At first, Eli genuinely thought the serpent was listening to his thoughts.
How else could it know?
'Orion.'
The name that broke his system.
The name that flickered in his head like a glitching memory.
The name somehow tied to Elione Noa Ahn… or whoever he really was before all this.
But now—
With the serpent sitting in front of him like some oversized, electrified puppy…with no danger in his gut, no instinct screaming run, no system alarms blaring…
Eli wasn't so sure anymore.
The serpent's huge blue eyes stared down at him with an expression so… derpy, so bizarrely sincere, Eli almost forgot this thing could flatten a building.
'It's… actually being honest?'
It felt insane to even think that — but there it was.A monster, crackling with latent electricity, looking at him like he had just asked it a very difficult math question.
'Can monsters even look genuine?'
His mind spiraled.
