#e;chobotics

something pulls her into the darkness, an attraction that isn’t the fruit of her soul’s belonging to the anti-matter, but another force that she can’t unravel just yet. contradicting her initial condition, her feet starts to move from under her, letting her slide over the tiles towards an area in front of her. curling her fingers into a fist, her breaths start to come a little slower. she needs to think fast.

stopping in the middle of nowhere, her senses come stumbling back into her and she feels the shift in aura. the ambience just gets worse and worse, her powers strengthening. that can only mean that there is more evil to come as she feeds on the dark and the rotten souls. at the very least, whatever is coming her way won’t probably have much effect on her. when it comes to mysteries and evil, she’s one of the best.

without trying to look, she can feel the presence of a magical being. not a hero, and not a card. probably one of the creatures that resides inside the noose. racking her brain for answers, she still can’t determine what this creature exactly is. formless, lifeless, hopeless. the very epitome of nothingness. thus, there is nothing she can do to prepare herself.

let’s play a game. a hoarse voice sounds from behind ghastly curtains. at the sight, she almost shivers. an exact copy of the human mind’s interpretation of a ghost. they must be aimed at unknowing humans that are unfamiliar with the supernatural. squinting her eyes, she looks at the creature questioningly. is it fear they’re trying to induce?

instantly, the setting around her changes, whisked away and replaced with a white backdrop. seeming to be in a meadow, the white screen turns blue gradually, and wind blows on her face as if she was really outside. the nagging feeling inside her keeps her reminded of the evil that’s hidden under the layers of nature imitation though. looking around carefully, she wonders what could be happening there.

what’s your most treasured possession? again, the voice comes. swatting the air away with her hand, she whips her head back to see if the creature is still there. no, there’s nothing.

is it... them? turning on her heels again, she finds herself staring into empty space again. gritting her teeth, she lifts her head. “don’t kid me.” what counters her fury is laughter. a laugh that’s meant to humiliate and corner another person. anger building up inside her, the dark is seconds away from shouting when the crackling booms again.

look closer. averting her gaze towards the empty space from before, she snickers distastefully. only when her eyes fall on two figures less than 10 meters away did she stop talking. hands falling to her side, she starts to shake her head. fear instills themselves on her eyes and she quickly covers them with her fingers.

tw: mild blood and gore

the first thing that crosses her mind after getting sucked into the portal is her phone. she needs to text both baekhyun and soojung to be careful and go ahead of her, run as far away from the expo as they can. hands reaching into the darkness, she uses her powers to search the floor and the place around her, eyes quickly adjusting to the lack of illumination in the enclosed space. every contact, every object touched by darkness, she feels vibrating on the tip of fingers.

it’s the noose. letting her hand fall by her sides, she crouches down to pick up her fallen phone. there are over 30 people around her, maybe even 40, and it doesn’t seem like anyone’s happy about this at all. focusing her sights, her vision clears up and she can see everyone there. some she can sense right away to be cards, some others she recognizes as heroes, and the rest she presumes are innocent humans. pursing her lips, the gears in her mind start to turn, and before the rest can adjust to the situation, she’s already trying to figure out what’s going on.

without a sound, she tries to lift her leg and walk around the place. but alas, she finds herself paralyzed and stuck in place. it’s as if her feet are glued onto the ground, and she scans the floor in alert. cubic patterns cover the ground beneath her, and the tiles can only remind her of one thing. chess. gaze darting up, she can’t make sense of any of the images, as everything is blurry, as if an external power is blocking her gifts.

not seeing the kids, she feels a bit relieved. the outside shouldn’t be any better with the current situation, but there’s more space to run and definitely more freedom. baekhyun has his friends, at least, but soojung is supposed to meet her by the gates. her little phantom, in mortal grounds on her own. the dark can only hope the two are not suffering as much as she is.

being set down on a chess board can only mean that they are the pawns, ready to be played at will. dropping her gaze towards her foot, and feeling the emptiness behind her, she can already tell that she’s not just a lowly knight but something bigger. groaning, she hopes that the game will be over already, and that whoever controls the flow can make a move soon. before that can happen though, she starts to take note of the faces she does recognize.

starting with anthea, sehun, miinah, sueun, and even wonu, her cautiousness amplifies at the realization of how many cards are captured. she can’t also help but notice hyelim’s presence amongst the other unfamiliar faces. something big is happening, and she can’t tell what it is exactly. once again using her powers, she tries to detect what is on the other side of the board and conclude whether or not death is possible in the realm or if entrapment is the sole purpose of the arena.

zapped, she pulls her hand back with a gasp. nothing is there, just more formless dark energy. at first, she tries to level her breathing and get things right in her mind first. before long, she finds herself hiding a grind behind the black blanket. it’s not another hierarchy they’re supposed to fight. it’s a fragment of their minds and apparitions. if she can guess, worst memories or fears. none of that really scares her, as she doesn’t think she has ever feared anything. but maybe, through this little stunt, they will be able to show her a side that she herself doesn’t even know.

walking with a limp as she breathes heavily, the card finds herself going back to the same tree she was sitting under moments before the battle. that magical girl from before just made her day even worse than it was before, and she can’t wait to get home and rest. as the wounds start to patch itself, and any visible damage disappears, the being takes a deep breath as she rests against the trunk.

holding her left arm, she closes her eyes in an attempt to shut the world out. all by herself, she feels empowered and strong. solitary brings the best in her and she grits her teeth as the gash on her arm heals. it's a good thing she's a magical being, she would've died easily if she was a human. heaving a loud sigh, she lets her body slide down the bark, falling to the ground softly. looking up at the sky, she wonders why she even tries to put up with humans. amongst all the beings that live on earth, humans are the ones who are destined to destroy the world. illegal logging, exploitation of resources, violence, wars. one bad thing after another is committed, but none of them are prepared to take the blame.

“fucking hell.” grunting, she pulls out her phone to contact the kids. both baekhyun and soojung arrived separately from her, and she promised to meet up with them at the end of the expo. considering her current mood though, she thinks she should just head home first. with a quick text, she tells both of them that she’ll be by the entrance in case any one of them wants to go home right away. it doesn’t seem likely that they would though, as they came with their own set of friends.

getting up heavily, she feels the pain on her legs fade away. her speedy recovery rate is all thanks to her supernatural metabolism, and that is probably the only thing she’ll ever thank humans for. exiting the area, she heads for the gates one step at a time.

the sun is hiding behind the clouds and she feels thankful. at the very least, she won’t get burned to death as she makes her grand exit. refusing to make eye contact with anyone, she looks at the ground emptily. maybe she’ll stay just a bit more, getting out now doesn’t seem like a good decision. coming to a halt, she closes her eyes before opening them again. yeah, she thinks, i’ll stay a bit more. a runaway thought manages to sneak into her mind, persuading her to stay despite her conflicting opinion on the whole event.

aimlessly wandering around, she starts to make turns on her subconscious’ accord. each step she takes goes through her head and it feels like she’s being guided somewhere. a part of her longs to resist the urge, just go back to the main gate and go home. but a bigger part is pulling her somewhere she doesn’t know.

more than desire, the feeling that’s tugging at her is connected straight to her core. it’s as if the carnival is calling out to her very own existence. snapping her eyes open, she finds herself in between to identical tents. some other people are gathered around her, enjoying the festive event without any worries. something tells her the day’s not going to end as it would normally. looking around, she can’t wrap her head around what’s going on, she can’t even tell definitely if there is something to wrap her thoughts around.

“no. you’re just feeling cautious after encountering that hero.” whispering to herself, she takes a deep breath. sliding her hand over her chest, she attempts to clear her mind. “it’s all post-battle alert. don’t let it kill your mood.” lifting her head once again, she starts to set off again. while she’s here, she might as well try to catch up with current technology. before she can go a good five meters though, a scream sounds from behind her. whipping her head back, she staggers to the side.

@ccxirene

the whole event is a breath-taking experience. after visiting the place with sueun in the morning, and meeting miinah right before this, she doesn’t know why she keeps on coming back. something about the carnival just seems to pull her in, attracting her in a way that she can’t wrap her head around. it’s not the technology, nor the set-up of the place, but something unexplainable that she herself can’t put into words.

wandering around the place aimlessly, she finds herself back in the same place. the furthest corners of the place where less people are around. in an arena full of energy, the corners are where she feels most comfortable. it allows her to hear her own thoughts and keep to herself without worrying about prying eyes. hiding herself in the shadows feels natural and fitting, exactly how she’s supposed to be.

@ccxsueun

it’s loud in the technology fair. cheers of excited young kids and shouts of those who are promoting the company’s newest innovations fight for dominance in the ears of passerbys. loudness and chaos is inevitable when it comes to huge events such as this, and the dark doesn’t know why she still agreed to come despite the consequences that’ll follow. her fingers snake towards her hair as she pulls it over her ear, trying to reduce the sounds that hits her eardrums.