Chapter 1: Lost Focus
Ethan had always wondered who filmed the people saving the world.
That was his job — Ethan, cameraman, Zone-Inner certified, Class-C. His assignment was simple enough: capture the chosen ones. Heroes, lovers, legends — anyone interesting enough for the archives.
The city around him hung frozen mid-motion, suspended between chaos and calm. Debris hovered inches above the street; a red streak cut through the air, a blur of light and wind rescuing people from falling concrete. Ethan stood still within the stillness, one hand gripping a floating camera lens that glowed faintly blue in his grasp.
The streak reappeared — the speedster, known to the world as Speedstar. Chosen one, type: speedster. Ethan followed him everywhere. Every rescue. Every explosion. Every dramatic pose. The irony was that no one ever saw the crew. They were ghosts behind the miracles.
"Ethan, your angle's off," Evan's voice buzzed in his ear through the comm. "Try not to miss this one. It's the third time this week."
Ethan smirked faintly. "Relax, Evan. I've got it."
He adjusted the lens. "Just checking exposure."
"Exposure doesn't take five seconds," Evan shot back. "You're zoning out again, man. Not another volcano situation."
"That volcano was overrated," Ethan muttered.
A faint chuckle rippled from the invisible crew. The lens flickered back to life. The speedster dashed again, carrying a family of four to safety as the frozen dust began to shimmer around them.
Truth was, Ethan had done this a thousand times — whole galaxies of heroes, whole centuries of stories — and somehow, it all still felt like the same movie on repeat.
The lens swept across the street, catching every expression — the awe, the panic, the gratitude. And then it stopped.
Inside a café, behind a fogged window, sat a girl. She wasn't watching the hero. She was reading — calm, detached, utterly uninterested in the spectacle.
Ethan frowned. "Wait… she's not even looking."
He zoomed in slightly. She turned a page, unmoved by the world outside collapsing in slow motion.
"Ethan!" Evan's voice snapped through the comm, sharp and static-filled. "What are you doing? The shot's breaking up!"
"Yeah, yeah. Fixing it," Ethan replied.
"Focus, man. You keep this up, the Author's gonna notice."
Ethan winced at the name — the Author. The one no one disobeyed.
He pulled the frame back toward Speedstar, catching the tail end of the rescue. The image wobbled. The crew groaned.
"We missed the perfect close-up again," someone muttered.
Ethan sighed. "My fault. Got distracted."
"By what?" Evan demanded.
"Nothing important," Ethan said after a beat. "Just… something I noticed."
"Well, notice less," Evan snapped. "You know the rule — we film, we don't interfere. We do what we were born to do."
Ethan looked at the lens, its glow reflecting in his tired eyes.
"Do what I was born to do," he whispered. "Right."
Speedstar gave his trademark wave to the frozen citizens before vanishing in a flash. Mission complete. The crew began packing up as the air shimmered — reality preparing to reset itself.
"Alright, pack it up," Evan ordered. "Portal's open. Let's move, people."
Ethan powered down his lens. The paused city began to fade, color bleeding back into motion. He turned once more toward the café.
The girl was closing her book. Standing. She glanced toward the window — not at him, but through him — and then disappeared into the moving crowd.
"Ethan!" Evan called out. "You coming or what?"
Ethan's gaze lingered on the empty space where the girl had been. Then he turned and walked toward the portal's soft, pulsing light.
"Yeah," he said quietly. "Coming."
He glanced back one last time. The café was empty. The world was moving again.
And then he stepped through the portal.
The city vanished.
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End of Chapter 1 — "Lost Focus."