Haruto didn't speak.
Sera didn't either.
They walked down a narrow bridge. Steam hissed from the pipes below. The ticking in Haruto's chest hadn't stopped. It was quiet, but steady—like a small clock was now inside him.
"What's happening to me?" he asked.
Sera kept walking. "You passed the Gate. That means the system sees you as him. Kazen."
"But I'm not."
"Doesn't matter. The machine thinks you are. And in this city, machines rule."
They turned a corner. Ahead was a lift made of wood and black iron. Sera pulled a lever and it started to rise with a groan.
"You said that name was deleted," Haruto said. "Why?"
"Kazen wasn't just a killer," Sera said. "He was the kind they don't talk about."
"Why?"
"Because he killed people… who ran the city."
The lift creaked to a stop. They stepped off into a wide hallway with metal floors and turning gears on the walls. Strange lights lit up the path—dim, orange, tired.
Haruto noticed marks on the floor. Burn marks. And something else—writing, scratched deep into the metal.
He crouched down and read one.
> "Time is broken. The Keeper sleeps."
He stood up slowly.
"Who's the Keeper?" he asked.
Sera looked at him. "You really don't know anything, huh?"
"Pretend I'm from another world."
She gave a half-smile. "Alright then. In this world, there used to be someone called the Timekeeper. They kept the big clocktower alive. They made sure time flowed right. Without them, the world starts falling apart."
"And now?"
"They're gone. Maybe dead. Maybe just forgotten."
Haruto looked down at his hands. "What if they weren't gone?"
Sera paused. "What do you mean?"
He opened his coat a little. Showed her the badge.
The name had changed. It now read:
Kazen Ishida.
A mix. Part killer. Part him.
And beneath it, in small letters glowing faintly:
Designation: Candidate.
Sera stepped back. "You've been marked."
"What does that mean?"
She looked up, past him, toward the great tower in the distance.
"It means the city has started watching you. And if you're not careful…"
She leaned in close.
"…the Watchmen come."