White hurts your eyes.
That was the first thing I noticed.
Not clean-white. Not hospital-white. This was interrogation white—the kind that doesn't just illuminate you, but exposes you. Like the room itself was judging me for breathing too loudly.
I sat on a metal chair bolted directly into the floor.
No cuffs. No straps.
Which somehow made it worse.
Across from me stood a wall of glass.
Not transparent.
Not reflective.
Watching-glass.
It didn't show my reflection. It showed possibilities. Or at least, that's what it felt like.
Like something on the other side was very interested in whether I twitched.
That's when it hit me.
We hadn't just been escorted here.
We'd been knocked out cold and shipped like suspicious luggage to God knows where.
My system pulsed once, uneasy.
[ENVIRONMENT SCAN — PARTIAL FAILURE]
External Interference Detected
Threat Assessment: INCONCLUSIVE
Yeah. Same.
To my right, Riley cleared his throat. "So… uh. On a scale of one to 'we're definitely dead,' where do you think we are?"
I didn't look at him. "I'm leaning toward 'they haven't killed us yet.' Which is… optimistic?"
"Wow," he said. "Look at you. Glass-half-not-full-of-blood."
Before I could respond, the door slid open without a sound.
Three people walked in.
Not soldiers.
Not scientists.
Handlers.
They wore plain black coats, unmarked except for a subtle Nexus sigil stitched into the collar.
No visible weapons. No armor. No fear.
That last part told me everything.
The woman in front—mid-thirties, sharp posture, calm eyes—took the seat across from me. She smiled, polite and distant, like a professional apology.
"Quinn Cole," she said. "I'm Agent Vale."
She nodded once toward Riley. "Riley Hayes."
Riley lifted two fingers. "Hey."
She didn't return it.
Vale folded her hands. "Before we begin, I want to make one thing very clear."
My system hummed softly.
"You are not under arrest."
[LIE DETECTION — INSUFFICIENT DATA]
She continued smoothly, "You are also not free to leave."
Ah.
There it is.
"Cool," Riley muttered. "So this is like… vibes-based imprisonment?"
Vale ignored him.
"An S+ Rift beast manifested in Aurelia City," she said. "That's happened only once since the initial explosion."
I stayed quiet.
Her smile sharpened. "Based on our… admittedly insufficient data, S+ entities appear drawn to high concentrations of interdimensional energy."
My stomach tightened.
"You were both within one kilometer of the epicenter," she continued. "You survived without shielding. And one of you exhibited abilities beyond human parameters before any registered awakening wave."
Her eyes locked onto mine.
"That makes you interesting."
The word settled in my chest like a parasite.
Interesting.
I felt that chill again—the same one from earlier—like I was standing on the edge of something I didn't understand yet.
Riley leaned forward. "Okay, timeout. Quinn didn't ask for any of this. We were literally just trying to get home."
"I believe you," Vale said calmly. "Intent is irrelevant."
My system buzzed louder.
[EMOTIONAL STATE: ELEVATED]
[HEART RATE: INCREASING]
[RECOMMENDATION: CAUTION]
Vale slid a tablet across the table.
Footage played.
Shaky. Grainy. Me in the house. The first kinetic burst. Riley vanishing in a blur of blue light.
Then Marco.
No—what came after Marco.
The city folding inward. The monster dying. Reality flinching.
Vale watched my face carefully. "Do you know who he was?"
"An S-Rank," I said before thinking.
Her eyebrow twitched. "S-Rank?"
"We've officially classified five individuals as S-Rank since the explosion," she replied.
"Only one would respond solo to an S+."
My throat tightened. "Marco."
She nodded. "Marco Santos doesn't intervene unless something threatens trajectory."
"Trajectory of what?" I asked.
Vale leaned back.
"Humanity."
The word hit like a dropped weight.
Riley exhaled. "No pressure."
Vale finally looked at him. "You're interesting too, Riley Hayes. Massive mana exposure combined with cybernetic integration should have killed you. Or worse."
Riley blinked. "Uh… should I be worried?"
I laughed.
Once.
Short. Sharp. Broken.
Vale tilted her head. "Do you find this amusing?"
"No," I said honestly. "I just realized something."
"Oh?"
I met her gaze. "You're scared."
The room went still.
Not denial.
Not anger.
Just silence.
My system flickered—as if in agreement.
Vale stood.
"You'll both be evaluated," she said.
"Separated. Observed. Trained—if you qualify."
"And if we don't?" Riley asked.
She paused at the door.
"Then we ensure you never become a problem."
The door slid shut.
The white room felt smaller.
Riley leaned back, forcing a grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "So… you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"That we should've stayed in the hospital?" I said.
He snorted. "Nah."
Then his expression shifted—serious now.
"That Marco guy…"
My chest tightened. "Yeah?"
"I don't think he saved the city."
I frowned. "What do you mean?"
Riley swallowed. "I think he was checking if we were worth saving."
My system pulsed.
Hard.
[NEW FLAG REGISTERED]
GLOBAL INTEREST: HIGH
STATUS: IRREVERSIBLE
The lights dimmed slightly.
And somewhere deep inside me, something answered back.
Not fear.
Not anger.
Hunger.
So much happened while we were in the hospital.
How much had the world changed?
And worse—
how much had we?