The city was dead quiet. Too quiet for Neo-Mumbai.
Ax sat on his bed, staring at the ceiling, his cybernetic legs humming softly. He hated nights like this—when the silence felt unnatural, pressing down on him like a weight. He adjusted his pillow and tried to relax.
Then he heard it.
Footsteps.
Not his.
His heart jumped. His legs made no sound when he walked, a feature he used to love. But now? That meant someone else was here.
Slow. Deliberate. Coming from the hallway.
He swallowed. "Probably just the neighbor…" His voice barely convinced himself. His apartment door was locked. No one should be inside.
The footsteps stopped. Right outside his door.
Ax reached under his pillow, fingers wrapping around the handle of his plasma cutter. His breath came in short, quiet gasps. Just open the door. See nothing's there. Laugh about it later.
He swung his legs off the bed, the metal clicking softly against the floor. The moment he stood, the light flickered.
A whisper. Right behind him.
"Ax..."
His blood ran cold. He spun around—
Nothing.
His reflection in the window stared back at him, wide-eyed and tense. But something was… off. His reflection's mouth twitched, even though he wasn't moving.
The lights went out.
Darkness swallowed the room. Ax's breath came in shallow gasps. A cold breeze brushed against his neck, though the windows were shut.
The whisper again. "You don't belong here."
Ax stumbled backward. His HUD glitched, flashing red warnings.
UNKNOWN SYSTEM ERROR: IDENTITY MISMATCH.
His pulse pounded. "What…?"
Then, the footsteps started again. But this time, they were inside the room.
Something moved in the dark. Close. Too close.
Ax's grip tightened on the plasma cutter. His voice barely came out. "Who… who are you?"
A pause. Then a whisper, right against his ear.
"I should be asking you that."
The air turned ice-cold. His vision flickered. And then—
A hand, pale and unnatural, reached out from the darkness.
The world vanished in static.