Void System

"A merciful death will spare her the pain and reunite her with her parents in Heaven. Unless…"

Death. That… that was the answer, of course. Zemin should've been glad for the opportunity given to his sister, but he could only sob at the thought of being separated from her until his own death.

It's not like he could hurry it along. People who killed themselves didn't end in Heaven. Only the angels' hands could guarantee a passage there.

"I'm sorry," Zemin muttered, wiping his tears with his sleeve. "I'm happy for her. Really. And I didn't mean to interrupt."

Makhos shook his head. "This is not set in stone yet. I'd like you to become a Soldier in the future, but one can't be a Soldier without unshakable resolve in his soul. And releasing Levana's soul, I'm afraid, will destroy your resolve. Therefore, if you agree to become a Soldier, we will have no choice but to keep her alive… even if that just prolongs her pain. Although, there's hope, too. Perhaps an S-rank Healer-Psionic could help her, but I can count the amount of these in the world on the fingers of one hand. Even someone like myself will have a hard time getting help from one, when so many other important people need their life-saving skills."

Zemin turned to look at Levana. She still didn't wake up… he wished he could ask her what SHE wanted. He didn't want to leave her, but if she could go to Mom and Dad now…

"So what will you choose, Zemin?" Makhos asked.

'I'm such a selfish person. I should let Levana go…' The boy powerlessly clenched his fists over his pants. 'Even if her body heals, she will probably hate me for letting Mom and Dad die. If only I created that black hole sooner! Then everybody would've been alright! How can I be a good Soldier if I couldn't even protect my family? I will just let more people die!'

He opened his mouth to tell Makhos this, but his tongue moved on its own accord.

"I will become a Soldier, Mister Makhos."

When Makhos smiled, Zemin couldn't bring himself to take these words back. And after the angel left him with a promise to visit again soon, Zemin was left wallowing alone in his doubts and regrets.

***

An hour later, a soft rustling came from Levana's bed. Zemin turned his head towards her and gasped—his sister had finally opened her eyes and was trying to sit up.

Zemin rushed to her side, his grim thoughts forgotten. Despite waking up, she still looked as terrible as before. Her blond hair was a raven's nest grimy with dirt and dust, and her usually shiny green eyes were dull and bloodshot.

"Leva! Leva, you are awake! Wait, don't move. Doctors said you must rest as much as possible!"

"T-thirsty…"

"Right!"

The boy glanced around and poured Levana a glass of water from a pitcher on a nightstand. His hands shook so hard, he spilled half the glass on himself and had to refill it. "Here!"

Levana drank greedily, then looked at the wet spot on Zemin's trousers and smiled. "Pissed yourself… Zemi."

Zemin recoiled, feeling his cheeks reddening. "L-Leva, that's not true. And if Mom—"

'If Mom was here, she'd tell Leva off for embarrassing others. But she isn't here… She will never be…'

"Mom? Where is she? Where's Dad?" Levana's smile vanished. Instead, fear appeared in her eyes. "I don't remember what happened after I used Psionics… Where are WE?"

Zemin swallowed a lump in his throat and blinked away a tear. It was a mistake—as soon as he closed his eyes, he could see the faces of his parents, forever distorted by agony.

"They are in a better place," Zemin muttered, not meeting Levana's eyes. "You could've been with them, too, if I wasn't so selfish."

Levana gasped, then coughed heavily. When she pulled her palm away from her mouth, there were specks of blood on it. She glared at it, then at Zemin.

"Selfish? More like stupid! Idiot with no—"

She coughed again. When the coughs stopped, her head fell limply on the pillows.

"This isn't your fault, Zemi… It's mine. I fumbled everything," Levana said weakly, closing her eyes. "And I'd never leave you if I could. Alright? I'm gonna sleep. So tired…"

Zemin opened his mouth to protest, but seeing Levana's tired expression, closed it again. Instead, he grabbed a pillow from his bed, put it on the floor next to Levana's bed, and sat there so he could watch her breathing.

<Installation 100% complete. This Void System welcomes a new host. Do you want to listen user manual?>

Zemin gasped, looking around wildly, but there was no one but him and Levana. He couldn't make out where the voice was coming from.

"Be quiet, you will wake Levana up!" he whispered urgently. "And who are you?"

<Only you can hear this voice, Master. I am the Void System, an advanced combat system made to help its user in battle. Also, don't need address System aloud. read data directly from your thought-stream, so only think what want say. The privacy concerns for these functions were addressed and dismissed precursor versions of System.>

Zemin had good marks in school, but he still couldn't understand a third part of the words this 'Void System' was saying. Overwhelmed as he was, Zemin kept ignoring it and focused on the rest.

'Did I really hear you back then? Back at the… home.' Zemin thought.

<Yes. >

'But Mister Makhos said that I imagined you!'

<Do you want me to analyze this contradiction, Master?>

'Huh?' Zemin didn't understand, so he chose to ignore that. 'I guess Mister Makhos was wrong, because I told him wrong things.'

The Void System didn't respond, so Zemin kept asking. 'Did you make the black hole, too? Is that really a hole between dimensions?'

<Yes. The 'black hole' is a Void Portal—a permanent hole in this dimension that leads into Dimension. All matter enters the Dimension transformed directly void energy.>

Zemin frowned. 'Transformed? Please, speak simpler! That black dragon—he just disappeared, he didn't transform!'

<This Void System understands, Master. Initializing Simple Mode… Done. You saw the black dragon vanishing, because you can't see into Dimension, But can feel void energy he turned into, and already did, when spoke with Mister Makhos earlier.>

Zemin blinked. 'Void energy?'

<This is a special type of energy that can exist in the Void. In right situation, it become any other energy, including Psi-energy. Your soul attuned to Void Dimension—this how this System could install yourself you. Because that, you transform void into I can't say much more about this, because my home dimension humans used different ways do things with Psionics.>

'But Psi-energy comes from a Psionic's emotions! A demon can't turn into Psi-energy,' Zemin protested. 'This just makes no sense!'

<You want me to prove my words, Master?>

'Yes!'

<If you meditate, could probably feel the Void Dimension, its properties, and energy by yourself. Although this System can tell same things faster.>

'No. I will try.'

Zemin laid his head down on Levana's bed and closed his eyes. He rarely meditated since his assessment showed he couldn't become a Psionic, but it was simple.

Just focus on your soul… Like when he reached his energy. Or Void's energy?

Zemin's thoughts were heavy from all the revelations. As he meditated, drowsiness lowered over him, pulling him into darkness.

His body was in a hospital room, but his soul was floating there, in the sea of nothing. For a moment, Zemin thought he went asleep—but he could still think clearly.

There was that ball of energy again—right in the darkness, filling all of it, but not taking any space. Just like Zemin himself.

Distance and size had no meaning there. Nothing but energy did—Zemin understood this like he understood that water was wet after sticking a finger in it.

A web from more energy spread was growing from the ball, cradling Zemin.

'What's that?'

Levana coughed, and Zemin jolted out of his meditation. After several harsh coughs, she settled back into sleep, and Zemin carefully wiped the blood from her lips with his sleeve.

'Alright, I guess I believe you, Mister Void System. As long as I can still be a Psionic, it doesn't really matter where my Psi-energy comes from.' He paused, then added. 'I just need to kill demons to get more, right?'

<You can turn anything into energy by putting it inside the Void, Master. It doesn't matter if it's dead or alive.>

This sounded very convenient. 'I wonder what Mister Makhos will think about all that. I wonder what Mom and Dad would've thought about all that…'

Zemin's eyes stung, and he wiped tears that flowed down his cheeks.

He wanted to tell Levana about all that, to promise that he didn't steal the angel's mercy from her for nothing, but she was still sleeping. Zemin was going to tell Makhos instead when he returned.