The Commander moved toward me, his steps measured with an unerring mechanical rhythm. Behind my eyes, the "Observer’s Stake" began to boil; I no longer saw a man in armor, but a matrix of gears and pulses. I saw the air distort around the tip of his steam-spear before he even made a move.

  ?"You possess the seed of 'Lineage'... but you are without a shroud," the Commander said coldly, raising his hand to snap the magnetic shackles around my neck.

  ?In that instant, instinct exploded within me. I didn't think; I "saw." I saw a tiny fracture in the joint of his copper armor at the shoulder, where a wisp of hot steam was leaking. That gap throbbed in my vision with a crimson light.

  ?"Now!" I screamed in the depths of my soul.

  ?I lunged beneath his outstretched arm with a grace I had never known, and unsheathed my Jambiya (dagger), which was beginning to crack under his power. I stabbed with all my might into that fracture.

  ?"Tsssssssss!"

  ?The steam valve exploded in his face. The Commander let out a muffled metallic cry as he recoiled. But the retaliation was lightning-fast. The other two guards struck the ground with their spears, unleashing a wave of mechanical "Pulse" that slammed me to the floor and completely paralyzed my nerves.

  ?"Temporal filth..." one of them whispered as he plunged a needle into my neck. The world faded into darkness as I heard the screams of Naji and Mansour vanishing in the distance.

  ?The Prisons of the "Base": Where Time is Forgotten

  ?We awoke in a place where the sun never reaches. It was not a cell of iron and stone; instead, we were inside colossal "Glass Containment Vials." Each of us was in a separate vial, filled with a transparent gelatinous liquid that allowed us to breathe with difficulty but prevented us from speaking or moving with any force.

  ?Through the fogged glass, I saw my cousins. Their eyes were wide with terror, pounding their fists against the glass in vain. Outside the vials, "Scientists" wearing copper masks resembling crow heads moved between us, recording notes in a strange language on glowing tablets.

  ?"Sample No. 402 (Attiya) shows a high response to the Observer’s Stake... the rest must be liquidated; they are merely worthless bio-fuel," one of them said in a voice like the rustling of paper.

  ?Liquidated? Fuel?

  ?Rage began to boil in my veins. I felt the "Observer’s Stake" evolving; I was no longer just tracking movements—I was detecting the "weak points" in matter itself. I looked at the base of the glass vial and saw the "Stake" anchoring it to the ground. If this stake broke, the entire system would collapse.

  ?I focused every ounce of my will. I felt my heart beating with a force that shook the liquid around me. I let out a silent scream in my mind, and the glass vibrated.

  ?The Great Escape and the Price of Freedom

  ?"KRAAAAACK!"

  ?My vial shattered, and I was swept onto the floor with the gelatinous liquid. I didn't wait; thanks to the "Observer," I knew the locations of the control buttons. I struck them with a mix of randomness and foresight, shattering the vials of my brothers.

  ?"Run!" I shouted, hauling up a staggering Naji.

  ?Alarms began to fill the lower prison. "Mechanical Constructs" resembling copper spiders dropped from the ceiling, chasing us on needle-tipped legs. We ran through dark corridors filled with pipes hissing skin-searing steam.

  ?"This way!" Mansour pointed toward a massive metal gate that was slowly descending.

  ?We were five, running with everything we had. Naji, Mansour, Saleh, and I... but Hameed was falling behind. He had swallowed too much of that gel, and his body was convulsing.

  ?"Hameed! Faster!" Saleh screamed, reaching back for him.

  ?But in that moment, a guard from afar fired a "Pulse Arrow" that struck Hameed’s leg. He collapsed, and at the same instant, the massive steel gate plummeted with terrifying speed.

  ?"NOOOOOO!" I screamed, trying to turn back for him.

  ?But Hameed, in a final moment of clarity, looked at us with blood spilling from his mouth. He saw the "Copper Spider" closing in to impale him with its claws.

  ?"Go... you are my brothers..." he choked out, throwing his body beneath the edge of the gate to stop it from closing completely for one extra second, allowing us to pass.

  ?"BOOM!"

  ?The gate fell completely. It crushed Hameed’s body before our very eyes. We froze in place. There was no time for tears. Guards were behind us, and ahead was a dark tunnel leading to the massive "Sewer Pipes."

  ?The Bitter Scattering: Lost in the City’s Gut

  ?We emerged from the tunnel to find ourselves in the "Lower City"—a world of tin, poverty, and smog, far from the gleaming lights of Sheba. But we were not together.

  ?Amidst the terrifying crowds, the thick fog, and the pursuing guards, we stumbled into a dark intersection. A "Nahit" gas grenade exploded, scattering us completely.

  ?"Naji! Mansour!" I screamed as I dragged Saleh behind me, but their voices vanished into the roar of the machinery.

  ?I found myself alone with Saleh in a narrow alley reeking of oil and tears. Hameed was dead... Naji and Mansour were lost in the steel bowels of this city.

  ?I looked at my hand; it was trembling. I was no longer Attiya, the boy searching for carnelian in a cave. I had become a fugitive "Evoker" in a world that hated my existence, carrying in my heart the death of my cousin and the loss of my brothers.

  ?"Attiya..." Saleh whispered, shivering. "Where do we go now? We have nothing... even our daggers are broken."

  ?I looked toward the horizon, where the towers of the "High Mukarrib" shimmered.

  ?"We will find them, Saleh. And we will make this city pay for Hameed’s blood. Even if I have to carve these iron mountains with my bare hands."I did not wake to the crow of a rooster or the ringing of dawn in Marib. Instead, I awoke to a sharp electric "hum" tearing through the folds of my mind. The air was so cold it cut the lungs, saturated with the stench of mineral oil and harsh disinfectants.

  ?Opening my eyes with difficulty, the sight above me was alien; a metallic ceiling webbed with thousands of copper pipes pulsing with a faint blue light, like the veins of a gargantuan mechanical beast. I tried to move my hand, only to feel cold metal encircling my wrists. I was shackled to a tilted metal table, my body bare save for a tattered rag draped over me.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  ?I looked left and right in a frenzy, catching my breath. My cousins—Naji, Mansour, Saleh, and Hameed—were shackled like me in glass cells resembling massive "vials." They looked like lifeless corpses under the light of the "Magic Lanterns" hanging above their heads.

  ?"Naji! Mansour!" I screamed, but my voice came out as a muffled rasp. There was no echo; the walls of this room were covered in a material that devoured sound.

  ?The Masked Inquisitor and the Breaking of Will

  ?A metal door hissed open with a heavy hydraulic sound, and a man stepped in, the likes of whom I had never seen. He wore a long black leather coat that reached his feet, his face hidden behind a complex copper mask with multiple glass lenses that shifted, zoomed, and retracted like the eye of a hawk. This was the "Inquisitor," of the rank "Sixth Stake: The Disruptor."

  ?He stood before me, and I heard the sound of small gears turning inside his mask.

  "Name: Attiya. Origin: Ancient Marib. Status: Unexplained temporal anomaly," he said in a soulless, metallic voice, flipping through a glowing glass tablet in his hand.

  ?"Where are we? And what have you done to my brothers?" I shouted, resentment boiling in my chest.

  ?He approached me and placed a single finger on the metal table where I lay. With a simple movement, I felt heat transfer from his finger to the metal, and then my entire body began to "vibrate" at a painful frequency that made my teeth chatter. This was the power of the "Disruptor"—he could dismantle the bonds between molecules with a mere touch.

  ?"You are asking the wrong questions, Attiya," he said coldly. "The correct question is: How does an ignorant savage like you carry the 'Seventh Stake: The Sentinel' rank without passing through the 'Smelting Chamber'? And where did you get this carnelian that has contaminated the city’s fabric?"

  ?I stared back at him defiantly despite the pain. "I come from a time when men were measured by their deeds, not by their copper machines."

  ?The Inquisitor gave a dry laugh and turned toward the vial housing Hameed.

  "Since you are stubborn, we shall begin by 'dismantling' the weakest among you. Hameed, isn't it? His nervous system cannot endure much of the 'Pulse'."

  ?Psychic Collapse: Screams Behind the Glass

  ?I watched the Inquisitor approach Hameed’s vial. He pressed a button on the control panel, and the liquid inside the vial began to turn red. Hameed started to thrash frantically, striking the glass with a pale face and eyes filled with absolute terror. I could not hear his screams, but I saw them in the movements of his mouth and the convulsions of his body.

  ?"Stop!" I cried out bitterly. "I will tell you everything! Stop!"

  ?The Inquisitor stopped and looked at me. "Speak."

  ?I began to talk with utter ignorance—about the cave, the carnelian, the killing of the King, and the meteor arrow. The Inquisitor recorded every word, the lenses in his mask spinning wildly. He realized that what I was saying was no mere "myth," but a rift in the laws of time and space—a Paradox that only those of the highest ranks could possess.

  ?"Incredible..." the Inquisitor whispered. "You aren't just refugees... you are the 'keys' to closing the Portal of Ages opened by the 'Great Engineer'."

  ?The Sentinel Awakens: Sight Beyond Matter

  ?While the Inquisitor was absorbed in recording his notes, I felt something throbbing behind my eyes. It was no longer pain that I felt; instead, I began to see the "flow of energy" in the room. I saw the copper wires inside the walls as if they were exposed nerves surging with lightning.

  ?I saw a weak point in the magnetic lock binding my hands. It wasn't as strong as I had thought; it relied on a specific "frequency." If I could balance my heartbeat with that frequency, the lock would dismantle.

  ?I closed my eyes and imagined myself in Marib, watching the pulse of the desert. My panic subsided, and I felt the "Observer’s Stake" permeating the iron atoms surrounding my wrist.

  ?"Tick!"

  ?The first lock opened with a faint noise, masked by the sound of steam in the room. Then the second lock. I was free now, but I was still on the table, and the Inquisitor’s back was toward me as he prepared a giant needle to inject into Hameed’s heart.?My hands were free, but my body still trembled from the aftershocks of the electric jolts. I stared at the back of the "Copper-Masked" Inquisitor. He stood before Hameed’s vial, wiping a giant needle with an oil-stained cloth, the lenses in his mask emitting a steady, rhythmic hum. In that moment, I was no longer just the "ignorant" Attiya; I was a volcano of rage, suppressed for centuries.

  ?Through the "Sentinel’s Stake," I didn't see the Inquisitor’s body as a single mass; instead, I saw the joints of his leather coat and the pressure points in his neck. I leaped from the metal table with the silence only a desert wolf could master.

  ?Before he could turn, I lunged. Having no weapon, I used the shattered chains that once bound me, coiling them around his copper neck with every ounce of my strength.

  ?"To hell with you, you idol!" I roared in his ear.

  ?The Inquisitor tried to invoke the power of the "Disruptor." He touched my arm, and I felt my bones nearly crumble like pottery, but I did not break my grip. I tightened the pressure until the gears inside his mask began to snap, emitting blue sparks. The Inquisitor fell to his knees, and the oxygen cylinders on his back began to explode, filling the room with a thick, freezing mist.

  ?Breaking the Vials: A Dance of Glass and Blood

  ?The moment the Inquisitor fell unconscious, I rushed toward the main control panel. It was cluttered with copper buttons and levers bearing advanced Musnad symbols. Guided by the foresight of the "Sentinel," I saw the energy lines feeding the vials.

  ?"Hold on, my brothers!" I shouted, pulling a massive lever.

  ?"KRA-TAAAAACK!"

  ?The five glass vials exploded simultaneously. The green gelatinous liquid surged onto the floor, and with it fell Naji, Mansour, Saleh, and Hameed. They coughed violently, struggling to breathe real air instead of that viscous slime.

  ?"Attiya? Are we dead?" Naji asked, trying to stand on trembling legs.

  ?"Not yet, but we are in the heart of hell. Get up! We have no time!"

  ?Hameed was the weakest; his skin had turned pale as marble, and his veins bulged with a terrifying purple hue. The effect of the "Pulse" he had endured was deep. I slung him over my shoulder, while Mansour and Saleh grabbed sharp iron shards from the vial wreckage to serve as primitive weapons.

  ?Escape into the Bowels of the Beast

  ?Alarms blared throughout the prison, a piercing sound that punctured the eardrums and made the heart race frantically. Side doors opened, and "Copper Spiders" emerged—small war machines running on eight needle-like legs, their heads glowing with red lenses.

  ?"Run toward the western corridor!" I screamed, seeing through the "Sentinel" that the steam pressure there was low, meaning the doors might not open as quickly.

  ?We ran through narrow passages, the walls vibrating with the thrum of gargantuan engines. The spiders were behind us, leaping across walls and ceilings with terrifying speed. One launched a "magnetic wire" that struck Mansour’s shoulder; he screamed and yanked the wire with his desert strength, tearing the spider from the ceiling and crushing it under his boot.

  ?"These machines have no mercy!" Mansour panted.

  ?We reached a massive gate separating the prison from the "Sewer Pipes" leading to the Lower City. The gate was closing slowly—a mass of steel weighing tons, sliding from top to bottom.

  ?"Hurry! Get out!" I pushed Naji, Saleh, and Mansour through the remaining narrow gap.

  ?Hameed’s Tragedy: The Final Sacrifice

  ?Only Hameed and I remained. Hameed was staggering, his foot tripping over a broken steam pipe. In that instant, a guard appeared from behind, wielding a massive "Pulse Rifle." He fired a single shot that struck Hameed directly in the back.

  ?Hameed fell on his face at the threshold of the gate. I screamed and tried to drag him, but the gate was descending with an unstoppable force.

  ?"Attiya... leave me..." Hameed whispered, blood spurting from his mouth and staining the copper floor crimson. "My body... no longer has 'Lineage'... I am finished..."

  ?I saw the copper spiders approaching and the guard readying another shot. The gate was only inches from the ground. Hameed looked at me with eyes filled with a sudden peace. With one final surge of his remaining strength, he shoved me outward with all his might.

  ?"CRUNCH!"

  ?The gate fell completely. I heard no scream; I heard only the sound of bones shattering under the weight of the steel. Everything went silent behind the gate, except for the sound of the machine gears, which continued to turn coldly.

  ?"HAMEEEEEEED!" I screamed, pounding the steel with my bare hands until my fingers bled. But there was no answer. Hameed had left us, leaving his body as fuel for this ungrateful city.

  ?The Bitter Scattering: Lost in the Fog

  ?There was no time for grief. Toxic gases erupted from the ventilation vents in the corridor. The fog was so thick I could no longer see my own palm.

  ?"Saleh! Mansour! Naji! Where are you?" I felt along the walls, but the "Sentinel’s Stake" was flickering, distorted by grief and gas.

  ?I heard my brothers' screams receding in different directions. The corridor seemed to branch into complex labyrinths. I stumbled and fell into a massive drainage opening, feeling the polluted water and oil swallow me as I plummeted into the darkness.

  ?When I woke up, I was alone. I was lying in the "Tin District," where the outcasts live beneath the eternal smog of Sheba. Beside me was only Saleh, unconscious. Naji and Mansour had completely vanished.

  ?Hameed died by the crush of steel... Naji and Mansour were lost in the guts of the beast... and of the "Five," only the wreckage of two men and a wound that would never heal remained.