POV: Nivaan
The world blurs into light-streaks and bad decisions.
The car devours the road like it's hungry enough for all of us. Kiyan's breath is loud in my ear — panic trying to claw out of his chest. He's holding onto me like I'm going to fall apart in the backseat.
Funny thing is…I already have.
The stranger drives like the rules don't exist.Maybe they don't.Not for me.Not anymore.
Streetlamps flash through the windows in rhythmic pulses —too clean, too timed.Like someone programmed the city to blink.
My chest responds —the blue under my skin flares on beat.
Kiyan notices.He swears.Again.
Same energy:Corporate employee accidentally dragged into eldritch capitalism.
I'm half-awake, half-somewhere-else.Everything feels doubled — like my body is here, but my mind is buffering in another tab.
"Where are we going?" Kiyan demands.
The stranger doesn't answer.Their hands are steady on the wheel — too steady, like they've rehearsed this route a thousand times and the city finally caught up.
I press my palm to my sternum.Warm.Alive.Too alive.
"It's getting louder," I murmur.
"What is?" Kiyan asks.
"The… signal."I taste the word. Metallic.Wrong.
He stares at me like I'm speaking in hex code.
The stranger speaks — voice flat, mechanical, bored:"You woke up early. You're hearing what you were never meant to hear."
"My own heartbeat?"
"No."A pause."Your leash."
Yeah.That lands like a punch.
The air feels heavy.The blue pulse beneath my skin… answers.
I hate that it answers.
"Who are you?" I ask.
"Someone who should've been late," they reply. "Someone who lost the bet."
Useless.More riddles.More secrets.
I'm so tired of people talking around the truth like it's radioactive.
"Pull over," I say.
"No."
"I'm not asking."
"You aren't in control," they say, almost gently. "None of us are."
Something cold slides through my spine.
Kiyan leans forward."Hey. Mystery ninja. Not helping. We need actual—"
The stranger slams the brakes.
The world lurches.Tires scream.Kiyan screams louder.
The car fishtails into an alley, stopping inches before a dead-end brick wall.
"Out," the stranger orders.
Kiyan's ready to argue.I'm not.
Because my chest —is burning.
Not pain.Pressure.
Like something underneath wants out.
I shove open the door and stumble into the alley.Damp brick.Cold air.Silence so loud it vibrates.
My heartbeat isn't a heartbeat.It's a modem dialing the void.
Kiyan grabs my arm."Nivaan. Talk to me."
Honesty feels dangerous, but lying feels worse."I think something inside me is… waking up."
His face drains of color.
"I don't want to lose myself," I add quietly.
The stranger steps out, shuts the car door, and walks toward me —not threatening, not calm.Just inevitable.
"L-47," they say, "you were never yourself."
"I'm not L-47," I snap.
They study me.Not my face —my chest.
"The imprint is unstable," they mutter. "They messed with your reset cycle. That means we don't have long before—"
Footsteps echo at the alley's mouth.
Not one.Not two.Many.
The stranger goes still.Kiyan turns pale.
I feel the pulse under my ribs… spike.
They found us.
Shapes appear —silhouettes against citylight.Not rushing.Not yelling.Just walking.
Hunters don't need noise.
The stranger steps forward.Kiyan pulls me back.
Then —the blue inside me flares so violently I choke.
Light bleeds through my shirt —electric, wrong, alive.
Kiyan stumbles away like he's afraid I'll explode.
I might.
The stranger doesn't flinch.They raise a hand —not toward the silhouettes…
Toward me.
"Stay conscious," they warn."If you black out, they'll take control."
"Of what?"
"You."
Great.
My veins burn ice-hot.My vision fractures —like someone split the world into parallel screens.
In one, I'm in the alley.Breathing.Shaking.
In another—I'm somewhere white and endless.No sound.No shadows.No body.
Just static.And something… moving inside it.
A shape.
No —a person.
They stand facing away.Still.Silent.
Familiar.
I want to call out —but I have no mouth here.
They turn.
It's me.
Except…the eyes aren't mine.
They're empty.Dead pixels.A screen gone wrong.
The other-me speaks inside my skull:
"Too slow."
A hand grabs my shoulder —real world slams back into focus.
Kiyan's voice, cracking:"Nivaan! Stay with me!"
The alley returns.The silhouettes are closer.Too close.
The stranger's hand presses against my chest —right over the light.
It hurts.
A lot.
"Scream," they instruct.
"What?"
"Your body needs a release valve. Screaming helps."
"Are you serious?"
They stare.Dead calm.
"Do you want to live?"
I scream.
The sound rips out of me —raw, breaking, violent.
The blue light detonates outward.
The silhouettes freeze.Like someone hit pause on reality.Mid-step.Mid-breath.
Kiyan staggers back."What the—"
The stranger watches the frozen figures without blinking.
"Someone else has access to you," they whisper."That's new."
Not reassuring.
My legs buckle.The stranger catches me —surprisingly gentle for someone who just told me to scream like a banshee.
I gasp, "What's happening to me?"
Their eyes — finally visible — are full of something I hate:
Recognition.
"You're not just broadcasting," they say."You're receiving."
My stomach drops.
"Receiving what?"
They answer without expression:
"Orders."
Silence collapses on us.
Kiyan swears in languages I didn't know he knew.
I try to breathe, but my chest feels… occupied.
The stranger steps close, voice lower, sharper:
"Listen carefully. Someone out there is rewriting you. And if they finish—"
They glance at the frozen silhouettes.
"You won't need rescuing."
"Why?"
"Because there'll be nothing left to rescue."
My vision tunnels.The blue pulse dims.
The stranger lifts my chin —forcing me to look at them.
"You might still have a choice," they say."But only if you move first."
Kiyan helps me stand.The stranger turns toward the dead-end wall and presses a hand against the bricks.
The wall dissolves.Not physically —visually.Like a hologram melting.
A dark corridor yawns open.
"Welcome back," they murmur.
I stare into the dark.
Part of me is terrified.Part of me remembers.
Neither part feels like mine.
Kiyan whispers, "We're not actually going in there… right?"
I answer without thinking.
"We have to."
The stranger disappears inside.Kiyan curses, follows.I take one last look at the frozen silhouettes.
For a heartbeat —one of them moves.
Just their eyes.Tracking me.
I step into the dark.
The wall seals behind us.
And just like that—
The city forgets we were ever here.