The CoDas: Reboot [By Hex]

Chapter 14: Unrest

Zack took me into the city and lead me through the streets.

"Hey, where will we be going? My uncle thinks I'm at your house, sleeping over."

"Well, I've thought of going to a cafe. It's rather a unique cafe for newborn CoDas to rest in during the night of meeting their guardian."

"Wait, what about school or my relatives? How should we handle that?" I stammered.

"Emily has taken care of that, she used her psychic ability to create hallucinations of you in everyone's mind. Your uncle and even the fake me will see you in their mind when you're not really around. This will last for at least a day before they realize that you have disappeared. It's more than enough time for you to get back home and continue living your life as usual for a mon-" Zack paused, I could hear his voice pull back as if he said something he shouldn't have. "Or so..." he mumbled.

It suddenly became awkward for me to speak, I initially wanted to press him and ask what he was thinking about but I held my tongue and simply followed Zack 'till we reached our destination. I chose to rely on Zack and hope that he will come out and say what he needs to say. We stood in front of what seemed to be an average apartment building with a cafe on the first floor. Surprisingly, not too far from where my school was but it was a location I don't often set foot in.

Zack grabbed the handle of the front door then looked back at me. "Welcome to Tidlös Cafe, a hangout place for most CoDas living here. Conveniently, the owners of the cafe in both the Color Lens and Matter Lens owns the whole apartment too."

He opened the door as he allowed me to go in first. I walked in slowly, the cafe was quite big from the inside, perhaps enough to fit over 30 people. However, the cafe wasn't so lively during that time. I could see, perhaps, 10 people chatting, playing board games, writing things on a notebook or sleeping on the desks and that excluding the cafe owners.

"Not many people around, huh?" I spoke out.

Zack replied behind me, "yeah, It isn't that lively during midnight."

"True."

"Nathan, do you know when your school ends tomorrow?"

I looked over at Zack. "Yeah, I know," then I thought for a moment before adding in. "Wait, you didn't know? You go to the same school as me."

"Remember, I'm the Coda Zack. I only have the same personality and partial memories as the Fake Zack plus I forget things that I don't give a damn about." I let out an 'Oh...' as he continued. "You're gonna be staying here for the night. So knowing when your school ends tomorrow can let me know how long you need to stay in the cafe."

"Okay, okay, yeah it ends at 5pm."

"Good to know! Like I said there is no need to worry about school or your relatives. Emily has it covered." Zack patted me on the shoulder.

"Wait a minute, I thought we, CoDas, could only use our abilities in the Color Lens."

"Only specific Xorlaz abilities can be used in Matter Lens. Psychokinesis is one of them."

I inhaled and nodded, "okay, I got it. So where should I sleep?"

"Yeah, let me show you."

Zack guides me upstairs, as we reached the third floor, Zack took me to one of the rooms on the third floor. Opening the door, I entered the room as Zack spoke.

"This will be where you'll sleep for tonight."

The room was quite clean like it was untouched. It's impressive how high-quality this room is. It felt like I was in a 5-star hotel. I leaped on the bed, spreading my arms wide.

So soft, smooth and clean. Once I laid on the bed, I realized how tired I actually was. I could sleep right there and then.

Zack sat down at the edge of the bed, taking in a deep breath then speaking sternly, "Nathan, there's another thing you should probably know. I do not know how or why it is happening but when I saw how you were at the test, you seemed to have gotten numb and almost fainted at a certain point when fighting the sculptures."

I turned my attention to him, "hmm?"

"More importantly, I think I saw your soul nearly separate from your physical body."

I got up instantly and questioned, "huh? Wait, what do you mean? What's going to be happening to me?"

"I mentioned that there's another to becoming a CoDa, which is known as Phase of Separation. It's when your physical body and spiritual body is separated in two, that's how Codas and Fakers are created. A part of your soul becomes bonded with the spirit who has chosen you. The thing is that there are side-effects that occur to indicate that you are nearing the Phase of Separation. One of the side-effects is when the chosen human-CoDa begins to feel numb and often times faints as well as seeing a ghostly figure behind that chosen human. The problem is that these side-effects are appearing earlier than they should be. Judging from how far your soul almost separated in that fight. I'm guessing it could take a day or two until you're a fully fledged CoDa."

"Then what should we do?" I asked.

"There's nothing we can do aside from canceling the process of you becoming a CoDa entirely. And if that is done, you won't get a second chance. So really, it's two things you truly need to worry about. One, do you still want to become a CoDa; and two, how you will say farewell to your uncle because once you're separated, your uncle won't recognize you for who you really are." Zack then stood up as he headed for the door. "I'll give you until morning to fully decide. I already gave you a small glimpse of what CoDas can do and some of the aspects of our world, now it's up to you to decide whether you really wanna do it."

I sat still thinking as I then decided to ask, "I know that I'd said I would become a CoDa but now I'm wondering; what do you think I should've chosen?"

"Honestly, I'm in-between both sides. I want you to have a safe, easy life but at the same time, you're my best friend and I think we can have a lot of fun together as CoDas." Zack took a glance at the hallway then back to me. "So, I'm sorry, but I cannot give you any advice or opinion on this topic."

I nodded to his reasoning then asked, "where are you going though?"

"I'm going back to HQ, I need to report this and prepare for teaching in case if you really want to become a CoDa." Zack waved as he closed the lights then shut the door.

I lightly spoke out, "bye."

Falling back into the bed, I looked up at the ceiling. Thinking about what I should do. There was this urge in me to know more about the world of CoDas ever since my visit to their base. It captivated me to see so many others like me and to see them fight in action. I've always enjoyed action novels and I enjoyed being appreciated for something. So eventually, I decided to stick to my choice.

Now the problem was my uncle; what should I tell him? It's happening so fast, I don't know if I can take it all in. I kept on thinking what will happen in the future. What will happen after I part with my actual body? What will happen as I grow up? What will I learn?

You know, when you have to soon say goodbye to someone who is so close to you, it's hard to avoid that thought in your mind; because each question that I asked myself kept on leading back to how I should spend my last time with my uncle. Soon, I head to sleep while still lost in my thoughts, as I had the same vision of seeing a dark, misty forest as I did during the fight with Zack.

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To Be Continued

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Sorry that it took so long for me to upload this chapter. High school came in and I was busy brainstorming how I should lead the plot in this chapter.