Agame Ashihi woke up with his face stuck to his desk. He didn't even know when he slept. The blinking thing on the report was still there. Outside, sky was dark and rain was tapping the window. He sat up slow. His neck hurt. His back made a small crack. Normal. But his hand, the one that touched the core, still felt warm. He moved his fingers. The heat was going down, but it still buzzed a bit like static.
"Great," he said. "Now I'm haunted and late." He tried to look at the report again. Typed a few words. Then the screen blinked and turned black.
"What now?" he said. The screen blinked again. A strange symbol showed up. A black circle with three lines around it. It pulsed slow, like a heart. "That wasn't there." Then lights flicked. The room got cold. His breath turned white. And the voice came back.
"You are the bearer now." Agame jumped up, chair falling behind him. "Nope. No. Don't start this."
"You have the core. It remembers you."
"I don't want it! I didn't ask for it!" Silence. Then something moved behind him. He looked. Nothing there.
He grabbed his bag, took the paper, and ran outside. Cold rain hit his face. At least it felt normal. He walked fast down the street, talking to himself. "Maybe it's stress. Maybe I'm tired. Maybe I need a doctor. Or a nap. Or both."
Then something moved in front. A shadow came out the alley. It wore old Reaper armor. But no helmet. Its face looked like glass. No eyes. No mouth. Just reflection. Agame stopped. "Nope." The thing didn't walk. It slid. Agame turned and ran. He ran past people, a food stand, even down a street where lights were out. He jumped behind a dumpster and held his breath.
It was quiet. Just rain and his fast heart. Then he heard a voice near him. "I see you." Agame screamed. His marked hand lit up. Red light came out and broke the dumpster. The thing screamed and vanished.
He looked at his hand. "What... was that?"
Footsteps came running. Reapers. "Hey! You okay?!"
"Yeah! There was... something!"
"Stay there!" One Reaper checked him with a scanner. It beeped really fast.
"Rift energy detected. Big spike." He looked at Agame. "What did you see?"
"Something weird. No face. Armor."
The Reapers looked at each other. "Specter Eidolon. You're lucky, man."
Agame smiled, nervous. "Yeah. Lucky." One gave him a card. "If it happens again, call us. Don't mess with it." Agame nodded. They left. But that feeling stayed.
That night, the voice came again. "You woke part of it."
Agame sat up, holding his pillow. "Part of what?"
"The Eidolon inside. You saw its shadow."
"Why me? I work in a morgue!"
"You were chosen. You were empty."
"Wow. Thanks."
The voice laughed. Then showed him a picture. Not a dream. A memory. A burning world. Reapers falling. A city in two pieces. A tall man in black armor. He held a crystal and said words. Agame didn't know the words, but he felt them in his body. Then the man was gone.
Agame woke up fast. His blanket was wet with sweat. He walked to the bathroom. Looked in the mirror. His eyes were red. Just for a second. Then back to normal.
He looked at his marked hand. It pulsed once. And far away, deep in the Rift, something opened its eyes.