Anomaly

Chapter 419 – Abnormal Fluctuations

(POV – Protagonist)

After the cabins were built, my sisters and I spent a good portion of our time simply exploring and taking in everything we could about the new place that, in the future, we’d call home. The area was surprisingly vast, far larger than I’d initially expected, and there was something about the place itself that felt strangely natural.

It was weird to think that, technically, all of this had been created by one of the facility’s anomalies. Every tree, every dirt trail, the gentle swaying of the leaves in the wind, even the fresh scent of wood coming from the cabins, in theory, it was all nothing more than an artificially preassembled environment. Even so, denying the beauty of the place would’ve been impossible.

The morning sunlight filtered softly through the treetops while the distant sound of running water and the cold breeze filled the silence around us, making everything feel genuinely alive. Compared to my old room, cramped and painfully monotonous, this place felt like an entirely different world.

For the first time in a very long while, my sisters and I had a place we could truly call our own. Each of us had our own space, a corner where we could rest. More than that, the entire area carried a rare sense of warmth and comfort.

The fact that there was also a sun shining overhead, one that genuinely seemed to radiate real heat, helped make the place even more comfortable. Golden light spread pleasantly across the environment, warming the pale stones and pouring through the tall windows. That said, it wasn’t like any of that made much difference to me.

I could no longer feel temperature, exhaustion, or any other kind of physical discomfort normally, so as interesting as it was to watch that artificial star illuminate everything around us, I simply didn’t care that much about that unique feature of the new place where my sisters and I would be living.

As a matter of fact, during all that time, I avoided leaving the area assigned to me as much as possible. The reasons were simple. The first one involved Emily and Laura directly. Predictably enough, the High Council wasn’t pleased in the slightest about my escape. From their perspective, Emily had lost control of the situation while Laura, on the other hand, had allowed everything to happen without intervening properly.

As a result, the old men on the Council began actively working behind the scenes, trying to find any loophole, administrative mistake, or political excuse they could use to remove both of them from their positions.

And honestly, I had no intention of making that easier for them. The High Council even sent in a few new scientists to replace the two of them. The result? Well... I turned their lives into a living hell.

Not to sound arrogant, but I’m extremely powerful, powerful enough that anyone who hadn’t been at the facility since the first days after my arrival would probably see me as a living time bomb, just waiting for the countdown to hit zero before exploding. And honestly, that was exactly the image I made sure the new scientists saw.

The two of them arrived full of confidence, wearing those smug smiles and rehearsed speeches about how they were perfectly capable of handling “humanoid anomalies” It only took a few days for that irritating confidence to start crumbling apart.

I made sure to test every limit they had: complete silence during evaluations, prolonged stares until they became uncomfortable, small displays of strength that made the reinforced glass in the room vibrate slightly, and of course, a few controlled outbursts just to remind them what would happen if they lost control of the situation.

At first, they tried to maintain a professional attitude. They wrote everything down on clipboards, spoke in calm tones, and pretended they weren’t nervous. But hiding fear was impossible. I could smell the cold sweat every single time they stepped into my wing. In the end, reality was merciless with them.

The two scientists who had so confidently claimed they could replace Emily and Laura simply couldn’t do it. Not long afterward, they requested transfers, completely drained both physically and mentally. Meanwhile, Emily and Laura continued wearing their positions proudly.

As for those new scientists... well, let’s just say they decided to take some very long vacations, far away from anything even remotely related to anomalies. And honestly, after everything that happened, I can’t really blame them. Naturally, the outcome of that entire situation didn’t sit well with the High Council at all.

On the contrary, they went as far as classifying both me and my little sisters as potentially hostile anomalies and possible threats to humanity. A predictable exaggeration coming from them. In the end, though, it didn’t lead to absolutely anything.

A large portion of the scientists working at the facility knew very well how much I’d been helping humanity ever since the day I was found in the forest. On top of that, numerous reports made it clear that, in practically every situation involving anomalies, my actions had prevented human casualties and significantly reduced damage.

Even the more cautious researchers found it difficult to support the Council’s accusations after everything I’d already done. As for Emily and Laura, they managed to keep their positions without any major issues, much to the High Council’s complete frustration.

Even so, before ending the meeting, the Council members made sure to leave behind a warning loaded with veiled threats: from that moment onward, they would be closely monitoring every step, decision, and action the two of them took in the future. Honestly? It sounded far more like a desperate attempt to maintain some degree of control over the situation than anything else.

With all that said, I also had some knowledge about the outside world. Laura visited me pretty often, usually accompanied by a few agents. Rupert, for example, mostly stopped by just to relax for a bit and escape the constant pressure of work, while Victor mainly came to see Chronas, even though he would hardly ever admit that out loud.

And honestly... things out there didn’t seem good at all. Humans were becoming increasingly cornered when it came to anomalies. Fear and distrust kept growing with every new incident, and many people were already openly expressing their hatred and terror toward anything even remotely anomalous.

In some cities, entire groups had started hunting anomalies the moment they appeared, driven by the naïve belief that brute force alone could solve everything. The result, however, was almost always disastrous.

It didn’t matter how many firearms they brought, how many men they gathered, or how prepared they believed they were. In general, anomalies were absurdly dangerous entities, even the ones that, at first glance, seemed completely harmless.

Some possessed abilities that were impossible to predict, others reacted in irrational and brutal ways whenever threatened, and there were even those that simply ignored conventional combat methods as if bullets were nothing more than tiny drops of rain.

Many of the recent cases ended in silent massacres, with entire teams disappearing or being found hours later in conditions so horrific they were barely recognizable. And the worst part was that with every tragedy, humanity’s fear only continued to grow, fueling an increasingly violent cycle between both sides.

Anyway, putting aside all that morbid mess, with people swearing the biblical apocalypse was about to begin at any moment, the past few weeks had actually been relatively peaceful.

No anomalous case big enough for the organization to fail handling it, no absurd emergencies, and no creature trying to wipe out half the city. For the first time in a long while, it felt like the world had decided to breathe for a few days.

Because of that, I ended up spending most of my time at the cabin. Honestly? It wasn’t bad. I spent entire days playing video games sprawled across the couch, devouring bags of chips while drinking ridiculously sweet milkshakes and eating ice cream straight out of the container. At times, everything felt almost... normal. Ridiculously normal.

As if I were just some ordinary guy enjoying a lazy vacation instead of someone involved in all this supernatural insanity. And to be honest, I can’t say I dislike that kind of life. It was comfortable. Quiet. Relaxing. Even so, beneath that strangely stable peace, something still kept bothering me.

The feeling I had after dealing with the priest never disappeared for even a single moment. The same invisible pressure in the back of my mind, the same constant uneasiness that surfaced whenever I spent too much time alone with my own thoughts. It was as if something was slowly approaching... something inevitable.

The problem was that I had no idea what it was. For some reason, I couldn’t shake the feeling that something would happen once all my sisters were finally reunited. But what? And why? What exactly was the purpose behind that reunion? Even now, I still had no answer to any of those questions.

***

(POV - Emily Parker)

As Director-General of Management, Emily rarely had a moment of peace inside the organization. Her position forced her to remain in constant contact with the High Council, receiving reports, analyzing requests, and responding to demands that seemed endless. And using the word “buried” was definitely not an exaggeration, Emily was genuinely drowning beneath stacks of documents that urgently needed to be reviewed, approved, or denied.

The massive metal desk in front of her was completely covered with folders, reports, and forms scattered in utter chaos. There were containment requests awaiting authorization, psychological evaluations of employees, internal incident reports, and even proposals for new security protocols that required her personal review before implementation.

In a way, without Emily, the entire facility would simply grind to a halt. Every final decision inevitably passed through her hands. From determining the fate of newly captured anomalies and deciding which sector they should be assigned to, to approving revisions to old protocols or authorizing delicate operations conducted by the organization, everything depended on her signature. And it was exhausting.

Emily’s tired eyes scanned yet another document while she slowly massaged her forehead, trying to ease the mild headache that had built up after countless uninterrupted hours of work. The cup of coffee beside the papers had gone cold a long time ago, forgotten amid the endless sea of responsibilities that seemed to grow faster than she could handle them.

Sighing in pure frustration, Emily rubbed her temples as she stared at the mountain of paperwork spread throughout the office. Open folders, carelessly stacked reports, and dozens of digital files projected across the surrounding screens transformed the room into a true bureaucratic hell.

That was why, when the office door opened, Emily didn’t even bother looking up right away. In her mind, it was probably just another researcher bringing in yet another pile of files to worsen her situation... or maybe an agent seeking guidance regarding some low-priority anomalous occurrence.

However, when she finally lifted her gaze, a rare expression of surprise crossed her face. The person who had entered wasn’t just any researcher, but one of the veterans from the anomalous monitoring team, a man experienced enough that he rarely showed nervousness. Even so, at that moment, his rigid posture and serious expression made it obvious that something was wrong.

“Director Emily... I think you’re going to want to see this” The man didn’t even give her the chance to respond. Quickly approaching the desk, he placed a tablet in front of her.

Emily frowned slightly before picking up the device. Her eyes scanned the graphs displayed on the screen and, almost immediately, her eyebrows rose. The data showed completely abnormal fluctuations, abrupt, chaotic oscillations that matched no known pattern. Still, that wasn’t what truly caught Emily’s attention.

What actually made Emily question her own eyes was the beginning of the graph. There was no gradual increase. No warning signs. The readings simply... started. Out of absolutely nowhere. As if the anomaly had appeared instantaneously, ignoring every law that normally governed this type of phenomenon.

One of Emily’s eyes twitched subtly as she stared at the screen in complete disbelief: “What the hell is happening...?”