Chapter 69: The weight of Carbon

The lights suddenly went out, and darkness swallowed the corridor.

Ash immediately formed several diamonds between his fingers, releasing a faint blue glow that illuminated the walls around them. Markus stood in front of Reina with his right hand crystallized, while Darius remained motionless behind them.

The laughter continued somewhere deeper inside the Foundation.

Markus narrowed his eyes as he tried to identify the direction of the sound. “Whoever you are, stop hiding and show yourself.”

A metallic scraping sound came from behind them.

Ash turned around just as a steel examination table slid across the corridor.

It moved without making contact with anyone, scraping against the floor before stopping several meters away from we’re it once was.

Reina stared at it. “Did somebody just move that?”

“Stay behind me,” Markus replied as he squinted his eyes.

Another object moved, this time a metal cabinet that had been standing beside the wall.

It lifted several inches above the floor before gliding toward them, forcing Ash to step aside as it crashed against the opposite wall.

Markus raised his crystallized hand, ready to attack, but nothing appeared to be controlling the objects. There were no visible wires, no mechanical arms, and nobody was standing close enough to move them.

Darius watched the cabinet fall apart. His expression changed as he recognized what was happening.

“Oh My God not him,” he whispered.

Markus turned toward him with a question. “What do you mean, not him?”

Before Darius could answer, a voice came from the darkness ahead, “You should listen to him.”

A man stepped into the faint blue light, revealing pale blue hair that fell around his face and dark clothing that blended into the shadows.

He looked at Markus first, then glanced at Ash and Reina before returning his attention to Darius.

“You have terrible timing,” Darius said.

The stranger smiled. “You have been avoiding me for a long time. I thought you would appreciate the company.”

“I would appreciate it more if you stayed away from me.”

The man laughed quietly before looking at Markus again, “So, you’re the one they’ve been talking about.”

Markus stepped forward. “Who are you?”

“Someone who has been here longer than you.” The newcomer replied.

“That doesn’t answer my question.” Markus pressed.

“It wasn’t supposed to.” the strange man continued.

Markus’s crystallized fingers tightened. “I’m not in the mood for games.”

The stranger tilted his head, examining the crystalline structure covering Markus’s hand. Instead of appearing frightened, he seemed interested in how the crystals reflected the light.

“You’ve been using that thing for weeks, haven’t you? Fighting, training, breaking things, and slowly convincing yourself that you understand what happened to you and what is to come huh…well maybe not.”

Markus’s expression hardened. “You don’t know anything about me.”

“Perhaps not. However, I know what you’re doing with your hand.”

The stranger lifted his own hand, and a metal container lying beside the wall rose into the air.

Markus immediately assumed he was witnessing some form of telekinesis.

He had seen unusual abilities before, but moving an object without touching it was something he had not encountered in quite this manner.

“Put it down,” Markus ordered.

The container remained suspended.

“I don’t think you understand what you’re looking at,” the man replied.

He moved two fingers slightly, and the container rotated in the air. Its metal surface caught the blue light from Ash’s diamonds, revealing a thin layer of dust covering its exterior.

“I don’t move objects,” the stranger continued. “I move what’s holding them together.”

Markus frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

The man lowered the container until it hovered just above the floor. He then pointed toward a discarded medical bag lying several meters away.

“Tell me what you see.”

“A bag.” Markus replied.

“And what’s around it?” the man asked.

Markus looked at him impatiently. “More dust… The floor and the walls I guess…What kind of question is that?”

“Think about the bag itself.”

The stranger extended his hand toward it. The bag rose slowly, its handles dangling as it moved through the air.

“I can manipulate the carbon surrounding an object. If I control that carbon, I can move whatever it is attached to. From where you’re standing, it looks like I’m lifting a bag without touching it, but I’m not directly moving the bag at all.”

He turned his wrist, and the bag followed the movement.

“I’m moving the carbon around it. The bag simply just tags along.”

Markus stared at the suspended object before looking at the man’s hand.

“Carbon manipulation?” Markus asked.

“That’s one way to describe it.”

“Can you control the carbon inside people too?” Markus continued.

The stranger’s smile faded slightly, “You ask a lot of questions.”

“And you give terrible answers.”

For a moment, neither man spoke. The stranger eventually lowered the bag and stepped away from it.

“Your problem is that you think every ability has to work the same way. You see something moving, and you assume the person controlling it must be pushing or pulling the object itself. You hardly ever consider what might be happening around it.”

Markus looked at the bag again, attempting to understand the distinction. If the stranger was manipulating the carbon surrounding objects, then his ability operated differently from the crystalline power Markus had spent weeks learning to control.

However, something about the explanation bothered him.

“Then why are you here?”

The stranger glanced toward Darius, “Because he knows something you don’t….plus you guys freed me.”

Darius stepped forward. “Leave him out of this.”

“You brought him here yourself.” the stranger snapped.

“I didn’t bring anybody here. He came looking for answers.” Darius said.

“And now he’s found someone who can give him a few.”

The stranger turned toward Markus again, but before he could continue speaking, Ash stepped forward and raised his hand.

“I’m getting tired of listening to you talk.”

Several diamonds formed in Ash’s mask which he took out and held in his hands. He released one toward the stranger, sending it spinning through the corridor.

The projectile abruptly changed direction before reaching its target and struck the wall beside him.

Ash’s eyes narrowed.

The stranger had barely moved.

“Interesting,” he remarked. “You throw those things with your hands, but you don’t seem to be able to keep them moving.”

Ash formed another diamond. “You want to find out how they work?”

“I already have a good idea.”

Ash threw three diamonds in quick succession. The first two curved away from the stranger and struck the floor, but the third travelled farther before changing direction and embedding itself in a metal door.

The stranger raised his hand again, “You’re making this difficult for yourself.”

Ash ignored him. He drew a slow breath through his mask, and the mechanical sound of air passing through its tubes echoed through the corridor.

A small compartment attached to his hip shifted as he released another handful of diamonds.

This time, he did not throw them directly at the stranger. Instead, he released several extremely light particles into the air, allowing his breath to carry them forward.

The stranger’s eyes followed the tiny crystals.

Ash exhaled again, changing their direction with a controlled burst of air. The particles drifted around the suspended objects and approached from several different angles.

The stranger’s expression finally changed.

He moved his hand, redirecting some of the particles, but Ash had already thrown a heavier diamond through the opening created by the others.

It struck the stranger’s forearm.

A faint crystalline pattern appeared beneath the point of contact.

The man immediately looked down.

Ash straightened. “There it is.”

The stranger examined the spreading mark, then looked at Ash with renewed interest.

“You can transmit it through your diamonds.”

Ash did not answer. He formed another projectile, keeping his attention fixed on the stranger’s movements.

The crystalline pattern continued spreading across the man’s skin, but he concentrated on the area surrounding it.

The loose material around his forearm shifted, and the spreading structure slowed as he manipulated the carbon surrounding the affected tissue.

It did not disappear entirely, and his expression suggested that maintaining control required considerable effort.

Markus noticed the change.

“He isn’t reversing the crystallization,” Markus said. “He’s trying to contain it.”

The stranger looked at him, “Not bad.”

Markus stepped forward, but Darius caught his arm, “Don’t.”

Markus pulled free. “You know who he is, don’t you?”

“I know enough to tell you that fighting him here is a bad idea.”

The stranger glanced at Darius with an amused expression, “Finally, someone in this room is making sense.”

He closed his hand, and several metal cabinets began sliding toward the group.

“Move!” Markus shouted.

Ash scattered the remaining diamonds, illuminating the corridor as the cabinets crashed into the walls.

Reina pulled Darius away from the falling debris, while Markus raised his crystallized arm to shield himself from a shower of metal fragments.

The stranger moved toward the far end of the corridor.

Markus saw him retreat and immediately pursued him.

“Markus, wait!” Ash shouted.

Markus ignored the warning. He rounded the corner just as the stranger’s pale-blue hair suddenly became a brilliant, almost electric blue.

Several strands lifted from his head and shot forward.

Markus barely raised his arm before the hair struck the wall beside him. The impact tore through the concrete, leaving a deep opening in the structure.

Markus stopped.

The strands withdrew and moved through the air with an unsettling degree of precision.

They were not simply floating or swaying. The stranger controlled their movements deliberately, bending them around corners and extending them farther than Markus had expected.

The man glanced over his shoulder.

“You should pay attention.”

His hair snapped forward again, forcing Markus to retreat as another section of the wall broke apart.

Markus examined the damage. Whatever the strands were made of, they possessed extraordinary hardness and strength.

“Two abilities,” he muttered.

The stranger heard him. “Don’t confuse the two.”

He swung his head, sending several hardened strands across the corridor. Markus ducked beneath them and lunged forward, bringing his crystallized fist toward the man’s chest.

The stranger stepped aside.

Markus’s fist struck the wall, and the resulting impact sent cracks spreading through the concrete.

Before he could recover, the stranger manipulated the carbon surrounding Markus’s clothing, pulling him sideways and throwing off his balance.

Markus stumbled but managed to catch himself.

The stranger looked disappointed.

“You rely too much on what your body can do.”

Markus charged again.

This time, the stranger’s blue hair wrapped around a nearby support beam and pulled him backward, allowing Markus’s attack to pass through empty air.

He landed several meters away, and the brilliant blue gradually faded from his hair until it returned to its natural pale shade.

“Learn to think before you move,” he said.

Markus’s jaw tightened.

He wanted to attack again, but a loud crash interrupted him. Somewhere behind them, a section of the corridor had collapsed.

Ash appeared around the corner, followed by Reina and Darius.

“The lower containment area is coming apart!” Ash shouted. “We need to get out of here!”

The stranger glanced toward the damaged corridor and then toward Markus.

“We’ll meet again.”

Markus immediately moved to intercept him, but the man raised one hand. A nearby steel door tore away from its frame and crashed between them.

By the time Markus reached the other side, the stranger had disappeared.

“Damn it!”

He struck the wall with his crystallized fist, leaving another deep impression in the concrete.

Ash approached him, his mask releasing a quiet mechanical hiss.

“You can punch the building all you want, but I doubt it’s going to tell you where he went.”

Markus turned toward him. “You should have stopped him.”

Ash stared at him. “I was busy trying not to get buried under half the Foundation.”

Before Markus could respond, another crash echoed through the corridor.

Reina looked toward the sound. “We need to move. Now.”

They hurried toward the damaged containment area, following the emergency lights that had begun flickering back to life.

The corridor was filled with dust, and pieces of the ceiling continued falling as they approached a partially collapsed laboratory.

A man was trapped beneath a fallen support beam near the entrance.

He wore a Foundation research uniform, and blood stained one sleeve. He struggled to pull himself free, but the beam had pinned his leg beneath the rubble.

“Help me!” he shouted when he saw them. “Please, get this thing off me!”

Reina immediately ran toward him.

Ash followed, examining the beam before attempting to lift it. Markus approached from the opposite side and placed his crystallized hand beneath the metal.

Together, they managed to raise it enough for Reina to pull the researcher free.

The man collapsed onto the floor, breathing heavily.

“Thank you,” he gasped. “Thank you.”

Markus crouched beside him. “What happened here?”

The researcher looked at Markus’s hand and froze.

His expression changed from relief to recognition, and he began scrambling backward despite his injured leg.

“No. No, you shouldn’t be here.”

Markus grabbed his shoulder. “What do you know about Mark 8?”

The researcher stared at him.

“You don’t understand. They said you weren’t supposed to access those records.”

“Who said that?”

The man shook his head frantically. “I can’t tell you. You need to leave this part of the facility. All of you.”

Markus tightened his grip.

“Tell me what you know.”

A sharp metallic groan interrupted them. One of the remaining support beams shifted, and the ceiling above the next corridor began to collapse.

Ash looked up, “We need to get out of here!”

The researcher grabbed Markus’s wrist.

“Listen to me. The records you found aren’t complete. There are files you haven’t seen, and if they discover you’ve accessed them, they’ll come for you.”

“Who will?”

The researcher opened his mouth, but another violent impact shook the room.

A section of the ceiling fell between them and the exit, scattering debris across the floor.

Reina shouted as she stumbled backward. Ash immediately moved toward her, shielding her from the falling fragments.

Markus remained beside the researcher, who had been knocked onto his back.

“Come on!” Markus shouted, reaching for him.

The researcher caught his hand.

“Don’t let them take you back there.”

Markus paused, “What are you talking about?”

The man looked past him toward the dark corridor.

“They’ve been watching you from the beginning.”

Another crash echoed through the facility.

Markus turned toward the sound. Beyond the fallen debris, he could see a narrow passage leading toward the lower laboratories. The emergency lights were flickering, and something moved at the far end.

For a moment, he thought he saw the stranger’s pale-blue hair.

Then the figure disappeared.

“Markus!” Ash shouted. “We have to go!”

Markus looked back at the researcher.

The man was still gripping his wrist, his eyes wide with fear.

“Please,” he whispered. “Don’t leave me here.”

Markus looked toward the passage again.

If the stranger escaped, they might never find him. The researcher had mentioned records that Markus had never seen, information that could explain why the Foundation had been monitoring him.

He could not allow the opportunity to disappear.

“Reina, get him out of here,” Markus ordered.

Reina looked at the damaged ceiling. “What about you?”

“I’m going after him.”

Ash stepped toward Markus. “Are you insane? This entire section is collapsing!”

“Then get out before it falls on you.”

Markus pulled his wrist free from the researcher’s grip and ran toward the passage.

Behind him, Reina shouted his name but he kept moving.

The corridor narrowed as he descended toward the lower laboratories. He followed the faint sound of movement until he reached a sealed door standing partly open. Beyond it, a staircase led farther underground.

Markus stopped at the entrance.

There was no sign of the stranger. He turned back toward the damaged corridor, but the sound of another collapse forced him to retreat.

He ran up the staircase as the emergency lights flickered out one by one.

When he finally reached the upper level, Ash and Reina were waiting near the exit.

“Where’s the researcher?” Markus asked.

Reina stared at him, “We couldn’t get back to him.”

Markus looked past her toward the ruined passage, “What do you mean?”

“The ceiling collapsed before we could reach him. We tried, Markus. We couldn’t get through.”

For several seconds, Markus remained silent.

Ash looked at him, but he did not speak. Reina lowered her head, brushing dust from her sleeve.

Markus turned toward the sealed entrance.

The researcher had been alive when he left him. He remembered the man’s hand gripping his wrist and the way he had begged for help.

He had told himself that pursuing the stranger was the more important choice.

Now the stranger was gone, the records remained incomplete, and the man who might have answered his questions was buried somewhere beneath the Foundation.

Markus slowly lowered his crystallized hand, “Let’s go,” he said.

Neither Ash nor Reina argued. They returned to the upper levels in silence, leaving the damaged corridor behind them.

Later that night, Markus sat alone in the records room. He opened the database and searched for the researcher’s name, finding his personnel file among thousands of other entries.

The system displayed a photograph, a department assignment, and a list of completed projects. Markus read through the information until he reached the final entry.

STATUS: DECEASED.

He stared at the word for several seconds before closing the file.

Then he opened the Mark 8 database.

Felix Ainst appeared among the survivors alongside Darius.

Markus’s own name sat beneath the adaptation classification, accompanied by records of his crystalline transformations and command-type ability.

He scrolled through the entries, searching for the missing information the researcher had mentioned.

Every file he opened led to another restriction, another incomplete report, or another classification that explained what had happened without revealing why.

Eventually, Markus stopped searching.

He leaned back in his chair and looked at his reflection in the darkened portion of the screen. His crystalline hand rested on the desk, its surface catching the faint light from the terminal.

“It’s part of natural selection,” he muttered.

The words sounded different in the empty room.

He looked down at his hand, remembering how easily he had pulled away from the researcher and how quickly he had chosen to pursue the stranger.

Markus rubbed his face before returning to the terminal.

He opened the researcher’s file again.

For a long time, he studied the photograph.

Then he closed it without reading another word.

In a room deep beneath the Foundation, a computer terminal displayed the footage from the damaged corridor. The recording showed Markus helping to lift the support beam, speaking to the researcher, and finally running toward the lower laboratories.

A figure sat in front of the screen, watching without moving.

When Markus disappeared down the staircase, the figure paused the footage and opened another file.

SUBJECT 014 — STATUS: ACTIVE.

sorry for being gone for so long was just finishing up volume 2 n starting volume 3 but I’m back now