave girl, your sister!" The voice was growing agitated.

"Alright, let me clarify further: I'm not a human, not in the sense you'd recognize. I'm more like... an intelligent system. Yes, think of me as a kind of artificial intelligence. Does that make sense now?"

"Still sounds like an electric-wave girl!" Adam nodded with newfound conviction.

"..."

"Stop that nonsense!" The voice was now indignant. Adam wondered at her agitation; what was so embarrassing about being an electric-wave girl, anyway? Still, they had to team up and escape together, right?

Just as he was about to speak, a sharp pain shot through his head. A torrent of information, dense and overwhelming, flooded his mind as if forced in with relentless pressure.

The agony lasted for about ten seconds, during which Adam thought his skull might split apart. When it finally ceased, he was left with newfound knowledge of what had happened and who—or what—this electric-wave girl really was.

It turned out that the world's transformation, the cities reduced to ruin, and the emergence of zombies were linked to specimens humanity had recently brought back from an alien world. An alien virus had infected humans, transforming them into flesh-eating, undead monsters—zombies, just like in the movies.

And the so-called electric-wave girl, or rather, the system, was... the bracelet Adam had discovered before losing consciousness?!

The bracelet had only appeared to be an object; in reality, it had merged with his very being. Though she hadn't spelled it out, Adam suspected that this thing was undeniably connected to the alien world.

"You said you could help me escape?" Despite the confusion still swirling in his mind, the most urgent matter was finding a way past the zombies blocking the field and getting out of the prison.

"Yes, I can help you... but..." Of course, there had to be a catch. Adam knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch, and miracles seldom dropped into one's lap without a price.

"There's a cost. You'll need to pay a price to achieve what you desire." As the words faded, an image began to form in Adam's mind...