"…Elen?"
No response.
Elric stepped closer.
"…Hey."
Still nothing.
Elen stood perfectly still.
Eyes locked forward.
Not scanning.
Not analyzing.
Focused.
"…What do you see?" he asked.
A pause.
Then...
Quietly...
"…Patterns."
Mii blinked.
"…That's not comforting."
Elen's gaze didn't shift.
"…They're layered," she continued.
"…Not random."
Pix tilted her head.
"…Like filters?"
Elen nodded faintly.
"…But deeper."
Lyra stepped in.
"…Explain."
Elen's eyes moved slightly...
Tracking someone in the crowd.
"…Each person is projecting," she said.
"…But also being overwritten."
Sera's expression sharpened.
"…Dual-layer masking."
Kaida-9 added,
"…External and internal distortion."
Elric frowned.
"…So… they're fake twice?"
Pix grinned.
"…Yeah. Double fake."
Mii crossed her arms.
"…That's somehow worse than regular fake."
A group passed by them again...
This time closer.
One of them...
Turned mid-step...
Their face flickered...
And for a split second...
It matched Elric's.
Perfectly.
Then changed again.
Elric froze.
"…Okay... no."
Mii grabbed his arm tighter.
"NOPE. I SAW THAT."
Pix's eyes lit up.
"…Ohhh that's new."
Lyra's voice dropped instantly.
"…That's targeted."
Sera nodded.
"…Not random masking."
Kaida-9 stepped slightly in front.
"…Possible recognition protocol."
Elric rubbed his face.
"…I'm starting to miss the drones."
Pix laughed.
"…You say that now."
The crowd shifted around them.
Too smoothly.
Like water flowing around a rock.
Except...
They weren't avoiding the group.
They were...
Adjusting.
Subtly.
Tiny movements.
Tiny turns.
All of them...
Keeping the group in view.
Mii noticed it next.
"…Why does it feel like everyone's watching us?"
Sera answered immediately.
"…Because they are."
Silence.
Elric looked around again.
Different faces.
Different voices.
But the same thing behind all of them.
Attention.
Pix whispered...
"…This isn't just masking."
Lyra:
"…No."
A pause.
"…It's surveillance."
The massive hologram above flickered again.
"Freedom of identity ensures freedom of self."
The voice echoed...
Soft.
Pleasant.
But now...
It felt wrong.
Elric squinted upward.
"…Yeah, that sounds like a lie."
Pix nodded.
"…Big one."
Suddenly...
A figure stepped out from the crowd.
Directly into their path.
This one...
Didn't flicker.
Didn't shift.
Didn't change.
Their face...
Stayed the same.
Perfectly still.
Too still.
Lyra stopped instantly.
"…That's not normal."
Sera's voice dropped.
"…No masking detected."
Kaida-9 shifted stance.
"…Potential threat."
The figure smiled.
But unlike the others...
It didn't feel artificial.
It felt…
Intentional.
"…You're adapting quickly," the figure said.
Elric blinked.
"…Do I know you?"
The figure tilted their head slightly.
"…Not yet."
Pix leaned in slightly.
"…Okay that's creepy."
Mii whispered,
"Why are all the weird ones talking to us?"
The figure ignored her.
Their eyes stayed on Elric.
"…You're disrupting the system faster than expected."
Silence.
Lyra stepped forward.
"…Identify yourself."
The figure smiled slightly wider.
"…I prefer observation over introduction."
Sera's eyes narrowed.
"…Another watcher."
Pix muttered,
"…they're everywhere now."
Elric crossed his arms slightly.
"…Alright, I'm getting tired of this."
A beat.
"…Who are you really?"
The figure paused.
Then...
Their face flickered.
Once.
And just for that moment...
It wasn't a person.
It was...
Code.
Raw.
Structured.
Looking back at him.
Then...
Gone.
Normal again.
"…Something curious," the figure said.
A pause.
"…just like you."
Mii shook her head.
"…Nope. I reject that comparison."
Lyra stepped forward again.
"…Move."
The figure didn't.
Instead...
They leaned slightly closer to Elric.
"…Be careful," they said softly.
A beat.
"…Some lies here are meant to protect you."
Silence.
Then...
They stepped back.
Turned.
And disappeared into the crowd.
Gone.
Just like that.
Pix exhaled slowly.
"…Okay."
A beat.
"…I liked the drones better."
Sera nodded.
"…Agreed."
Elric stared at where the figure vanished.
"…Yeah," he muttered.
"…this place is definitely hiding something."
Behind him...
Elen finally moved.
Just one step.
Then another.
Her eyes still scanning the crowd.
But now...
Focused.
Locked onto something specific.
"…I found it," she said quietly.
Everyone turned.
"…Found what?"
Elen didn't look at them.
"…The one that isn't pretending."
Silence.
Somewhere in the crowd...
A figure stood still.
Not flickering.
Not shifting.
Watching them.