His fingers clenched before he knew he had hands. Breath hitched, muscles braced like a body flinching at a ghost no one else could see.
He didn't see It.
It saw him.
A chill like a train's shadow grazed the back of Zion Pierce's neck. The ballroom around him smudged, chandeliers streaking into comet trails as if someone dragged reality on fast-forward. String music smeared into a single silver thread. He blinked and the world tilted on rails.
Laughter rang bright and brittle. Perfume. Silk. A red carpet the length of a runway, ending at a dais where a woman in black stood with a smile sharp enough to cut. Lady Seraphine Vale, the empire's darling villainess. Beauty, yes but the kind with a temperature: below freezing, facets carved to catch and weaponize light.
Something parasitic glided between the notes of the orchestra. No, not parasitic. Administrative. Watching. Cataloging. His vision pinged with an invisible cursor.
SYSTEM WARNINGUnauthorized Client Detected.Boot Mode: Villainess Route - Engagement Ceremony.Collapse Meter: 03%.DP: 0. Affection: Seraphine 12/100 (curiosity).
A pale overlay stitched into the edges of his sight, a UI only he could see. A name flickered in its corner like static:
E.V.A.: Enchanted Vector Assistant (compatibility unknown)Patch-Level: ??? | Ethics Module: LOCKED
A herald snapped his baton. "Presenting Lord Aurelian's proxy"
Zion's mouth moved before memory returned. "No."
It was too small to matter, a syllable tossed like a pebble at a train. Yet the rails bucked. Heads turned. The orchestra fumbled. Seraphine's eyes mercury behind a silver-laced mask flicked toward him, interested for the first time.
A second overlay knifed in:
CHOICE NODE: PUBLIC SCANDAL
[A] Follow script: denounce Seraphine; gain +Destiny, +Collapse.
[B] Flip script: protect Seraphine; risk guard hostility; -Collapse possible.
His pulse slammed. Micro-dizziness. He selected [B] with the tiniest motion a half-step forward, enough to place himself between Seraphine and the line of hungry faces.
"Your grace," Zion said softly, eyes on the crowd instead. "Who taught you to brand a woman's reputation and call it justice?"
The ballroom inhaled as one.
RESULT: Etiquette Parry (assisted).Collapse -2%. Ethics Patch: +1 seed.E.V.A.: …unexpected.
Seraphine did not smile. But the corner of that knife-blade mouth tilted. "How novel," she murmured, voice cool as cut glass. "A man who bleeds before he asks my name."
From the dais wings, a hand signaled the guards. Rails groaned; something tried to reassert the scene.
ADMIN FLAG: QUARANTINE INCOMINGRegent Maelor: Stability Protocol preparing…
Zion's fingers clenched again same flinch, same ghost.
He didn't see It.
But when the ballroom lights died mid-waltz and a cold blue cursor hovered inches from his eye, he understood the train that was coming had no brakes.
"Anomaly detected," a voice without a throat said from inside the light. "Identify."
And the chandeliers went out.
Cliffhanger: A countdown began in the dark three pale numbers hovering over Seraphine's shoulder, ticking toward zero.