[ARC:1 PH :1 : INVISIBLE ONE]
From that evening onward, the city was restless.The lights glowed as usual,Billboards smiled.Traffic flowed.
Music played.
But,deep down,nothing was right.
When Anie first saw the news on her phone,her fingers went cold.
BREAKING NEWS:
"Riverline Metro Station near Sector-9 closed temporarily.
One unidentified body recovered."
She didn't read the message Meera had sent.Eli was standing in front of her.
"This isn't a normal incident,"he said.
she lifted her head,
"How do you know?"
Eli looked out through the window.
The metro track.Neon lights,Drones,new ones.
"This isn't clean,"he said
"The city is trying to erase something."
her chest tightened.
"They said someone died… didn't they?"
"Yes,"he replied.
"But they're not saying
how."...
[Riverline – Sector 9]
Night.
Police barricades,Yellow tape,Cameras
,Media vans.
But there were places the cameras could not see.Anie wasn't supposed to be there.
She knew that...
Still,her feet had brought her here.Eli held her hand.
"You're not safe,"he said.
"Here " she stopped.
Her eyes fixed on the space beneath a metro pillar.There a mark,Not blood,
A shadow.
A distortion in the ground something unnatural.
"Time…," she whispered.
"Time is broken here."
he looked at her,
"Can you see it now?"
Anie shook her head,,,,
"I can't see it,"she said.
"I can feel it."
She stepped forward..For one moment
the world fell silent.Sounds bent,lights flickered a second late.
Anie held her breath this wasn't a moment hold.This was bigger.
Death!!!!!.
She saw it....
A man.Ordinary clothes,An office bag.
He was running.Behind him nothing.
Yet his face was filled with terror.
Time split,he didn't fall,he didn't die.
He was removed,As if a frame
had been skipped.
She trembled.
"They…,"her voice broke.
"The city
deleted him."
Eli gripped her shoulder.
"Anie,"he said firmly,
"you're not the only one
seeing this."
She looked at him.For the first time
she wasn't alone in her fear.
Their hands were still entwined.Anie didn't pull away.
She asked,
"When did you start seeing all this?"
he was silent for a moment,
"At first,"he said,
"I thought
it was something wrong with my mind."
She smiled soft, painful.
"Me too." He looked at her.
"Then you came."
Her heart skipped.
"Me?"
"Yes,"he said.
"From the day you appeared,
time started lying to me.",
The city around them held its breath.
!!Warning!!
The police radio crackled.
"Sector-9 clear."
But nothing there was truly clear.Anie's head throbbed Words not her own.
Phase One nearing breach.
Eli held her,,,
"What are you hearing?"
"The city,"Anie said.
"It's testing us." She looked around.
Buildings,Roads,People.
"It's alive,"she said.
"The city isn't just a system."
"Then what is it?"Eli asked.
Anie inhaled.
"A consciousness."
Above them,a drone hovered.A red light,A scan.he stepped in front of her.
"Not now,"he said.
Anie closed her eyes,This time she didn't run.Time bent slightly drone vanished for a moment.
Then it returned,But their names
were still unread.The city was waiting,
For Phase One to END.....