The wind over the cliffside of U.H.A. Academy was colder than usual.
Brian stood there alone — 4 AM. No light. No sound.
Just him.
And it.
His hand hadn't stopped glowing for days. Not constantly — but always faint, always pulsing, always waiting. He'd told no one. Not even David.
He couldn't explain it.
Until now.
It started with a whisper.
Not in his ear. Not from outside.
Inside.
> "You are not weak. You're pretending."
Brian's head snapped up. "What…?"
> "You asked the question. I only answered."
The sphere appeared.
Not in front of him, but within his vision — a massive obsidian sphere, covered in golden cracks, spinning slowly inside his mind's eye. Cosmic symbols rotated across its surface. It wasn't a hallucination.
It was a presence.
> "I've been inside you for years, Brian. Sealed. Suppressed. But now? You're waking up."
Brian fell to one knee, panting. His hands trembled.
> "Who…what are you?"
> "Infinity."
> "Infinity is not a power. It's not a tool. It is a being."
The sphere's voice was layered — male, female, ancient, future — like a chorus echoing across galaxies.
> "And I am bound to your blood. You were chosen long ago, Brian. The problem is… you kept lying to yourself."
Brian froze.
> "You act weak. You pretend you care. But deep inside, you crave power. Control. You smile. You joke. But you're waiting to own everything. You manipulate, even now."
Brian looked down at his hands. "Shut up."
> "I won't. Because you're tired of playing nice. I can help you stop pretending."
A pause.
> "Let's make a deal."
---
🌀 Inside Brian's Mind: The Infinity Plane
Suddenly, he wasn't at the cliff.
He was inside a white void — endless — and the Sphere hovered before him, larger than any building, humming like it held universes inside.
Brian stood barefoot, wearing his school uniform. He felt… weightless.
> "Here's how it works," the Sphere said. "I grant you access. Real access. Not just power. But creation, destruction, alteration, rebirth. But in exchange…"
> "You stop lying to yourself."
Brian stared into the cracks of the Sphere. He saw visions — different versions of himself. Smiling. Crying. Killing. Laughing. Watching planets burn. Holding people in his arms. Ruling. Running.
> "I don't want to be a god," Brian whispered.
> "You already are. Just incomplete."
The Sphere extended a tendril of dark-gold energy.
> "Fuse with me. You'll still be you. Just… everything you really are."
Brian hesitated.
Then stepped forward.
His fingers touched the energy.
The world exploded in color.
---
🌌 The Next Morning
Brian opened his eyes.
He was in his bed.
His body was… different. Not visibly. But inside, something was unlocked. Something limitless. A new layer of reality beneath his skin. He could feel the air molecules. Hear every vibration. Sense every soul in the building.
But more importantly?
He could hide it all.
And he would.
He got dressed. Left his dorm. Met David in the hall.
"Yo, you good?" David asked. "You weren't at breakfast."
Brian smiled. "Just slept in. Let's move."
---
🎭 The Mask and the Puppet Strings
That day, Brian acted normal.
He trained, joked, played along in simulation class.
But in his mind?
He was already testing what he could do. Making equations. Mapping who trusted who. Memorizing the guards' rotations. Listening in on conversations from fifty meters away.
He watched Kendall argue with an instructor.
He tracked Declan's drones before they even deployed.
He noticed that Alcino's leg had a slight limp — a weak point.
And he stared at Niko's reflection just long enough to count his heartbeats.
No one suspected a thing.
But Infinity whispered with every blink.
> "You're already building your kingdom."