Alaric felt his chest tighten the closer he got to one of the seats in the row. The small body of a young boy was strapped there, cables coiling around his arms and chest. Alaric crouched down slowly, his eyes studying the child's face.

His skin was pale as paper, lips almost colorless. The boy's eyelids twitched slightly but didn't open, as if trapped somewhere between sleep and waking. Unable to escape either.

Alaric swallowed hard. He placed two fingers on the boy's neck, searching for a pulse. A few seconds of silence. Nothing. He lowered his hand to the boy's chest, trying to feel for breath. Barely anything. Just a faint vibration, as fragile as the last flicker of a dying candle.

"This doesn't make sense," he whispered.

He moved to the next child, checking each one in turn. The result was the same. Every child was alive, but their lives seemed suspended at the very edge of death.

Alaric stepped back, his eyes darting around the room, taking in the rows of seats, each one holding a small, motionless body.

"This person… is insane."

"How could anyone do this and feel nothing?"

His right hand gripped the side of the chair tightly.

Crack.

His fingertips trembled, trying to hold back the anger rising within him.

He looked at the cables piercing the boy's body. Every part of him wanted to rip them out, to free these children from this horror. So he tried, he reached for one of the cables embedded in the boy's wrist. But the instant his fingers touched it, sparks burst out. A surge of electricity threw his hand back.

"Argh!" He jerked his hand away and stared at his fingers. The skin was scorched.

He tried again, this time using a small device on his wrist. A system interface meant for analytical work. The result was the same. The cables wouldn't detach. It wasn't just that they were connected to the skin... they had fused into the veins and tissue beneath.

Alaric froze, staring at the boy's still, unresponsive face. "I can't just pull them out. The whole thing's wired to respond only to the main system's command."

He crouched again, resting one hand against the chair. His gaze was hollow, heavy with confusion and frustration.

"God…"

The room was silent, except for the soft hum of distant machinery. Then, his AI's voice echoed in his head.

"Preliminary analysis complete. Biological elements detected, connected to the main energy circuit."

Alaric frowned. "Biological elements? You mean… something from their bodies?"

"Correct. In the central part of their brains lies a network called the Neuro-Conductive Junction—an organ that regulates human emotion. The man modified it with synthetic fibers, converting emotional activity into thermal energy. The robotic system draws power from that."

Alaric's mind went blank for a moment.

"Neuro-Conductive Junction…" he repeated, his tongue heavy.

This wasn't just emotional theft. It was the restructuring of human biology, especially in children. They weren't just energy sources. They were components of the system.

He asked quietly, as if the air itself might answer him, "Then why do they feel pain? Shouldn't it only drain their emotions?"

He waited several seconds, thinking through possibilities, before the system responded again.

"In theory, yes. But if emotional activity is forced beyond natural human limits, the effect reverses. Causing physical pain. Their brains are under immense pressure. Continuous stimulation of sorrow, fear, and loss weakens neural structures. They're made to relive the same emotions over and over until their brains stop resisting."

Alaric clenched his eyes shut. His stomach tightened in rage.

"So they're being tortured… just to keep this system running?"

"Correct. The most stable energy comes from emotions that never end. Sadness, fear, despair. All generate long, steady waves convertible into power."

The words struck him like a boulder to the chest. He wanted to scream, to destroy everything... but there was no one to scream at.

His fists tightened on his knees. "He's using them… as batteries."

"Living batteries. The more they suffer, the stronger his machine becomes."

He reached out, touching one child's shoulder gently.

"Hold on… I promise I'll free you."

"Warning: Main system outside this chamber has detected internal activity. Time is limited."

Alaric looked up, breathing deeply, trying to steady his heartbeat. He stood, his eyes scanning the room. The chairs, the cables, the massive energy core at the center.

An idea began to take shape. Maybe the only way out.

The alarm blared, echoing through the chamber.

"Temporal freeze ended. All life functions in the vicinity restored. Prepare yourself, Alaric."

The world lurched back into motion. The hiss of machinery returned, electricity humming through the cables.

Alaric turned and there he was.

The man stood there, his gaze cold as glass, his smile that of a demon. Behind him, a towering robot stirred, its reflective armor gleaming like a beast awakening from slumber.

"You have no heart!" Alaric shouted, his voice shaking with rage long restrained.

The man only laughed. A deep, cruel laugh filled with satisfaction. "So, you finally understand, Alaric."

"Let them go, or I'll make you."

"Heh. Boy," the man sneered.

"You've been fighting me this whole time and achieved nothing. What makes you think your empty threats mean anything now?"

Alaric's fists clenched. His eyes darkened. He glanced aside for a moment, steadying himself, then glared back.

"I've never met anyone as vile and soulless as you."

The man smirked. "Enough talk. You want a lesson? Let me give you one."

He raised his long arm, and it stretched like a metal tendril, glinting under the red alarm lights. "Destroy him!" he roared at his robot.

The room erupted into chaos. The robot's heavy steps shook the floor. Alaric moved swiftly, dodging a swing that would have crushed him. He countered, activating the emblem on his wrist. A beam of light burst forth like lightning.

The blast hit the robot's shield and ricocheted, but something was different. The vibration was weaker this time. The defense system was faltering, perhaps a side effect of the earlier freeze. He checked his wrist display; his AI showed streams of data, marking an opening in the enemy's system.

"Now!" he shouted, attacking again and again.

The robot staggered, though it still stood its ground. Then Alaric felt something—something strange, yet familiar.

The robot stopped. Its movement stuttered. The massive metal arm froze midair.

"What's happening?" Alaric muttered, wary it might be another trick.

The AI responded quickly. "There's a disruption in the main energy circuit. The source is… the children."

Alaric turned toward the rows of chairs. The children who had been limp and unresponsive were moving. Their fingers twitched.

They were resisting.

"They're awake… they're helping me." A faint smile crossed his face.

The robot's system was losing power. The man's furious voice echoed, "What have you done, you miserable wretch! The energy flow is blocked!"

Alaric clenched his fists tighter. "It won't last long… but it's enough."

He struck again—once, twice, three times. Sparks burst across the floor. And then...

BOOM!

A violent explosion tore through the room. Cables along the walls burst one after another, spraying violet fire that slithered like electric serpents. The flash blinded him for a moment. He turned toward the children.

Something was happening to them.

The explosion faded, replaced by the acrid smell of burning. Smoke rose from the melted cables. Through the haze, Alaric stared in horror.

The small bodies that had only been limp before were now convulsing. One child at the front bled from the mouth. A few drops fell onto his pale hand.

"No…"

"No, this can't be happening…"

The man's voice echoed through the smoke, sickeningly pleased.

"Feel the cost of your so-called justice, Alaric."

The words cut deeper than any weapon. Alaric's pupils contracted. His face hardened like steel. His jaw locked tight.

"You really won't stop until this world burns, will you."

His rage was beyond containment, but he knew blind fury wouldn't save anyone.

"System, is there any weapon I can access to bring all this down?"

The AI's tone was calm, but hesitant. As if weighing a dangerous risk.

"There is. But I cannot release it freely. You must solve a sequence of encrypted questions. Fail, and access will be denied."

Alaric gritted his teeth. "I don't care. Let's do it."

"Understood. Code decryption initiated."

The world around him dissolved. Reality blurred, replaced by a void of black space where streams of blue code floated like constellations. Between the lines of numbers appeared riddles, sentences only solvable through intuition and higher logic.

"Time remaining: fifteen seconds."

The first second. His eyes narrowed, scanning through the jumble of symbols. He began isolating irregular patterns, eliminating noise.

The second second. He found the first clue: "mirror path."

The third second, he realized it meant reversal. He began reading the code backward.

The fourth... another riddle appeared: "Only those who recognize their own shadow can unlock the hidden strength."

"His shadow…" He understood. It referred to his own mental reflection. He had to restructure the code to match his thought rhythm, not the machine's logic.

Fifth second. Sixth. Seventh. His fingers moved rapidly, typing in the invisible air. The man's footsteps and the chaos of the real world faded, replaced by the ticking of the countdown.

"Ten seconds passed. Five remaining."

Cold sweat ran down his temple. Numbers danced in his mind, but he refused to panic. He was doing this for them—for the children.

Finally, he found the final pattern. The lines of code connected like roots, forming a phrase:

"Key Alpha — Reactivation through Will Resonance."

The fourteenth second. He entered the last sequence.

"Verifying data…"

"Processing result: 100% accurate."

A blinding light exploded before him. The hum deepened, vibrating through his bones. Two shapes began to form in the air. At first, they were translucent shadows, wavering like illusions.

Then, piece by piece, the light solidified, taking form. Sleek, metallic, radiant. Two weapons, floating before Alaric.

"Weapons activated. Ready for deployment."