Aeris did not return home immediately after leaving the industrial district. The city felt different now, not because of visible changes but because of the invisible layer he had begun to perceive. Every crowded street, every silent alley, and every abandoned building carried the potential presence of regret echoes waiting to be noticed. The awareness followed him like a second shadow, constantly scanning the environment for distortions in reality.
He walked for nearly an hour before finally stopping near a small riverside park. The night air was cool, carrying faint traces of moisture and metal from nearby bridges. Aeris sat on a bench and closed his eyes briefly, focusing on stabilizing his breathing. The combat instinct shard he had acquired earlier still influenced his body, keeping his muscles slightly tense and his senses alert. It was not unpleasant, but it reminded him that the inheritances did not simply disappear after use. They remained integrated, subtly shaping his reactions and behavior.
When he opened his eyes again, a faint ripple caught his attention near the edge of the park. It was not as intense as the previous echoes, but it possessed a strange artificial quality that immediately distinguished it from natural regret imprints. The distortion hovered near a dark alley entrance, pulsing faintly in controlled intervals rather than reacting emotionally.
Aeris approached cautiously.
As he stepped closer, fragmented information surfaced within his mind, not in the familiar form of a contract but as residual data fragments left behind by external interference.
ANOMALOUS TRACE DETECTEDECHO EXTRACTION ACTIVITY IDENTIFIEDSTATUS: INCOMPLETE HARVEST
His heartbeat accelerated slightly. This was not a natural echo formed by death. Someone else had interacted with it.
He followed the trace deeper into the alley and discovered faint markings etched into the wall, barely visible beneath layers of grime and graffiti. The markings resembled simplified versions of the contract symbols he had seen earlier, distorted and incomplete, as if copied without full understanding.
Aeris crouched and examined them carefully, feeling a subtle vibration beneath his fingertips. The marks carried residual energy, unstable and decaying, suggesting that whatever process had taken place here had occurred recently.
This realization sent a chill through him.
He was not alone.
The world he had unknowingly entered was not limited to isolated individuals accidentally encountering regret echoes. There were organized forces experimenting with these phenomena, extracting fragments of death for unknown purposes.
As Aeris straightened, footsteps echoed softly behind him.
He turned immediately, instinct shard triggering subtle posture adjustments and muscle readiness. A young man stood at the alley entrance, hands casually tucked into his jacket pockets. His appearance was unremarkable, yet something about his presence felt wrong, similar to the artificial echo trace Aeris had just discovered.
The stranger observed him calmly, eyes scanning Aeris with quiet interest rather than aggression.
Aeris maintained distance, analyzing the situation while keeping his breathing controlled.
The stranger spoke first, voice low and measured, explaining that not many people could see echo residue and that Aeris was either extremely unlucky or extremely valuable.
Aeris did not respond verbally, choosing silence as a defensive strategy. He focused instead on reading the subtle fluctuations surrounding the stranger's presence. There was faint distortion around the man's silhouette, similar to what Aeris experienced when contracts activated, though far weaker.
This was not a normal human.
The stranger continued speaking, explaining that underground networks had existed for years, quietly collecting fragments of regret and soul residue for clients willing to pay extraordinary sums. Politicians, corporate elites, and private collectors sought access to memory cores, instinct shards, and emotional imprints for various reasons, ranging from intelligence gathering to personal enhancement.
Aeris felt a tightening sensation in his chest as the implications became clear. Death was not simply an end. It had become a resource.
The stranger gestured toward the markings on the wall and explained that this location had been part of a failed extraction operation. The echo had resisted harvesting, destabilizing the process and leaving residue behind.
Aeris finally spoke, asking how they extracted echoes without completing contracts.
The man smiled faintly and explained that artificial containment fields and forced resonance devices allowed partial harvesting by suppressing the emotional anchor binding the echo. However, the process damaged the fragment, reducing its stability and long-term effectiveness.
That information unsettled Aeris deeply.
He realized that what he had been doing by completing contracts preserved the integrity of the inheritance, while these organizations treated echoes as commodities to be stripped and sold.
The stranger introduced himself only as Nirex, a courier rather than a decision-maker. His role involved scouting anomalies and identifying individuals with resonance compatibility. He admitted openly that Aeris had drawn attention because of the clean energy signatures left behind after contract completion.
Aeris understood then that every resolved echo broadcasted subtle signals across the invisible network connecting these phenomena.
Completing contracts made him visible.
Nirex offered Aeris a proposal, suggesting cooperation rather than conflict. According to him, independent contractors like Aeris could profit significantly by selling stabilized fragments instead of completing contracts fully. He described a system where partial resolution allowed inheritance extraction while leaving emotional residue behind, enabling repeated harvesting cycles.
The suggestion repulsed Aeris instinctively.
He refused without hesitation.
The air shifted slightly as tension rose between them. Nirex did not appear angry, but his eyes sharpened, reassessing Aeris with renewed interest. He warned calmly that rejecting cooperation would not make Aeris invisible. It would instead mark him as an unpredictable variable within a tightly controlled ecosystem.
Before Aeris could respond further, another presence approached the alley, causing both men to turn simultaneously.
A faint echo materialized at the far end of the street, pulsing weakly as if struggling to maintain form.
The distortion carried signs of severe emotional trauma mixed with artificial interference, suggesting that the echo had already been partially harvested.
Aeris felt a familiar internal pull, though weaker and more unstable than previous contracts.
FRAGMENTED REGRET ECHO DETECTEDSTABILITY LEVEL: LOWCONTRACT INTEGRITY: DAMAGED
Nirex observed the phenomenon with professional interest, explaining that incomplete echoes often collapsed entirely if not stabilized quickly.
Aeris did not hesitate.
He moved toward the echo despite knowing that interference from the underground network could complicate the process. The moment he reached out, the distorted memory rushed into his mind in chaotic fragments rather than a coherent sequence. Pain, fear, confusion, and unresolved anger surged violently, overwhelming his senses.
He focused on stabilizing the emotional anchor manually, recalling the calm integration process from his first contract. Slowly, the echo's chaotic energy settled into alignment.
EMERGENCY STABILIZATION INITIATEDPARTIAL CONTRACT FORMINGREWARD TYPE: MEMORY FRAGMENT – TRAUMA IMPRINT
The inheritance integrated unevenly, sending waves of emotional residue through Aeris's consciousness. He staggered slightly, clenching his fists as unfamiliar grief and rage tried to surface.
The echo dissolved quietly.
Nirex watched with visible fascination.
He commented that Aeris possessed unusually high compatibility with unstable fragments and that such ability made him extremely rare within the underground economy.
Aeris ignored the remark, focusing instead on stabilizing his own mental state. The trauma imprint threatened to influence his emotions, forcing him to consciously regulate his reactions.
He turned away from Nirex and left the alley without further conversation, understanding that this brief encounter marked the beginning of a much larger conflict.
As he walked through the city, Aeris realized that he had crossed an invisible threshold.
He was no longer simply dealing with regret echoes.
He had entered a hidden marketplace built on death itself.
And the deeper he went, the harder it would be to escape.