breaking[edited]

The voice grated at Sera's ears, a mix of arrogance and mockery. "Not saying anything? Why is that, I wonder—any reason in particular?"

Sera remained silent, her eyes fixed on the ground. Her muscles were tense, but she refused to give this person the satisfaction of a reaction. She knew this type—the loudmouth with an ego so large it was a wonder they didn't burst at the seams. In a world like Terra II, these were the ones who always met the most brutal ends, first to go down when things got real.

The woman stepped closer, her presence suffocating. "Say something, you fucking mute. Nothing? Bitch."

She shoved Sera hard, but Sera barely stumbled, her body absorbing the impact like she'd taken hits far worse. The woman's laughter echoed in the hallway as she turned to walk away, her pack of sycophants trailing behind her like a gaggle of fools. "What a loser you are," she spat over her shoulder, her laughter mixing with the others as they left.

Sera's body trembled, but not from fear. It was rage, hot and primal, bubbling up inside her, scratching at the surface. Why? Why do they just stare and laugh? Her mind raced, the world around her distorting. Is this some kind of twisted humor I'm not understanding? Am I a clown to them? Some freak in a fucking circus? She could feel her face drain of color, the adrenaline coursing through her veins.

Her mind spiraled, her thoughts growing darker, more fragmented. Is it my face? What do they see when they look at me? Someone broken? Someone weak? She could feel something inside her snapping, the anger coiling tight like a spring ready to unleash.

And then, the massacre began.

The first victim? The bitch who had dared to mock her. Sera's legs moved on their own, slow and deliberate as she closed the distance between them. One step. Two. Three. Four.

The woman turned, her smug grin still plastered across her face. "Huh? The fuck you doing, bitch?"

Before she could say another word, she coughed—hard. The sound was wet, gurgling, and when she looked down, her eyes widened in horror. Blood. Thick, dark, and viscous. It spilled from her mouth, dripping onto the floor as her body convulsed. She looked up at Sera, eyes wide with disbelief, her mouth opening to scream, but nothing came out.

Sera didn't say a word. She didn't need to. Her hand was already plunged deep into the woman's chest, her fingers curled around her still-beating heart. The woman's eyes flickered in shock, staring down at the grotesque sight before her—her own heart, pumping weakly, held firmly in Sera's grasp. Each beat was slower, weaker, until it barely pulsed at all.

"Got something to say now, huh?" Sera's face was inches from hers, her expression eerily calm. Her eyes were dull, lifeless. She could see the life draining from the woman's eyes, her mouth quivering as she tried to speak. Sera pulled her pistol from her plate carrier, the metal gleaming in the artificial light as she pressed the barrel against the woman's jaw.

The woman's voice was a broken whisper, pleading, desperate. "I-I can explain, just—"

BANG.

The gunshot echoed through the hall, and the woman's head snapped back violently. Blood sprayed across the walls, the once-smug expression now replaced with a gaping hole where her jaw had been. Her lifeless body slumped against Sera, twitching once before collapsing to the floor.

She was dead. Gone. Just like that. No coming back. No reset. No game over screen.

Sera stood over her, watching the blood pool around her feet, crimson splatters painting the sterile floor. Her breath was slow, steady, despite the carnage. She felt... nothing. No remorse, no regret. Just a cold, numb satisfaction.

Time seemed to slow down. Everything seemed to so clear. So prestine.

Her eyes flicked up to the large glass window that overlooked the city. Without a second thought, she raised her gun and fired. The window shattered, shards of glass flying in every direction as time seemed to slow. The room was a cacophony of chaos—the screams, the sound of shattering glass, the distant noise of the city below.

Sera grabbed the woman's limp body by the collar, dragging her toward the broken window. The others watched, frozen in horror, too stunned to react, too afraid to move.

With a single heave, Sera threw the woman's body out of the window. It fell through the air, tumbling head over heels as it plummeted toward the pavement below. Time seemed to slow even more as she watched it fall, the body spinning through the air like a ragdoll, until—

Splat.

The body hit the ground with a sickening thud, limbs twisted at unnatural angles, blood splattering across the pavement. The sound was followed by the horrified screams of the people below, some of them running in panic, others vomiting as they stared at the grisly sight.

But Sera wasn't done. No, the massacre had only just begun.