CHAPTER 22: FALLOUT AND FEAR
The initial crisis of Adam's stabilization passed, leaving him in a fragile, yet terrifying, equilibrium. He was no longer flickering uncontrollably, nor was he assaulted by constant temporal visions. However, the dark lightning of the Negative Speed Force Echo remained etched into his skin, a permanent, unsettling tattoo. His movements were often jerky, his focus occasionally drifting, as if parts of his consciousness were still grappling with unseen paradoxes. The Immortal System continued its relentless monitoring, its internal diagnostics constantly running, a low hum of power analysis that Adam now felt as a permanent, draining presence.
[SYSTEM REPORT: HOST STABILIZATION – 71.9%. ECHO INTEGRATION – 8.1% COMPLETE. VOLATILITY INDEX – HIGH. UNCONTROLLED ENERGY SURGES – PROBABILITY 62.1% WITHIN 24 HOURS. RECOMMENDED: ISOLATION & FURTHER TRAINING.]
The system's cold pronouncement hung in the air of the Cortex, projected onto the screen for all to see. Barry ran a hand through his hair, the weight of leadership pressing down on him. Wells's exposure had indeed created a massive power vacuum in Central City's criminal underworld. Old gang rivalries resurfaced with a brutal intensity, and new, more unpredictable metahumans, emboldened by the chaos, emerged from the shadows. The city, still reeling from the shock of Thawne's betrayal, was a powder keg, and The Flash was now its sole protector, without his former mentor's guidance.
"Another bank hit," Iris's voice crackled over the comms, a frantic urgency in her tone. "Only this time, the vaults weren't just broken into, they… dissolved. Like they were never there."
"Dissolved?" Cisco repeated, squinting at his diagnostics. "That sounds like… unmaking. Could it be another void entity, Adam?"
Adam, who had been silently monitoring the city grid with the system's help, nodded slowly, his movements still slightly stiff. "The system detects a familiar signature. A low-level unmaking field. Not a direct void construct, but… a proxy. Someone is weaponizing its fundamental principles."
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: VOID PROXY – UNMAKING CAPABILITY: MINOR. DETECTION: CHALLENGING. THREAT LEVEL: MODERATE. HOST RESPONSE: UNSTABLE. RISK OF UNCONTROLLED ECHO SURGE: HIGH.]
"Adam, your system just said you're unstable," Caitlin interjected, stepping towards him. "If you go out there now, with this Negative Speed Force Echo… it could be dangerous. For you, and for the city." Her voice was laced with an unspoken plea, a desperate hope that he wouldn't push himself further into this destructive path.
"The risk is calculated," Adam replied, his gaze already fixed on the city map. "The system deems my intervention necessary. My Mirror Manipulation can track the proxy's movements. My Pyrokinesis can disrupt its localized field. My Echo… will be the decisive factor."
He sped off before they could argue further, a blur of motion, now streaked with faint, unsettling dark lightning that occasionally pulsed with brighter, uncontrolled flashes. As he raced through the city, tracking the unmaking proxy, he felt the Negative Speed Force Echo surge within him, a chaotic twin to Barry's speed. It whispered possibilities of disruption, of unraveling, of pulling apart the fabric of reality.
He found the metahuman – a shadowy figure who could touch objects and cause them to slowly, invisibly decay into nothingness. The encounter was quick, but volatile. Adam attempted to use his Pyrokinesis to force the metahuman to reveal himself, but as he channeled the fire, a sudden, powerful surge of the Negative Speed Force Echo erupted from his core. It wasn't an attack, but an uncontrolled burst of raw, unmaking energy.
[SYSTEM ALERT: UNCONTROLLED ECHO SURGE – DETECTED. TEMPORAL DISSOCIAITON – LOCALIZED. COLLATERAL DAMAGE – MINOR. HOST INTEGRITY – DEGRADED BY 0.7%. RECOMMENDED: IMMEDIATE WITHDRAWAL.]
The dark lightning flared, not just around Adam, but around a nearby, abandoned building. The bricks began to twist, shimmer, and then slowly, silently, unmade themselves, dissolving into fine dust that drifted away on the wind. The metahuman, startled by the unintended display of destructive power, escaped in the confusion.
Back in S.T.A.R. Labs, the team stared at Adam, their faces a mix of fear and growing apprehension.
"You just… unmade a building, Adam!" Cisco exclaimed, pointing at the news footage on the screen. "You almost took out a civilian car! That was a massive, uncontrolled burst of dark energy!"
Adam's gaze was distant. "An unintended consequence. The Echo is… volatile. The system is still calibrating its integration."
Caitlin stepped forward, her voice rising. "Volatile? Adam, this isn't just about strategic deaths anymore! You're putting people in danger! This isn't a power, it's a disease! And it's going to destroy you!"
Barry, watching the scene unfold, felt the internal debate rage within him. He was tired of the moral tightrope Adam forced them to walk. "Adam, we can't keep doing this. We can't have you out there, risking everything, when your powers are causing this kind of damage. Is this what your methods are worth? The city is in chaos, and now you're another variable we can't control!"
[SYSTEM ANALYSIS: HOST METHODS – OPTIMAL FOR LONG-TERM SURVIVAL. COLLATERAL DAMAGE – CALCULATED RISK. HOST EMOTIONAL RESPONSES – DETRIMENTAL TO OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY. RECOMMENDED: RECALIBRATE TEAM DYNAMICS.]
The system's cold assessment infuriated Cisco. "Recalibrate team dynamics?! We're talking about Adam's life, and the safety of Central City, and all you care about is 'operational efficiency'?"
Adam turned away, silent. He felt the constant internal struggle, the system's cold logic clashing with the residual echoes of his own humanity. The Immortal System saw only vectors, probabilities, and the ultimate goal of surviving the void. It saw his physical and mental well-being as resources to be optimized, not lives to be cherished.
Barry, without Wells to guide him, was forced to lead, to make difficult moral choices. The Immortal System had given Adam incredible power, but it had also made him a walking, paradoxical threat. The broader impact of Thawne's fall and Adam's new, unsettling presence on both the city and the team's dynamics was clear: fear was rising, and the line between hero and hazard had blurred.