Era: 2049.12 – Original Timeline
Location: Paris, Prime Earth
Status: Active Anomaly – Extended Surveillance
After stabilizing the man trapped in the fracture, I thought the mission was almost over.
But something felt wrong.
The drone hovering at my side detected movement inside the unstable zone.
Its sensors picked up a new energy source… strong, and definitely alive.
I took a step toward the fracture.
That's when I saw it: a hooded silhouette, motionless, staring straight at me through the distortion.
I couldn't make out a face, only two glowing red eyes that seemed to pierce my thoughts.
My first instinct was to move closer, but the drone shifted in front of me.
Its synthetic voice echoed:
— Warning: direct contact not advised. High risk of temporal destabilization.
I stepped back.
Behind me, the man I had just rescued was regaining consciousness, trembling as if he had seen the same thing I did.
When I turned back to the fracture, the figure was gone.
I decided to alert HQ.
— "This is Sentinel-09. Human subject recovered. But… I made visual contact with an unidentified entity. It was watching me from inside the fracture."
Phoenix, my supervisor, answered instantly:
— Don't waste time. Get the man to Safe Point Gamma-4. We'll find out what he knows.
I grabbed the survivor by the arm. His legs were unsteady, each step a struggle.
As we moved through the dark streets, I noticed some shadows weren't matching our movements.
They shifted… but not in the same direction as us.
We finally reached a crumbling old façade. Behind it was the Gamma-4 bunker.
A reinforced door slid open at my fingerprint scan. Inside, two agents took the man to the medical bay.
I stayed in front of the surveillance screens.
The data confirmed my fear: the fracture wasn't closing. It was expanding.
Phoenix called again, his tone heavier this time:
— Sentinel-09… this isn't an isolated incident. Whatever you saw… knows we exist.