An energy wave was sent out in the

  middle of nowhere during the night, signaling the success of an

  operation.

  [Got your message 2c, expecting status in 30 - k]

  In front of 2c stood another copy

  of itself, with slight variations.

  Covered in a thin, viscous, glue-like texture, 2c peeled it away,

  revealing a mirrored version of herself. Blasting several energy

  lines directly into the new clone's skull initiated a connection. The

  third clone was now conscious.

  2c handed a wardrobe to the newly awakened specimen, which

  immediately understood the situation and began dressing.

  * * *

  It surprises me how many people have almost immediately returned to

  the city after moving out. I’ve had my clones monitor local news,

  feeding me anything noteworthy. After just a few hours of research,

  we identified hundreds of dangerous power users in Tokyo. We drafted

  a rudimentary map to highlight "probably shouldn’t go there"

  zones. It’s crude, but enough to be safer.

  I’ve kept 2c operating at 90% consciousness using my partitioning

  technique, dedicating her to job hunting. Unfortunately, with so few

  people venturing outside, market managers aren’t hiring. So much

  for clean money. Time to move on to Plan B.

  In this new world dominated by power rather than wealth, conflict is

  inevitable. The government is struggling, and citizens are too scared

  or unwilling to help reinforce order. Even the police have stopped

  using lights and sirens, knowing they’ll be hunted down the moment

  they confront a strong power user.

  The latest underground trend involves drugs that temporarily boost

  abilities, amplifying them up to twenty fold, depending on the user

  and the drug. Using the dark web and illegal forums, I acquired

  formulas for common variants. Most ingredients can be naturally

  grown, and these formulas are still in their infancy, leaving room

  for improvement—and profit margins.

  I’ve taken precautions to mask my online identity. Given the

  current chaos, I doubt the feds have the manpower to track me down.

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Before risking my clones on drug deals, I sent 2c to a secluded area

  under the cover of the night to create a new clone. This one will

  serve as the group’s strategist, tasked with devising operational

  plans and conducting research. I’ve slightly improved the cloning

  process to enhance logical and computational capabilities.

  I wonder how many attempts it will take 2c to produce this clone.

  * * *

  The explosion hurls Shouki and Akie through the air, crashing into

  debris as a wave of heat and noise washes over them. Shouki groans,

  pushing himself upright, and spots Killer stepping out of the store.

  His marble figure is eerily smooth, metallic, and featureless,

  betraying no sign of the chaos surrounding him.

  "How… is he unscathed?" Shouki mutters to himself, his

  gaze shifting to Akie.

  Killer moved on, unaffected, his footsteps deliberate, as though the

  devastation was nothing more than an inconvenience. Cries of the

  injured echoed in the aftermath, as he disappeared into the night

  without so much as a glance.

  Akie lies nearby, blood soaking her sleeve from a deep gash on her

  arm. "Shouki," she gasps, her voice trembling. "I

  scanned him."

  Nodding, he scrambles to her side, hooking her arm around his

  shoulders to help her stand. Together, they stumble away from the

  wreckage, their movements unsteady but urgent.

  "I'll get you to a hospital."

  * * *

  Meanwhile, in the middle of the western desert, out in the oasis,

  lives a man and his cattle.

  The

  sheep said.

  "Hello, cow." the man spoke to the sheep. "It's time

  for milk this morning." He said during the afternoon.

  Bah bah bah bah bah

  The whole cattle was distressed, this hasn't happened before.

  What could the cows be

  stressed Thought

  the man before looking behind him, where the sheep were

  screaming at, to see a massive ball of flames approaching him through

  the air extremely fast. He dodged it instinctively and moved out of

  the way, to which he noticed the massive lava globe was flying

  directly at his cattle, and before he could react, the ball crashed

  and turned the entire cattle into a blood stream.

  He ran to see what the flaming ball of rock was, to his surprise it

  was a woman, at least it is from the lower half of the body, with her

  head in the sand like an ostrich. She was wearing what seems to be

  some Chinese clothing style.

  He went closer to see if she was conscious, she

  wasn't moving. He patiently waited five minutes to see if she would

  respond.

  The man decided to do something about this case and asked, "Are

  you alright?" Calmly. That didn't seem to work.

  Then he had a genius thought, what

  if the woman couldn't hear him because her ears were in the sand?

  Instead of needlessly wasting his voice, he thought of the fastest

  way to remove the sand from her ears. The man got closer and kicked

  his right foot behind and forward into her stomach to get her out of

  the sand. To his surprise, the woman launched five feet in the air

  and fell back down, choking on the sand she accidentally inhaled and

  coming back to her senses.

  The woman coughed for a while

  before proceeding with words, "Wat-water please." She said

  with a slightly high-pitched tone and Chinese accent before passing

  out.