The television flickered. Then, the truth tried to surface.
A stark red banner stretched aggressively across the bottom of the display screen.
[ BREAKING NEWS ]
"We are receiving multiple reports from central Linoria—"
The anchor's voice came incredibly fast, but something underneath it felt heavily strained.
"—eyewitnesses claim a man appeared suddenly in the middle of a major intersection—"
"—holding what appears to be a dead body—"
The live footage cut abruptly. Shaky camera movements. People screaming in absolute panic. Dozens of smartphones raised high into the air.
A blurred, static-laden figure stood completely motionless at the center of the road.
The video froze for a fraction of a second. Then, it cut entirely. Another chaotic clip replaced it.
"Moments directly after his appearance—"
"—bodies began falling from the sky."
The anchor adjusted his earpiece mid-sentence. For a brief moment, his eyes shifted completely off-camera toward an unseen floor director.
He paused. Just for a single second. It was far too long for a live broadcast.
"…We cannot independently verify the authenticity of this footage."
Another cell phone video played on screen.
A hand shaking violently. A human body hitting the hard ground with a sickening thud.
A sharp scream cut the audio feed before the signal was lost entirely.
The display flickered once more, returning to the studio desk.
"Authorities have not yet released an official statement—"
"However… internal sources suggest immediate containment measures are already actively in place—"
The screen split violently into multiple panels. One panel showed a terrified crowd running for their lives down an avenue.
Another panel was left completely black.
"There are also unconfirmed reports that certain footage is being removed shortly after upload—"
The anchor hesitated again, his throat visibly tightening.
"…We strongly advise viewers to remain calm."
The entire broadcast glitched out with a heavy audio pop. For a long moment, the screen went completely black. Then, it stubbornly returned.
"We will continue to update this situation as more information becomes available."
The red banner remained fixed at the bottom.
[ INCIDENT ONGOING ]
---
Somewhere deep beneath the concrete foundation of Greyhaven.
Bureau of Supernatural Affairs: Interrogation Chamber 12.
Zekai watched the frantic news report on the wall-mounted television in absolute silence.
His hands were bound together by heavy steel handcuffs. He adjusted his wrists slowly, the metal clinking softly against itself.
The television continued playing its distant report in the background, but Zekai wasn't listening anymore.
The anchor's voice had become nothing more than distant, unimportant noise, blending into the dull, rhythmic ringing vibrating inside his own head.
Since the moment they had brought him into this sterile room, his attention had kept drifting elsewhere.
Again and again, his eyes lowered toward his arms without him even consciously realizing he was doing it.
Every few minutes, he would glance down, checking the familiar, precious weight resting firmly against his chest.
Aron.
The sensation of the Aron's presence was still undeniably there. Even now, sitting in a metal chair, he could feel the distinct physical pressure against his forearms.
He could feel the slight, trusting weight leaning against his left shoulder. It wasn't something he needed to actively imagine or conjure up. It felt completely real.
Too real.
He sat inside a completely silver, metallic room. The walls, the ceiling, and even the floor were forged from the exact same seamless silver alloy, making it entirely impossible for the human eye to judge distance or depth.
The space felt hollow, entirely controlled… and strangely familiar.
It reminded him of the white space. The timeless void where he had first encountered Zero.
That same suffocating, clinical stillness lingered in the air here.
He sat across a cold metal table. Opposite him sat a man dressed in a sharp black suit—calm, composed, watching him intently without a single shred of fear.
Sebastian. Captain of the Second Order.
A faint trail of grey smoke curled upward between them. Sebastian held a burning cigarette loosely between his fingers, its cherry ember glowing dimly in the silent room.
He tapped the ash once against the edge of the table—a slow, perfectly controlled motion.
The movement wasn't casual by any means. It was highly measured, as if he were actively regulating something unseen.
He didn't rush his breath. He didn't waste it either. Every inhale was steady. Every exhale was deliberate.
The smoke didn't linger long in the air. It thinned out quickly and vanished, as if even the atmosphere in Chamber 12 didn't want to stay around his presence for too long.
Unlike the media chaos unfolding on the screen outside, there wasn't a single trace of tension in the captain's expression, looking as if he had already decided exactly what kind of entity he was dealing with.
The air between them remained completely still. Both men had a glass of clear water placed directly in front of them on the table. Neither touched it.
This was the hidden headquarters of the Bureau of Supernatural Affairs, completely erased from the outside world. It was a place where anomalies like this were contained, thoroughly studied, and erased if necessary.
Zekai had been brought here for one reason.
Across the table, Sebastian had been silently watching Zekai's bizarre behavior for several minutes. At first, he had ignored it. Then, he started counting the intervals.
Every few moments, Zekai's eyes looked down at his chest. Every few moments, his arms adjusted slightly in mid-air, shifting a fraction of an inch, as if he were deeply afraid of dropping something incredibly precious to the floor.
Finally, Sebastian broke the heavy silence. "Why do you keep looking at your arms?"
Zekai didn't answer immediately. His gaze lowered again to his lap. To him, the question felt incredibly strange. Obvious, even. Because the answer was sitting right there in his grasp.
"...What?" Zekai muttered.
Sebastian leaned back slightly into his chair, the leather creaking softly.
"You've been doing it ever since the recovery team brought you in."
Zekai frowned, his eyebrows knitting together.
"What are you talking about?"
"I'm asking," Sebastian stated plainly, his voice level, "why you keep staring down at your arms."
The silver room fell into a dead silence. For the very first time since his capture, a look of genuine confusion appeared on Zekai's face.
He looked down at his forearms. Then back up at Sebastian. Then down again.
"...Because I'm holding him," Zekai said, his voice entirely serious.
Sebastian's expression didn't change by a single millimeter.
"Holding who?"
Zekai stared directly at him, a faint flare of irritation finally surfacing in his eyes.
"Aron."
The room became incredibly quiet. Sebastian's gaze slowly drifted down, looking toward the entirely empty space resting directly between Zekai's curved arms. Then, his eyes tracked back up toward Zekai's face.
There was absolutely nothing there. No body. No person. No clothes. Nothing.
"...Aron?" Sebastian repeated.
"Yeah."
"You mean the boy from the reality distortion incident?"
Zekai nodded slowly, his arms tightening around the form.
Sebastian's eyes narrowed slightly, a grim look passing through his features.
"Zekai." He paused, letting the weight of the name settle. "There's nobody there."
The words simply didn't register. Not immediately. For several long seconds, Zekai simply stared at the captain, waiting for the punchline. Then, he let out a single laugh. It was a small, confused, completely disbelieving sound.
"What kind of joke is that?" Zekai asked.
"I'm not joking with you," Sebastian replied flatly.
The brief irritation vanished from Zekai's face, replaced instantly by something far colder. He lowered his gaze once more. Aron was right here. Of course he was.
Zekai could distinctly feel him. He had carried his weight all the way here from the fractured layer.
He remembered every single second of the journey.
The shattered intersection. The screaming crowd. The flashing cameras of the reporters. The armed Bureau agents surrounding them.
The entire journey back to reality. Aron had been with him the entire time, resting in his arms.
"...You're blind," Zekai whispered.
✦ End of Chapter 28 — Interrogation ✦