End of the Beginning

It was one of those nights when you wish you could sleep forever—to escape a reality too harsh to bear. Yet some truths claw their way into consciousness regardless of how deep you try to bury them. I woke to a burning brightness in the room, the glare searing my eyes. My hands and legs were chained. I struggled to free myself before an officer entered.

“Cipher Silver?” the man announced. “I’m Officer Zigba, and I’m in charge of your case.”

“My case? Where am I?”

He began grilling me about the incident with Randy—the chaos at the hospital and my fight with him back at the farm. But my mind was already elsewhere. Zigba mentioned that my sister was safe at the farm with our manager, Ian. I dodged his probing questions, fabricating a different story to keep details about the serum hidden until Number One returned. For two more days, I was locked up, interrogated about possible terrorism.

Then Number One reappeared. He had mobilized allies for the coming fight—a task force assembled by the General of the Planetary Defense Force. His face was stern, and from our first encounter, I knew he was no ordinary man.

“You must be Cipher Silver,” General Sydney Flick intoned, extending his condolences. “I heard about your mother. My deepest sympathies. Now, if you’ll indulge me, please explain what happened. How did that boy get hold of the serum?”

Noticing my hesitation, he swept closer, “Number One explained everything. The enemies coming are monstrously strong—they’ll be invincible against our conventional weapons. The serum is our only hope. The robot said he left the remaining vials with you. Where are you keeping them?”

The realization hit me—I had consumed nine vials meant to create an army against the aliens. I took a deep breath before answering.

“Home.”

I led him to the basement of our home. With trembling hands, I retrieved the last vial and placed it before him.
“This is all I have left,” I admitted in a rush.

“Only one?” the general exclaimed, disbelief coloring his words.
“I… I drank them,” I quickly confessed,

“What? You consumed nine vials?” he nearly shouted.

“I’m sorry. I know Number One intended to create heroes—protectors for our planet. But I had to protect my family. I—I got strong! I’ll fight with you, I promise!”

“This is bad,” the general declared, frustration evident.
Number One interjected, “I do not understand. With that much serum in your body, you should be dead. Just 10ml is fatal to a human. The professor won’t be happy when he finds out!”

General Flick asked, “Can’t we extract the sample from your blood?”

“The serum has already fused with you on a molecular level,” Number One explained gravely. “The probability of you surviving is 0.1%. I can bio-engineer something at the facility where I was confined to slow down the process—and it will also buy us time to reverse-engineer the ELB (Eternal Life Binder) from the last vial for the army.”

General Flick sighed, “This is unprecedented, but we have little choice. It’s settled—you’re coming with us. Prepare to move.” He decided and then gave an order to his men,

My heart shattered anew—my mother was gone, and my brother had moved away. I had lost both parents. Yet I wasn’t entirely alone; my sister still depended on me.

“I can’t leave my sister here alone!” I insisted, voice thick with desperation. “She’s my responsibility.”

But the plan was to mobilize for war, and there was no place for children on that battlefield.

Before we could decide our next step, I heard someone shouting my name outside. Hesitantly, I stepped out and found an old woman standing in front of the house. Suddenly, she grabbed my shirt, hitting and cursing me relentlessly. Her eyes were puffy from crying; sorrow and fury marred her features. Officer Zigba tried pushing her away, but my curiosity compelled me to intervene.

“Who are you? Why are you doing this?” I asked, voice strained.

“Curse you! You took away my grandson from me, and now here you are—safe and sound! Bullying him wasn’t enough; you decided to kill him in the end!” she shrieked, her words slicing through the night.

My heart pounded as the horrifying truth sank in. Killed his grandson? I immediately realized she was referring to Randy. Suddenly, guilt slammed into me. The full weight of what I’d done—taking a human life—crushed my spirit.

“Everyone at that school won’t stand by my side. When you’re poor, your words aren’t worth a coin. My grandson was a sweet boy, his only sin was being born into poverty. Why... why did you kill him?” she wailed, her grief raw and unyielding.

I stood silent, torn. Any attempt to defend myself would only worsen her pain. I let her pour out every bitter thought, understanding too well the agony of loss.

Suddenly, a voice shattered the tension. “No! My brother is innocent!” Angela shouted, stepping in. “Randy was the one bullying Cipher. He kept beating him at school with his friends. Cipher was only trying to protect me!”

“Shut up!” Randy’s grandmother screamed in response. “I heard everything. You were the one who started the fights every day. I wondered why Cipher came home bruised, while you were spotless. And yet you dare accuse my grandson of bullying!”

“Everyone saw him with a knife at school—and he attacked us at home, killing our mother!”

“Angela, that’s enough!” I managed to say, raising my hand in a calming gesture. Sometimes, lowering your head is the best way to defuse a storm. “You’re right. If I hadn’t challenged Randy to that fight, none of this would have happened. It’s all my fault.”

Then, I knelt down before the old woman. “I am sorry for your grandson’s death. When I woke up that morning, I wanted to deny what had happened. I so desperately wished for the power to turn everything back. But that would have made me a coward. I must face the consequences of my actions. I will do anything you ask to help ease your anger.”

Her sorrowful gaze softened for a moment before she left me there, still on my knees. In that moment, as much as I despised Randy for all he had done, I realized he was, too, someone’s precious child.

On top of my personal loss, the security of our planet was now compromised because of my actions. I’d lost all confidence in my ability to protect anyone. After my mother’s funeral, I agreed to cooperate with General Flick, leaving my sister in the care of our farm manager, Ian, who lived in a separate house on the farm. I knew she was safer with him than with my blood-stained hands.

Not long after, I left with General Flick and Number One for a secret military facility in South America. There, they studied Number One’s report and confirmed his story. Like a distant dream, that’s how the precarious path between truth and illusion began. My life was no longer certain. Thrust into the lion’s den, I was about to feel the weight of the entire world on my shoulders.