Soul

The room crackled with tension as Zelda recounted the harrowing tale of her escape from Von's clutches and her arrival in this clandestine location. Alex, his eyes smoldering with a potent mix of anger, grief, and betrayal, stood opposite her. He had been Davidso's closest friend, and the loss of their comrade had cut deep into his soul.

"Zelda," Alex seethed, his voice laced with a simmering rage that had festered for months, "you expect me to believe this story of betrayal and escape? You think a few words can erase the blood that stains your hands?"

Zelda met his accusatory gaze with a steely resolve, fully aware of the storm of emotions raging within Alex. She had known this confrontation was inevitable, and she was ready to face the consequences of her actions.

"I understand that my actions have caused pain and loss," she replied, her tone measured and calm. "But you have to believe me, Alex. I had no choice but to make that choice, to betray our mission, to save myself and protect the artifact."

Alex clenched his fists, his knuckles whitening as the memories of their failed mission and Davidso's death flooded back. "Davidso trusted you," he growled, his voice trembling with the weight of his emotions. "And you left him to die."

Zelda's gaze faltered for a moment, a flicker of guilt crossing her face. "I never wanted any of this," she admitted, her voice breaking slightly. "But I had to survive. Von would have killed me, and my family..."

Her words hung in the air, an unspoken plea for understanding. She had carried the weight of her betrayal for months, haunted by the choices she had been forced to make.

Alex's anger wavered, replaced by a complex mix of emotions. He had known Zelda for years, and her actions had torn at the very foundation of their trust. Yet, in her eyes, he saw a glimmer of desperation and remorse.

"Davidso may still alive alex"

As the implications of Zelda's revelation settled in, a new theory emerged in Alex's mind. Davidso, their loyal comrade, had possibly faked his death to protect the real artifact. He must have orchestrated a daring switch, replacing the genuine artifact with a convincing replica just before his supposed demise. This cunning maneuver had saved the artifact from falling into Von's hands, but it had also put Zelda in grave danger, as she had unwittingly carried the counterfeit item.

Alex's anger began to shift. It was no longer directed solely at Zelda for her role in their group's dispersal. Instead, a burning rage ignited within him at the audacity of Von and the treacherous game of shadows they had been drawn into. The fake artifact had not only fooled their entire team but had also pushed Von to the brink of madness.

"Davidso," Alex muttered under his breath, his voice laced with a mixture of reverence and determination. "If you're out there, my friend, we're coming for you. And we'll uncover the truth behind this artifact, no matter what it takes."

---

Amidst the cryptic conversation within the recesses of his own mind, Alex felt an abrupt and profound shift in his perception. It was as though time itself had come to a grinding halt, suspending reality in a frozen tableau of existence. The world around him ceased to move, locked in an eerie silence that was almost deafening in its intensity.

Every ambient sound was arrested in mid-air, held captive by this mysterious temporal stasis. The whirring of distant machinery, the rustling of leaves, the faint hum of electricity—all of it hung motionless, their auditory footprints etched into the very fabric of time.

Alex stood in a surreal pocket of stillness, acutely aware of this temporal suspension. His breaths, previously rapid with trepidation, now hung like ethereal wisps in the air, unmoving. It was as though he had been plucked from the continuum of time itself, isolated in this eerie moment of stilled existence.

In the midst of this temporal stasis, the voice in his mind resonated with an eerie clarity, its words cutting through the silence like a whisper in a vacuum. The voice's cryptic message took on an otherworldly resonance, echoing through the frozen expanse of time.

The experience was both mesmerizing and unnerving, leaving Alex with an unshakable sense that he was teetering on the precipice of something far beyond his comprehension—a revelation that could forever alter the course of his destiny.

'Don't trust her, Alex'

Taken aback, Alex couldn't help but ask the obvious question, his voice trembling with uncertainty.

'Who... who are you?'

'I am you.'

A cold shiver coursed down Alex's spine. The idea that he was conversing with himself, or some version of himself, within the recesses of his own mind was both surreal and unsettling.

'Why are you here, inside my mind?'

'If I weren't here, you would be dead by now. Remember the Ramos incident?'

As soon as the words echoed in his consciousness, a vivid memory resurfaced, one that he had long buried beneath layers of trauma. The recollection of his death during the Ramos incident, and the inexplicable resurgence of strength that followed, flashed before him.

'The Ramos incident... I died, but then...'

'You grew stronger.'

'What are you?'

'I am the future you, Alex. And your future is...Betrayal !!!'

'And the women in front of you is one of the reason'

The voice trailed off ominously, leaving Alex suspended in an unsettling silence as the echoes of the chilling revelation reverberated within the depths of his consciousness.

In the suspended animation of time, Alex's mind raced, trying to make sense of the cryptic message echoing within his consciousness. The woman, Zelda, stood before him, seemingly trapped in this strange temporal freeze. He couldn't help but ponder the enigmatic voice's words: "and the woman in front of you is one of them."

As seconds stretched into eternity, the weight of the revelation bore down on him. He had known betrayal before, witnessed the consequences it wrought. And now, in this eerie moment, it seemed that the seeds of distrust had once again been sown.

Finally, breaking the silence that hung heavy in the frozen atmosphere, Alex's voice emerged, a whisper amidst the time-stilled world. "Who are you? What do you mean, 'one of them'?" His words hung in the air, an urgent plea for clarity and understanding.

The woman, Zelda, remained immobile, her gaze locked in a distant stare. It was as though she, too, was a captive of this temporal anomaly, unable to respond. The frozen tableau held them both in its enigmatic grip, and the mysteries of betrayal and the uncertain future loomed large in Alex's mind.