The city was awake.
Not alive… just awake.
Lights glowed from thousands of windows, phones flickered in restless hands, and somewhere in the endless scroll of videos and noise, people searched for something to feel.
At 10:07 PM
The internet blinked.
Aarav noticed it first on his phone.
One second he was scrolling through meaningless clips…
The next,
Everything froze.
Comments stopped mid-sentence.
Videos paused.
Even the time on his screen flickered.
10:07… 10:07… 10:07…
"Network issue?" he muttered.
He tapped the screen.
Nothing.
Then.
The screen went black.
Not powered off.
Just… black.
Aarav frowned, about to restart it.
When suddenly,
A name began to appear.
Slowly.
Fading in from the darkness.
NYX JUDGMENT
Minimal. Centered. No decoration.
Then..
A video appeared.
No app.
No notification.
Just… there.
A man sat on a chair.
Not tied. Not restrained.
But he didn't move.
His breathing was uneven.
His eyes kept darting around like something invisible was watching him.
Aarav straightened slightly.
"What is this…?"
The video quality was clear. Too clear.
Like it wasn't compressed.
Like it wasn't from the internet at all.
The man spoke.
"I already said… I'll return it…"
His voice trembled.
"I didn't think it would matter that much…"
Aarav's eyes narrowed.
Return what?
The screen flickered.
A soft digital glitch.
And then,
Text appeared.
Clean. Centered.
CRIME: Repeated theft. Exploiting the vulnerable.
PUNISHMENT: A chance to remember.
Aarav felt something shift in his chest.
A discomfort he couldn't explain.
The man shook his head rapidly.
"I didn't hurt anyone—"
A calm voice interrupted.
"You did."
Silence.
The man froze.
The voice wasn't loud.
It didn't need to be.
It carried a strange weight… like it already knew the answer to every question.
"An old woman. Savings collected over years."
The man's lips trembled.
"You told her it was an investment."
"I was going to fix it—"
"You had time."
Aarav leaned forward now.
Something about the voice…
It felt,
No.
That was ridiculous.
The man's breathing grew heavier.
"I'll go to the police! I'll confess!"
A pause.
Then—
"No."
The word was soft.
Final.
Aarav's fingers tightened around his phone.
"Confession after consequence is not remorse."
The voice continued.
"It is fear."
The man broke.
Completely.
"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"
For a moment—
There was only the sound of his crying.
Then the screen glitched again.
The image distorted.
The man looked up,
Straight into the camera.
And for a split second…
Aarav felt like
He was being looked at.
The screen went black.
Aarav blinked.
His phone returned to normal.
The video was gone.
No history.
No trace.
"…What the hell was that?"
A loud knock echoed through his apartment.
Sharp. Urgent.
Aarav opened the door.
His neighbor stood there, breathing fast.
"Did you see it?"
Aarav's expression didn't change.
"See what?"
"The video! It just—appeared on my phone!"
Aarav's grip on the door tightened slightly.
"…What video?"
"The man! He was confessing something—then it just cut!"
Silence.
Aarav slowly pulled out his phone.
Opened his gallery.
Nothing.
"…Probably some kind of hack," he said.
But even to him—
It didn't sound convincing.
Minutes later—
The city erupted.
Every platform.
Every channel.
Every screen.
The same clip.
Reuploaded. Shared. Debated.
#WhoIsNyx
#JusticeOrCrime
#LiveJudgement
Aarav stood in front of a large screen in a crowded electronics shop.
Dozens of people watched the clip replay.
Voices overlapped.
"This is fake."
"No, it's real!"
"He deserved it."
"This is insane."
Aarav said nothing.
Just watched.
Analyzed.
The voice played again from the screen.
Calm.
Measured.
Unfamiliar.
And yet—
A strange pressure built behind his eyes.
A faint, pulsing headache.
"…weird," he muttered.
He turned slightly—
And caught his reflection in one of the screens.
For a moment…
It didn't match.
His reflection stood still,
Even though he had moved.
Aarav blinked.
It was normal again.
"…I need sleep."
Far above the noise of the city,
Hidden behind layers of signal and silence.
A single line appeared briefly across an unseen screen:
"This is not revenge."
"This is balance."
And somewhere deep within Aarav's mind…
A voice, quiet as a thought—
Spoke.
"We've begun."