Ethan stopped trying to feel normal.
It wasn't coming back.
The city moved like it always did. People walked past him without noticing anything wrong, without hearing the faint cracks in the air, without feeling the weight that now pressed against everything.
Ethan noticed all of it.
Too clearly.
"You're listening now."
Aval's voice was quieter than before.
Less intrusive.
More… present.
Ethan leaned against a railing, watching traffic pass below. "I don't have a choice."
"Correct."
That answer annoyed him more than it should have.
A sound echoed.
Not a call.
Different.
Sharper.
Like something tearing.
Ethan straightened instantly.
"You feel that?" he asked.
"Yes."
That was new.
Aval didn't usually confirm things.
"Not a call," Aval added.
Ethan frowned. "Then what is it?"
A pause.
Then—
"A mistake."
The word lingered.
Ethan didn't ask anything else.
He was already moving.
The location wasn't hidden.
That was the problem.
It was open.
Too open.
A construction site, half-finished, surrounded by steel frames and exposed concrete. The kind of place people avoided at night.
Ethan stepped inside.
The air felt wrong.
Not cold.
Not heavy.
Distorted.
Like reality itself wasn't sitting right.
"Stay alert," Ethan muttered.
"Too late."
Ethan froze.
That wasn't Aval.
The voice came from ahead.
Casual.
Amused.
Ethan stepped forward slowly.
And saw him.
A man stood in the middle of the open structure.
Tall.
Relaxed.
Smiling.
Too calm.
"…You're not supposed to be here," the man said.
Ethan didn't respond immediately. His eyes scanned him carefully.
Nothing obvious.
No visible distortion.
No floating constructs.
But something was wrong.
Deeply wrong.
"Neither are you," Ethan said finally.
The man laughed.
"Fair."
He tilted his head slightly, studying Ethan.
"…New."
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "What?"
"You're new," the man repeated, stepping closer.
Ethan felt it immediately.
Pressure.
Not physical.
Presence.
Heavy.
Unstable.
"Back up," Ethan said.
The man stopped.
Then smiled wider.
"Oh… you can feel it."
That wasn't good.
"Who are you?" Ethan asked.
The man ignored the question.
Instead, he lifted his hand slightly.
And the air—
Cracked.
Not like before.
Worse.
Something tore open.
Ethan stepped back instinctively.
"What the hell—"
The space behind the man distorted, folding in on itself like something was trying to push through from the other side.
Then—
Hands.
Dozens of them.
Reaching out.
Grabbing.
Pulling.
Ethan's chest tightened.
"…That's not normal."
"No," Aval said quietly.
"It isn't."
The man sighed.
"They're annoying," he said casually. "They don't stop."
Ethan stared at him.
"You're letting that happen?"
The man blinked.
"…Letting?"
Then he laughed again.
"Oh. You don't get it yet."
The hands stretched further, scraping against the air, clawing toward anything they could reach.
"They're mine," the man said.
Ethan's stomach dropped.
"…What?"
The man's smile didn't fade.
"I made them."
Silence.
Ethan felt it.
That wasn't control.
That was collapse.
"You're losing it," Ethan said.
The man tilted his head.
"Maybe."
The ground shifted.
The hands surged.
Faster now.
More aggressive.
Ethan moved.
Instinct.
He dodged one, then another, his body reacting faster than his thoughts.
"Stop it!" Ethan snapped.
The man shrugged.
"Why?"
Another hand shot toward Ethan.
He grabbed it.
The mark flared.
The hand disintegrated instantly.
The man froze.
For the first time—
His smile faltered.
"…That's new."
Ethan stepped forward.
"You're out of control."
The man's expression changed.
Not anger.
Not fear.
Recognition.
"…You're still early."
Ethan didn't like the sound of that.
"Early for what?"
The man didn't answer.
Instead—
He stepped closer.
Too close.
And whispered—
"Wait until it starts eating you."
Ethan's body tensed.
"What does that mean?"
The man pulled back.
And smiled again.
But this time—
It wasn't stable.
"They all say that at the beginning," he said softly. "Control. Purpose. Meaning."
The hands behind him twitched violently.
Then surged again.
"But it doesn't stay that way."
Ethan felt something shift inside him.
Not physical.
Something deeper.
"…Aval," he said quietly.
"Yes."
"Is this what happens to me?"
A pause.
Longer than usual.
Then—
"If you continue."
Ethan's fists tightened.
"…Then I won't."
The man laughed.
"That's the best part," he said.
"You already are."
The structure trembled.
The hands screamed.
And for the first time—
Ethan felt it.
Not just the world.
Not just the calls.
Himself.
Cracking.
Just slightly.
But enough.
The man turned away.
"…You're not ready yet," he said.
Ethan stepped forward.
"Wait."
The man paused.
"…What's your name?" Ethan asked.
A small silence followed.
Then—
"Egor."
The name settled.
Heavy.
Wrong.
Egor glanced back one last time.
"…Run while you still think you can," he said.
Then—
He stepped into the distortion.
And vanished.
The hands disappeared with him.
The structure fell silent.
Ethan stood alone.
Breathing hard.
"…Egor," he muttered.
The name didn't feel human.
"Remember it," Aval said.
Ethan frowned slightly.
"Why?"
A pause.
Then
"You will meet him again."
Ethan didn't like that answer.
Not at all.