Variable: Zero

On a fine afternoon, Cairo watched from a distance, arms folded, as he and his subordinate observed calmly when another man before them, who at first charged viciously froze mid-stride, his foot hovering in the air, the man like that of a statue. But it was not that time had stopped.

Rather--the man's mind was fooled into believing so.

Cairo whistled. Even now, it is still amazing to see his subordinate's ability in action.

The Achilles Paradox, never once failed to ensnare its targets in that endless loop of direction. No matter how fast they tried to run or fiercely fought it, It simply didn't matter. Because logic couldn't save them--PARADOXES rejected those rules entirely.

Cairo's eyes flickered in silent interest. So far as it seemed, this was only the surface level of what he would see next.

He was eager, yet reluctant.

"...Just how many of these 'things' are there?" Thought Cairo.

"And just what is the full scope of this 'world'..?"

One week earlier...

On a crisp Saturday morning, the air carried a familiar softness as an array of cumulous clouds tiredly drifted throughout the sky, the trees swaying to the wind's rhythm, setting a calm 'song' for the otherwise still city. The place, normally a noisy burg, found its streets unusually empty as if the early hours lulled the city into a deep nap.

However, elsewhere in this tired city, in a neighborhood to be precise, within a humble apartment Cairo exhaustedly got up from bed, shuffling aimlessly across his hardwood floor.

He made his way to his mini-fridge and felt the embrace of cold mist from its opened door, he grabbed a bottle of water and took a few slow sips, enough to wake his body up as he placed the bottle back inside, then shut the fridge with a soft click, wiping the droplets of water from his lips.

By the way, Cairo was a fairly built young man standing at 5'9. His messy brown hair, streaked with silver, complemented a sharp-looking face. His eyes were a mesmerizing blend of black and charcoal, marked by a special 'glint' to them.

After taking a drink of water, Cairo began to stretch his legs and arms carefully and shortly, at last feeling the familiar burn of his muscles awakening, he heaved out a sigh after finishing, stumbling back to his bed as he sat on it tiredly, rubbing his eyes as they scattered around his modest room.

His apartment was not much really, yet it reminded him of his everyday, peaceful life--which brought a small, tired smile to his lips.

Posters of old films from the '90s adorned the walls, and a small plastic table on the far side of his room was littered with crumpled papers, with an old wooden closet to its side. The marble counter on one side of his room held a cheap stove and oven, the rot of prior foods still stuck to its metal.

"...It's that time of the week again," Cairo spoke, closing his eyes for a moment as he scratched the back of his neck. He stood up, walked over to his closet, and gripped the handle tightly, The door creaked as he swung it open.

"Alright... No going back."

"No switching schedules up like last time."

"Let's try to improve yourself."

"You've got this."

...

Outside under the cold morning, Cairo stood at his front door on the street, wearing some comfortable jogging pants and a grey hoodie. He jangled his keys in his hand as he warily locked his apartment with an eased twist of his key.

After securing his apartment, he took a relaxed breath of the crisp morning air. He glanced around the familiar yet empty roads, faced with a quiet street, as he lightly bounced on his toes, preparing for the jog ahead.

Clearing his mind, the young man began to trot forward down the street with focus. His thoughts began to diverge to the environment around him, feeling the cool breeze brushing against his skin, the rhythm of his legs pumping, and his heart beating steadily, his lungs invigorating from the fresh air. A confident smirk spread on his face as he settled into the comfort of his routine.

However, with each street he turned to, he was met with a loud emptiness, as if the neighborhood was a ghost town, even at an hour when everyone would be active--one could even assume a spell was placed on it.

Despite finding it odd, Cairo did not want to think much of it, in the end, he concluded it must've just been a slow morning today, who wouldn't want to sleep in on a peaceful Saturday after all?

That aside, so far everything seemed to be going well, as his body began to sweat bit by bit, which felt oddly fulfilling to the young lad, feeling their mind enter a state of complete flow.

"This feels good," was what Cairo thought. For as long as Cairo could remember, he had always given up on things far too quickly--things that he considered unnecessary. Luckily, this did not put him in a place of further stupor--being in this position of focus felt like a nice reality check.

However, it was in this deep state of concentration that Cairo accidentally bumped into someone whose eyes were glued on dialing a number on their phone.

Both individuals stumbled back as Cairo snapped out of his 'flow', his serious expression turning to one of concern as he then spoke in an apologetic tone.

"My bad--I didn't notice you there," Cairo said, unconsciously nodding his head down in a gesture of respect. The individual, who wore a sort of out-of-place tech-savvy huntsman attire, nodded quietly without sign of spite, offering a gentle smile. A wave of relief washed over Cairo, feeling as though he had just dodged a possible conflict. Giving a slight nod back, he continued his jog, running past the individual, paying no more heed to their presence.

As Cairo's figure faded into the distance, the individual's smile faltered, giving way to a serious expression. With a tired sigh, he formed a new smirk, shifting his focus. Continuing their stroll, he pressed the dial button on his phone, holding it to their ear. The sound of the ringing quickly took over, with each step they took a steady count of how many seconds were passing.

Finally, the ringing stopped, and the call was answered after what felt like ages, and the voice on the other side spoke with a persistent, focused edge. "Hello... I'm assuming you've found where that Paradox's essence ran off to or at least a clue?"

The individual's smirk momentarily faded into a frown as they cleared their throat. "You expect way too much from me, Boss... But yeah I found an inkling of its whereabouts, and of all places, in some neighborhood..." He blabbered, waving his hand around dismissively. He then added mischievously, "...And here I was expecting to have to do something theatrical."

A guttural sigh echoed from the other end of the line. "...Look, enough jokes, you do know what happens if that Paradox's essence were to get into the wrong hands again, right?" The voice spoke concernedly, and the individual's face toughened maturely, as the voice continued. "We can't afford any more wrongdoers running around and repeating the cycles early because of their ignorance... We can't have more innocents fall to this 'world' than needed."

"I understand, I'll try to stop this one before it reaches anyone undesirable. No worries, it hasn't caught anyone just yet, Boss," said the individual sincerely.

Stopping in his tracks, he glanced around the neighborhood around him, feeling only the consistent 'static' of that thing's all-encompassing presence, searching tirelessly.

"I'm glad to hear... Now, there's something I need to do, just report back if anything happens, Oliver. Goodbye for now." The voice spoke for the last time, as the call ended, as the individual, Oliver, turned off his phone, placed it back into his right pocket, and took a deep nasal breath, whilst scratching the back of his head.

"Yeesh... Now just where did that thing scurry off to?" Oliver said, annoyed as he continued to stroll around the neighborhood--when it came to this part of the job, he was left with a massive pit of boredom, because only the interesting part came at the climax of it all, or so it usually was.

"Huh?" Oliver muttered to himself as his posture rose. Just now he felt a new sort of 'sensation', one that came from behind as Oliver curiously turned around.

Right there. Now he could sense it, unmistakably the essence laid down the street, out in the open like an eyesore, it was moving fast yet at the same time sneakily as if approaching something. How lucky, yet curious, thought Oliver.

Immediately, Oliver wasted no time, making a massive dash, pumping his legs as fast as he could, leaving a trail of dust as a smile grew on his face... Yet he was feeling the exact opposite, it was a smile of nervousness. What should have been quite celebratory for Oliver only arose a new concern.

"That guy jogging down the street earlier must be what it's after..."

"Unfortunate."

"So very unfortunate..."

However, further away, Cairo was still moving hastily, having almost finished his lap around the neighborhood. Still, with his stamina running low, he settled for just walking the rest of the way, as he took occasional glances at the new area around them, the lush greens, the birds chirping, and the wind whipping as he took in the air.

"...I haven't been to this part of the neighborhood yet, it looks amazing... No, I guess it's been a while since I've explored at all," Cairo muttered to himself, impressed, as he hummed silently to himself, resting his hands in his pockets, appreciating the 'nostalgic' scenery.

Although amidst all this joy, that feeling of uncertainty stirred once again, and it wasn't about the neighborhood being empty this time.

A thumping rhythm also began to radiate the surroundings, a mark of the unexplainable, with each beat of the drum.

It felt like it was everywhere at once, a noise akin to buzzing and shimmering, filling his ears to the brim with this unbearable static. Cairo felt a 'coldness' envelop his back as the early skies turned dimmer, and the air frostier as Cairo, despite wanting to turn around, inexplicably couldn't, as a drop of sweat raced down his darkened expression.

He turned to the next street--the feeling remained.

"Hey, seriously, what's with this? And during such a good morning too..." Cairo thought nervously, attempting to make himself feel in control as he slowed his walking pace, nerve-wracked by his sudden pangs of suspicion, as the air seemed to turn stale, and his surroundings dense with anticipation.

Then Cairo began to think, what if this was a sign or gut feeling? Perhaps a mugger was just a few inches behind him- was he possibly being stalked? He had heard of humans having the primal instinct of being watched after all. Those thoughts flooded in relentlessly, pressuring the young lad further as he stopped moving entirely.

Yet surprisingly, he was still quick to come to his senses with a now stoic look, how could he let himself fall victim to fear as baseless as this--all just from a hunch? It was idiotic, he thought.

"Alright, that's enough... What's got me so worked up?--" Cairo brazenly said to himself as he slowly turned around, yet the moment Cairo took a gander at what could have been behind him, he was assaulted with a sudden, painful ray of blue light as he yelped, falling on his bottom into the hard pavement with a thud as he desperately covered his eyes from the blinding light.

"Argh! What the?!--" Cairo crawled back away, holding onto his eyes as he tried to open them panickedly--fortunately, his sight returned progressively, as a wave of relief washed over him, but he was still tense, more so than before.

Cautiously, Cairo slowly looked up, intending to find out the source of that flash--as stupid as it was, but he could not help it... Although what he witnessed at that moment froze him to the core in deep regret of his decision, all he could see was something mesmerizingly horrifying, no more than that.

It appeared to be an eldritch orb of light of a sky-blue hue, without source and reason, and yet it was. At that moment the skies--the entire world seemed to lose their color, as tens of strings of light shot out of the orb, all rushing at Cairo who snapped out of his trance, and attempted to flee--panting, but it was far too late.

He ended up getting entangled by the strings, dropping to the ground, wrapped in a cocoon of light, as he lay inside terrified and suffocating, watching hopelessly as the eldritch orb hovered closer to him from what little he could see.

By then, his mouth was completely covered shut as were his eyes, unable to see anything--at that moment when he was left silent with his thoughts he began to wonder just how things turned out this way, and so quickly. Damn it all, he thought. He despised how he didn't understand anything.

And yet, despite how tight his constraints were, he still felt his body tremble out of pure unadulterated fear of something, the drums of his heart intensified in rhythm, because all he could hear then were his muffled screams--again and again, hopelessly waiting that he would be set free from this incomprehensible prison.

Eventually Cairo, despite not knowing it himself, soon gave up after what felt like hours, and blacked out after enough desperation in that horrid blindness, falling limp to what he thought was his fate.

...

"...Looks like the bug fell in the cobweb."

"But I'll see what kind you are."

"I'll be the one judging you