Kayden walked with his hood up, cutting across the east courtyard of the university. The day was colder than usual, the kind of cold that didn't belong to the weather. He had begun to recognize it—the quiet prelude to the thin line tightening again.
Students passed normally, unaware. Only he could feel the subtle vibration in the ground… like a tuning fork humming below the surface of reality.
Alex had gone home early after another "small shimmer incident" near the library. Phineas, meanwhile, had been watching him more carefully than ever—even now, Kayden could feel the weight of that scrutiny from somewhere behind him.
But today, the pressure was different.
It wasn't the trembling of the breach.It wasn't the sensory distortion.
It was something closer.Something inside the world.
"Commander… be advised," APEX whispered."Spatial faultline forming within 25 meters."
Kayden stopped mid-step.
25 meters meant—
His classroom building.
He turned his head subtly. The pressure in the air grew sharper, more concentrated, anchored around one point.
The old stone water fountain.
It sat in the center of the courtyard, dry for years. But as Kayden watched…
The surface of the air above it bent.A ripple.A distortion.Not a breach—but something more precise.
A faultline.
"Explain," Kayden whispered.
"Not a full anomaly. A precursor event," APEX replied."A tear forming along the anomaly-civilian boundary."
Kayden clenched his jaw.
Great. Another thing that wasn't supposed to happen.
Footsteps approached behind him.
Phineas.
Of course.
Phineas stopped beside him, eyes forward. "You feel it too."
Kayden didn't respond.
"You're staring at empty air like it's about to explode," Phineas continued. "I'm not an idiot."
Kayden exhaled. "Then don't get closer."
Phineas ignored him and took one step forward.
"Phineas—stop."
For once, Phineas actually did.
Kayden felt the faultline tightening. Like a thin crack running across glass—spreading, branching invisibly.
Then—
The sound came.
A soft tik.
Phineas flinched. "What was that?"
APEX responded instantly.
"Commander—faultline integrity drop. Collapse probability rising."
Kayden's pulse spiked.
If it collapsed, even partially…
Someone could slip through.Or something could slip out.
Kayden stepped between Phineas and the fountain.
"Stay behind me."
Phineas was silent for a moment.Then:
"I'm not arguing this time."
The tik… tik… tik grew faster.
APEX spoke again, voice tense for the first time.
"Commander—something is pressing from the other side."
Kayden felt his breath freeze.
Something was testing the boundary.
A soft shimmer flickered above the fountain—
A vertical slit.Thin as a knife-edge.Silver light leaking from inside.
And then—
A shape pushed against it.
Not fully visible.Not formed.Just… pressing.
Like a hand trying to break through a sheet of paper.
Kayden whispered, "APEX… what is that?"
"Unknown. But it is aware of you."
Of course it was.
The slit widened half an inch.
Phineas whispered, "Kayden… tell me what to do."
Kayden didn't look back.
"Don't run. Don't shout. Don't draw attention."
Phineas nodded once.
The shape pressed harder.
Reality bent like soft metal.
Kayden felt the thin line inside him tighten—almost painfully. His senses sharpened without the Combat Module. His vision tunneled toward the faultline.
APEX's voice trembled.
"Commander… the boundary is failing."
"Then stabilize it!"
"I cannot. You are the anchor point."
Kayden's breath hitched.
He was holding the faultline together just by existing.
Then—
The pressure snapped.
A shockwave rippled through the courtyard, invisible but forceful enough that Kayden stumbled forward. Phineas caught him by the arm.
"Kayden!"
The slit collapsed.The shape vanished.Reality sealed shut.
Silence.
Kayden stood there, breathing hard, sweat at his temples.
Phineas didn't speak.Didn't move.
Finally, he asked quietly:
"Kayden…are you holding the world together?"
Kayden didn't answer.
APEX did.
"Commander… your divergence rate is increasing faster than predicted.The world is beginning to bend around you."
Kayden closed his eyes.
Of all the things he feared…
This was the worst.
Because the thin line wasn't just visible to him anymore.
He was becoming part of it.
And whatever was behind that slit…
Would try again.