Day 30: Collective Hysteria

The streets of Tokyo were taken.

Metal barricades, aligned shields, endless rows of black helmets reflecting the lights of government buildings.
Police and militia held the crowd back, preventing them from advancing beyond the imposed limits.
The air was thick with tension.

—Why are you blocking us?— a voice shouted through a megaphone.
—Who are you really protecting?

The protester raised an arm, pointing at the offices standing behind the security lines.

—Are you afraid the truth will bring down the system you uphold?
—Or that we’ll finally stop believing the lies that feed us?

The crowd answered with shouts, with chants, with anger accumulated for far too long.
But on the other side, there was no response.
Only orders transmitted over the radio.
Only gazes that avoided human contact.

While the protests grew in Tokyo, a school festival was taking place elsewhere in the city.

Laughter.
Music.
Colored lights.

And yet, in a secluded classroom, silence weighed like stone.

A girl lay alone, motionless among overturned desks.
The world seemed to have drifted away from her long ago.
Her breathing was weak.
The floor, cold.

Beside her, a phone played a video.

On the screen appeared a famous actor, his face exhausted and his voice strained, clearly recording in secret.

—I was a close friend of Cocina Nómada.
—When he left social media to join the militia, we barely spoke again… until he sent me a video.

He explained that it had been the only message.
One in which he confessed to having discovered the truth behind the disappearances.

—My brother was one of them.
—He tried to desert…

His voice trembled.

—He didn’t make it.

He described how they shot him.
How his body began to rise.
How a burning energy erupted along with the blood… until everything ignited.

He spoke of the cruelty inflicted on the recruits.
Of the fear that forced them into silence.
Of the experiments.
Of the obsession with replicating a phenomenon that only occurred in some… and destroyed the rest.

—No one speaks out of fear.
—But I began to notice something strange: nighttime movements, convoys, routes that didn’t appear in any records.

His voice grew urgent.

—I followed them to a base.
—They were experimenting on people.
—Trying to replicate what happened… but failing.
—The energy was different. Only some reacted.

The camera shook.

—They found me.
—That’s why I’m recording this.

—Don’t trust governments.
—Stay home.

He remained silent for a few seconds.

—If you’re watching this video… they’ve probably already found me.

The image distorted before disappearing.

The girl opened her eyes.

The cold began to withdraw from her body.
Something started flowing again inside her, running through her veins with a searing sensation.
Color slowly returned to her face.

—I want to be strong…— she whispered.
—So I won’t be hurt again.

Something answered within her.

The blood moved once more.
Not as a sign of fragility, but as a force taking shape.

Crimson gauntlets formed around her hands.
Energy and blood intertwined.

She stood up.

With a single blow, she broke through the classroom wall.

The pain was unbearable.
But so was the clarity.

Awakening always hurt.
It shattered the body’s limits to free the soul.
It allowed both to begin synchronizing… even if the process was violent.

The intoxication of power, combined with the closeness of the calm she longed for, unleashed chaos in the school.

Her control grew rapidly.
But her mind fragmented at the same pace.

She felt that something was watching her.
That something was chasing her.

She floated, trying to escape.

And then she saw it.

The crowd.

—Look at that!— someone shouted.

Everyone looked up.

Law enforcement received a clear order.

Fire.

A protester stepped in, trying to snatch a weapon away.
Another soldier opened fire.

Chaos erupted.

—I still feel uncertain about what will happen— Sally said, watching from afar.

—Don’t you think awakening and energy already give the answer?— Said replied.

—I’m not talking about that— she said.
—I’m talking about what the government is planning.

Said remained silent for a few seconds.

—We have to wait for the others to awaken.

The truth had finally been seen by the entire world.

Kam watched the news from her home.

The images of the building where Sally lived replayed over and over.

Her parents surrounded her, holding her without saying a word.

The plush toy Sally had given her began to glow softly.
A mark appeared on her chest.

—Everything they built is going to collapse— Said said.

—No one can stop a collective hysteria— Sally replied.