Discordic Fortune

By the time I enter the room, the lies have already begun to rot. They say the truth has its own frequency, a resonance that warps reality when it finally vibrates itself into our existence; your existence. But most people never hear of it; not until I arrive.

I think, I wasn’t born like this; and no one should be. The ability to reveal the hidden, to pull the filth from beneath the skin of the world like a parasite burrowing out; it was given to me.

It started with The Augment Ubiquitous Ministry; a biomedical revolution. Taking leaps beyond genetic therapy, beyond prosthetics. A system of nanotechnology woven into the nervous system, enhancing cognition, extending cellular life, connecting to capabilities that only spiritualist claim to have attained from meditation; we mastered adapting to our environment and responding accordingly to social cues. It was hailed as the end of disease as neurodivergents tend to be seen as by the vestigial neurotypical; an incredulous gateway to human evolution. The first wave of recipients flourished. Their bodies resisted decay, their minds sharpened like surgical steel. They became living legends, pushing the boundaries of art, science, and philosophy; in ways we weren’t aware that we could dream of.

Then came the second wave.

We were different, a mutation of the integration process. Some called us a flaw while others saw a higher purpose. While the first generation had their lives expanded, we had something else enhanced; our perception.

I became a living, breathing mirror, reflecting the truth of those around me. Not their words, not only their truest intentions, but their raw, unfiltered reality. In my presence, deception became unbearable. Lies would dissolve like salt in water. Secrets uncoiled from people’s tongues like they had been waiting their entire lives to confess.

I admit at first, I thought it was pure coincidence. A partner’s infidelity exposed during dinner. A CEO admitting to laundering money just because I looked at him while listening. A priest breaking down at the altar, choking out a confession of sins so vile the congregation fled the church. An employee sexually assaulting another and trying to hide it; but only exposing themselves in a string of obvious lucid actions. Narcissist telling their victims why they choose to torment them. Confessing a heavy desire to murder their whole family to me in public without any prior context or rapport.

I can’t tell you how I realized it wasn’t them; that it was me but I did.

I wasn’t merely revealing the truth. I was pulling it from them like an involuntary purge.

The first documented case of “Augment-Induced Cognitive Resonance,” the government classified us not as threats or heroes but as anomalies. The truth is we, I was a consequence of human arrogance and they should have known; we as humans were never meant to see everything. Let me elaborate we weren’t imprisoned and yet we weren’t free. Instead, we were gifted a purpose. A justification for our existence. They called us the Discordic Generation; I was named Kali. We were left to be the demise of other people and placed into political summits, boardrooms, courtrooms, crime scenes and even where the elites publicly roamed. Wherever power was abused, wherever lies held society together like glue; I was sent to fracture the illusion. Purposeful but lonely.

The first time, I walked into a closed-door negotiation between world leaders where talks of peace hung in the air perfumed and empty; until I stepped in. The prime minister of a major nation let out a strangled breath. He stared at his hands like they could see the blood their hands were covered in. “We never planned on disarmament,” he gasped. “The new weapons are already in development.” The room imploded into chaos while I continued walking through as if I wasn’t there. His aides rushed to contain him and his opponents pounced; the global media and social media watching through a hidden lens; it turned the world upside down in a matter of hours.

They called it a necessary revelation. They called me a necessary evil. I call it the beginning of the end. At first, people cheered. They believed in me. The whistleblower made flesh; the incorruptible.

But truth is not kind. Truth is not comforting. It is a blade that does not discriminate.

Marriages collapsed. Governments fell. Wars started not because of lies but because people could no longer hide their truths; and then the fear set in. People avoided me or even targeted me to get me away from them. They saw me not as salvation but as contagion. As if my very existence made them guilty automatically. It was as if their darkest selves would unravel just by looking into my eyes. They were not wrong but all I actually wanted was to live an honest life, make a little bit of money to live off of and perhaps find peace within myself and life. I began to spend my life trying to stop it and control and filter what came out; but what people did not verbally confessed they would confess through their actions.

Truth is not meant to be restrained and it will always claws its way into the light; whether I will it or not. They should have known and I should have known better. You cannot sculpt humanity into perfection without exposing the cracks that were always there; right? However, perhaps the cracks were too deep to mend that no form of Kintsugi could fix; or maybe that would be the next generation.

The final order came unexpectedly.

“You need to expose him,” A.U.M. Biggest Funder Dr. Clifford Kelly; they are the inventive architect of this new age. They said my assignment had secrets buried so deep that even those closest to him had no inkling of his true nature but the world hailed him as a savior; while all foreign governments whispered that he was something else and something worse.

I…the last resort. I entered his home with Dr. Kelly where surprisingly he was waiting for us. “You’ve seen what’s underneath, haven’t you?” he asked, his voice calm. He wasn’t afraid…that’s new. I stepped forward, and the wave of revelation surged like an ocean crashing against a dam; and nothing.

Nothing came forth. No hidden sins. No revelations.

Just the void screaming silently into the abyss.

Pure Silence

With a supercilious smile, he spoke. “You thought you were the only one.”

It wasn’t a question…a cold dread settled into my bones.

He let out a disappointing sigh saying “You think your gift is a mutation? A mistake?” Dr. Kelly tilted his head in confusion. “No. You are the prototype. The first step. But not the last.” They extended their hand to Dr. Kelly whispering “Let me show you what comes next.”

The world I had torn apart with my truth was nothing compared to what laid beyond the door Dr. Kelly just opened for me.

I was not the end of deception.

I was merely the herald of something far worse.

A future where no one could lie.

A future where no one could hide.

A future where secrets ceased to exist.

Was this salvation?

Or the death of what made us human?

And I willing to find out.