The breach unfurled like a silent wound in the sky.
Not bright.Not dramatic.Just… wrong.
A thin fracture of pale light pulsed above the distant skyline, bending the air around it. The clouds shivered, pulled inward by something unseen. Reality trembled like stretched glass.
Kayden felt the impact of it before he fully saw it.
A deep pressure in his ribs.A ringing in his skull.A pull—like gravity shifting direction.
His Sensory Module flared in response, sharpening every detail, every flicker in the sky.
Phineas Rockfeller stood beside him, eyes locked on the distortion. He couldn't see the breach directly—not the light, nor the tear—but something in the air made him go rigid.
He spoke without looking away.
"Kayden. Something's wrong with the sky."
Kayden's breath hitched.Phineas should not be able to sense anything.
Not yet.Not at his level.
But the breach was stronger than expected.
Stronger than the system predicted.
Kayden whispered, "Phineas… step back."
Phineas didn't move.He took a slow breath, gaze narrowing.
"I can't see what you're seeing," he said quietly, "but I can feel it. Something is pulling the air. Distorting it."
Kayden stared at him, realizing something dangerous:
Phineas wasn't just intelligent.He was perceptive in ways that mattered.
The kind of mind that could survive in the fracture between worlds.
Another ripple tore across the sky—closer now, growing in intensity. The crowd around them began to shift uneasily, though no one understood why.
The light poles flickered.Street cameras buzzed.A dog barked once and went silent.
Kayden took one step forward, instinct taking hold.
APEX flickered into his vision.
Not fully.Just a warning symbol—sharp, cold, unmistakably urgent.
ANOMALY DETECTEDSecond Breach: Full FormationTime to Manifestation: 37 SecondsCommander Response Required
Kayden's pulse hammered.
So soon?
His last synchronization wasn't even a day old.His module was barely functioning at its base level.
He wasn't ready.Not for this.Not alone.
Another notification appeared—
Emergency Protocol — Mission 2 InitiatedOBJECTIVE:Prevent civilian proximity to Breach Event.Minimize psychological exposure.Survive anomaly contact.
A final line formed slowly, like the system hesitated before releasing it.
Commander… this one can see you.
Kayden felt the world tilt.
Phineas looked at him sharply. "What did you just see?"
Kayden didn't answer.He couldn't.
His focus locked onto the fracture ahead. The breach widened, its outer edges curling inward like claws made of light.The air around them thickened—heavy and cold, as if pulling breath straight from his lungs.
The Sensory Module pulsed again.
Pressure spike.Spatial displacement rising.Anomaly consciousness: forming.Location…Location…
Kayden's breath froze.
Location: Directly above the street.Descending.
He snapped to attention. "Phineas, move!"
Phineas didn't question him.He stepped backward immediately—but the ground beneath them groaned.
A vibration spread from the breach downward, crawling along the air like an invisible serpent. A passing bus rattled violently. People turned in confusion.
Kayden grabbed Phineas's arm.
"Get away from here," he whispered urgently. "You're not supposed to see this. You're not supposed to feel this."
Phineas shook off his grip with unexpected force.
"Kayden, stop. Tell me what's happening."
Kayden met his eyes.
Rational. Sharp. Determined.
He wasn't afraid.He was calculating.
Dangerous.
A soft hum shivered through the sky.
Phineas's expression changed instantly.His pupils contracted.
"I… felt that," he said slowly. "Like something brushed against me."
Kayden's chest tightened.
He shouldn't be feeling anything.No one should.
The breach pulsed—once—
—and the crowd staggered as the temperature dropped a few degrees.
Kayden felt the anomaly's presence.
Watching.Searching.Recognizing.
It wasn't a creature.Not a ghost.Not something with a fixed form.
It was intent.Awareness made shape.
And it had found him.
APEX flickered.
Commander—brace.Anomaly attempting Line-of-Sight.
Kayden closed his eyes.
Too late.
A thin ray of distorted light fell directly across where he stood, faint but undeniable. It passed through the air like a spotlight that no one else could see.
Kayden felt cold burn into his skin.
Phineas took a half step back, breath catching.
"Kayden—what is that? Something's—something's pulling—"
Kayden grabbed him with both hands.
"Don't look at it!"
Phineas stopped breathing.
Kayden forced him back behind a concrete pillar.
The ray of distortion slid across the sidewalk, bending light and shadow in unnatural patterns before recoiling upward into the breach.
Kayden exhaled harshly, sweat forming at the base of his neck.
Phineas pressed a hand against the wall, eyes wide—not terrified… but shaken.
"What… was that?"
Kayden steadied his breath.
"A breach," he murmured."A real one."
Phineas stared at him, disbelief and clarity battling behind his eyes.
"Kayden," Phineas whispered, "what are you involved in?"
Kayden didn't answer.
APEX did.
A line of text blinked into existence, visible only to Kayden—
MISSION 2 — ACTIVETask 1: Shield CiviliansTask 2: Break Anomaly Line-of-SightTask 3: Identify Breach AnchorTask 4: Survive
Phineas continued watching him—this time not with suspicion,but with something far more dangerous.
Understanding.
He didn't know the truth,not fully,but he had seen enough to know—
Kayden wasn't reacting randomly.Kayden wasn't guessing.
Kayden knew something about this phenomenon.
"Kayden," Phineas said quietly, "you saw that before I did. Before anyone did."
Kayden swallowed.
His voice came out thin, strained, real.
"I see these things before they happen."
A tremor passed through the breach—a growing vortex forming at its center.
Kayden's Sensory Module pulsed violently.
Commander—impact in 11 seconds.
Phineas's eyes widened at Kayden's sudden stillness.
"What now?" he asked.
Kayden lifted his gaze toward the sky.
"…Now," he whispered, "I try to survive."