Chapter 2
"Today marks the last day of our junior college journey—"
In the auditorium of Marine Bayford Junior College, seats were filled with soft whispers and quiet laughter. Many of whom were students graduating from this school. All restless after a long period of intense examinations. Parents and teachers gathered to watch from the back rows, cameras occasionally flashing as another chapter comes to a close.
On stage stood Aurora Ling. Five years had passed, and the girl who was once naive and cheerful had grown into someone far more composed and mature. Her long red hair was neatly braided in the same crown-like style she had worn as a child, though now it carried an air of discipline rather than the playful energy she once showed.
As she spoke, faint motes of Synarc shimmered in the air, responding instinctively to her presence.
Aurora Ling was at the top of her class, student council president, and one of the most promising Synarc talents of her generation. She stood confidently at the podium as the final lines of her graduation speech echoed through the hall.
"…The future is uncertain, but what I can say for certain is that the memories we have made over the past years have shaped us into who we are today. The experience we gain and the friends we make don't just end here but should follow you to the next stage of life." Her voice was steady, resolute and had a sense of confidence.
Among the sea of students sat Bumi Tiang, arms loosely folded as he rested in his seat.
Aurora's words flew over his head, his mind drifting, reflecting on the past five years. His day-to-day struggles, barely meeting the cut-off points to enter into Marine Bayford JC and many more.
It's been half a decade since the incident. Unsurprisingly, Aurora and Bumi had drifted apart. Not only because of what had happened, but because of what came after. Back then, when the world suddenly collapsed around them, Bumi hadn't been able to stay by her side. When she needed it the most, Aurora was left to face the grief of losing her parents alone. However, she's become so strong now, not just in terms of physical or magical prowess but also so much more mentally hardened.
Bumi reflected on how he too had been fighting his own battle, trying to hold together what remained of his family.
His mother had never recovered from that night. Every day had become a quiet struggle for her. Job applications rejected. Neighbours whispering. Bills were piling up. And Bumi could only watch as the woman who once laughed so easily slowly broke under the weight of it all.
He closed his eyes slightly deeper, thoughts drifting into familiar territory. "Dad… Why did you have to go and do that?"
For a moment, the question lingered. Then another memory surfaced. A much older one.
His father crouched beside him when he was younger while watching cartoons with him, ruffling his hair with a warm laugh.
"Remember, son, like the show, always stay true to yourself. If you truly believe in something, don't let other beliefs affect yours."
Bumi shook his head slightly. "No…"
He murmured under his breath. "He would never; he still had to take care of Mom and me. He'd never want to leave us like that."
"Mom…" His thoughts slowly drifted to something far more immediate. "I hope she's resting and not working…"
"Wait…work? Work?!? "What time is it?" He sighed quietly. "Ah… my shift. Ugh, my neck hurts. Did I fall asleep?"
Tap.
Tap.
Tap.
A sharp tapping sound pulled him back to reality. His eyelids fluttered, trying to adjust to the light as he slowly opened his eyes.
The first thing he noticed was the silence, followed by the tapping of a shoe. More specifically, someone tapping their foot impatiently against the floor.
He slowly looked up to see that standing directly in front of him was Aurora. And she was staring back at him with the most annoyed expression he had seen in years.
Bumi blinked. Then blinked again. He quickly glanced around the auditorium.
Empty.
Every seat around him had been moved, stacked and tucked away. The auditorium was dark except for the lights leaking from the outside corridor.
His eyes widened as he scrambled for his phone. "What time is it—?!"
Aurora crossed her arms.
"Give it up," she said flatly. "You're probably late for your shift anyway."
Bumi groaned under his breath. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"
Aurora raised an eyebrow. "I was busy."
"Student council handover, photos and other responsibilities." As she gestured vaguely toward the pile of neatly stacked chairs. Then she added with a faint edge in her voice, "Once you're up, stack the chairs in that corner, lock up and return the keys to the General Office."
She turned and began walking toward the auditorium doors.
For a moment Bumi just sat there, stunned.
Then he suddenly stood up and shouted. "Wait—!"
The moment his legs tried to move, they immediately betrayed him. His body collapsed straight back down onto the floor.
"Ow ow ow." Pins and needles shot through his legs as he winced in pain.
"Okay… bad idea…" He rubbed his legs awkwardly before looking back up.
"Aurora!"
She stopped near the exit but didn't turn around.
Bumi scratched the back of his head. "Do you want to talk? Is that why you woke me up?"
Aurora sighed. Slowly, she turned with an annoyed look.
"Did you not listen to anything I said?" She pointed toward the stage.
"I was handing over my student council duties. That means I had to stay back. And since you decided to treat my speech as a lullaby and the auditorium like a bedroom, I had to wake you up before closing it." She glanced at him briefly. "Now hurry up and leave."
Bumi blinked. "Leave?"
"Ugh… I can't sign in the auditorium key before it's returned. Hurry, you're wasting my time." She pushed open the auditorium doors slightly. Light from the hallway spilt inside.
For a moment she paused. Without turning around, she added one final sentence.
"And I'll talk to you properly." A small pause followed. "When you finally accept that your father was a murderer."
As she disappears into the sliver of light. Leaving Bumi alone in the silent auditorium.
For a while, he just sat there on the floor.
"…A murderer, huh." The words hung in the air.
Bumi let out a slow breath and pushed himself up, his legs finally cooperating after their earlier rebellion.
By the time he returned the key to the General Office and stepped out of Marine Bayford Junior College, the sky had already shifted into the dull orange of early evening. He reached into his pocket to check his phone, only to realise the battery had died. "Great. Just what I needed…"
The city hummed with evening traffic. Office workers passed by, students laughed in small groups, and delivery drones buzzed quietly overhead.
Bumi headed straight home. There was no point in going to work anymore. By the time he reached the shop, he would already be three hours late for his shift.
"Murderer… That's one way to put it…" Bumi muttered to himself as he sat on the train.
He leaned his head against the window. "…Am I just denying the truth?"
Eventually, Bumi reached his block. The once-white apartment building was now stained yellow from years of sun and rain. Several corridor lights flickered weakly overhead.
He stopped outside the door of his unit. For a moment, he stood there silently. Then he gently slapped both cheeks with his hands.
"Alright!" He forced a wide smile onto his face and swung the door open.
"I'm home—!" His voice filled the small apartment with forced cheer. Only his echo answered.
The house was empty. Quiet. Void of any human presence. Bumi stood there for a moment before letting the smile slowly fade.
"…She's pushing herself again." He sighed. "I hoped she'd rest today."
He slipped off his shoes and walked inside, the silence of the apartment pressing down on him.
His mother had been taking every job she could find these days: night shifts, cleaning work, waitering, dishwashing—almost any odd job that paid.
Bumi walked to his room and dropped his bag beside the bed before collapsing onto the mattress. He stares into the ceiling; it stares back at him.
"What am I even doing with my life…" The words slipped out before he could stop them. After a few seconds, he pulled out his phone and plugged it into the charger before unlocking it again.
A wall of text messages flooded his screen. Mainly his manager scolding him. Needless to say, he was dismissed from that job.
Bumi, let out a sigh. At least now that his phone has batteries again, he can now distract himself from thinking about his life.
His thumb began scrolling.
"Here is how you—"
"All in on 17 bla—"
"Looking for a job?—"
Reel after reel, nothing but noise and highly mind numbing content.
"Watch as this shoplifter gets caught red-handed." A narrator with an AI voice exclaims.
Bumi paused, finally, a reel that caught his attention.
The footage showed a dimly lit street corner. A convenience store sat beside a tall lamppost, its bright lights spilling onto the pavement. The timestamp blinked in the corner of the screen.
A man suddenly ran out of the store, clutching a bag. Behind him, the store owner burst out the door. "4% release… Cast—Frozen Path."
The moment he spoke, the air around his hands glowed. Synarc particles gathered, forming faint circuit-like patterns of soft blue light around his fingers. Ice spread across the pavement in front of the fleeing thief.
The man slipped instantly, crashing face first to the ground with a shout. The store owner rushed forward, pinning him down while shouting for help.
"What would you—" the voice in the video continues to narrate.
Bumi scrolled the moment the main part of the video ended. "What a cool attribute to have," he thought.
But just as his thumb moved to swipe again— "…Wait." His eyes widened.
He immediately scrolled back up, trying to find the video again. "This video…"
This time he wasn't looking at the thief, nor the store owner, nor the Synarc spell.
He was looking at the entire frame. More specifically, the camera.
"How did they get street camera footage…? Is it AI?" A quiet thought slipped into his mind; Bumi quickly opened a search tab and began typing.
The footage was real; an AI verification tool confirmed it.
The shoplifting incident had actually happened—it was recorded in a public police report from five years ago.
But more importantly… The camera angle came from a street lamp. Bumi kept digging.
After a few minutes of searching, he discovered something else.
Under Shin Tamasek's Civil Surveillance Transparency Act, streetlamp footage older than five years was automatically released to the public—unless it involved ongoing investigations.
Bumi slowly sat up.
"…Five years…" Without hesitation, he searched for the footage from the incident five years ago.
The screen loaded, and Bumi's eyes widened.
His father appeared on the screen; he was clutching his neck in pain, collapsing against the pavement as if something had stabbed him. His hand stretched behind him, pointing at something out of frame.
Aurora's parents ran toward him, trying to help him stand. However, it was too late; his father's body convulsed.
Synapse psychosis.
A violent surge of Synarc burst outward. Invisible blades tore through the air; Aurora's parents were caught directly in the blast. The concrete around them was carved with deep slashes as the attack shredded everything nearby.
Bumi felt his chest tighten. Something felt off. His father had been pointing at something. "What… were you trying to show?"
He quickly opened another camera angle from a nearby street. Then something that both shook him to his core and gave him relief at the same time.
A figure stood behind his father. The person was partially censored—blurred and covered with black boxes but clean enough to see that they appeared to be in pain. His father rushed toward them to help.
Then suddenly—the figure grabbed his father by the neck.
In a quick motion, a jab to the neck. The figure walked away calmly as Bumi's father collapsed onto the pavement.
Bumi stared at the screen, his hands trembling. He started crying with a smile. "…You didn't do it…"