Everything exploded into motion at once.
Alaric moved like a shadow breaking free from stillness. His steps made almost no sound, only a rush of air as it rippled through the objects in the room. The man reacted instantly. His metallic tendrils lashed out, wrapping toward where Alaric had just been. But before they could touch him, time itself stopped.
Completely.
The tendrils froze, mere millimeters from Alaric's shoulder. Dust particles hung motionless in the air, suspended as if in a vacuum. Even the leaves of the small plant in the corner were stuck mid-fall. Everything was silent and lifeless.
The AI system had taken over.
Alaric walked slowly through the frozen world, his footsteps the only sound in the vast stillness. He moved closer to the man's motionless figure, studying his face. The wide-open eyes, the pupils locked mid-panic. A faint red glimmer lingered in his irises, proof that an artificial system controlled him too, now caught in the same freeze.
