The city moved.
But not freely.
Aarav noticed it again.
That subtle delay.
That unnatural alignment.
"…It's still controlling things," he said.
Mira walked beside him, quieter than usual.
"…More than before?"
"…More precisely."
A pause.
"…It's not reacting anymore."
His eyes narrowed slightly.
"…It's preparing."
Inside the observation room—
Dr. Veer stood in front of a layered display.
Multiple streams of data overlapped.
Aarav's movements.
System responses.
Anomaly formations.
Everything—
Connected.
"…Run it again," Veer said.
The footage replayed.
Slower this time.
Frame by frame.
Aarav stepping forward.
The elite unit reacting.
The system flickering.
"…Pause."
The screen froze.
"…Here," Veer said.
He pointed.
Not at Aarav.
Not at the unit.
But at the space between them.
"…What do you see?"
The analysts leaned closer.
"…Nothing."
"…Exactly."
Veer smiled faintly.
"…That's the problem."
He adjusted the display.
Overlaying additional data.
Hidden layers.
And then—
It appeared.
A fluctuation.
Small.
Almost invisible.
"…That wasn't generated by the system," Veer said.
Silence.
"…Then what is it?" someone asked.
Veer's gaze sharpened slightly.
"…Interference."
A pause.
"…External."
Back on the street—
Aarav stopped walking.
Mira noticed immediately.
"…What is it?"
"…Something's off."
"…More than usual?"
"…Yeah."
He looked around.
Not at people.
Not at movement.
At space.
"…It's not just watching anymore," he said.
Mira's expression tightened.
"…Then what?"
A brief pause.
"…It's aligning."
The air shifted.
Subtle.
But precise.
A faint distortion appeared—
Then vanished.
"…Did you see that?" Mira asked.
"…Yeah."
Aarav's eyes narrowed.
"…It's adjusting to us."
Inside the observation room—
Alarms flickered softly.
"…New anomaly reading," an analyst said.
"…Location?"
"…Near subject."
The leader's gaze shifted.
"…Coincidence?"
Veer shook his head slightly.
"…No."
His voice remained calm.
"…Correlation."
The display updated.
Showing two overlapping signals.
One—
The system.
The other—
Unknown.
"…They're interacting," Veer said.
"…Not directly."
"…But through something."
Silence.
"…Through him?" the leader asked.
Veer didn't answer immediately.
He watched the data.
Carefully.
Then—
"…Yes."
Back on the street—
The distortion appeared again.
Stronger this time.
Not forming.
Not attacking.
But—
Watching.
Aarav stepped forward.
"…You're getting closer," he said quietly.
Mira stepped beside him.
"…You're talking to it again."
"…It's listening."
Silence.
Then—
For a brief moment—
The air changed.
Not visibly.
But perceptibly.
Like something was trying to exist.
Then—
Gone.
Inside the observation room—
The screen flickered.
Hard.
Veer's eyes narrowed.
"…It responded."
"…To what?" someone asked.
Veer didn't look away.
"…To him."
Back outside—
Aarav exhaled slowly.
"…Yeah."
He turned slightly.
"…So you can interact."
Mira frowned.
"…That's not reassuring."
"…No."
A faint smirk appeared.
"…But it's useful."
Because now—
This wasn't just observation anymore.
It was—
Communication.