"…The one that isn't pretending."
Silence settled instantly.
Everyone followed Elen's gaze.
Through the shifting crowd...
Faces flickering...
Voices blending...
Until...
They saw it.
A figure.
Standing still.
Not moving.
Not shifting.
Not changing.
While everything else flowed around them.
That one person...
Didn't.
Mii leaned closer to Elric.
"…Okay, that's creepy number twelve."
Pix squinted.
"…No mask."
Sera nodded.
"…Confirmed."
Lyra's voice dropped.
"…Then that's not a civilian."
Kaida-9 stepped forward slightly.
"…Possible hostile."
Elric glanced at Elen.
She hadn't blinked.
"…You sure about this?" he asked.
A pause.
"…Yes."
Her voice...
Calm.
Too calm.
Mii frowned slightly.
"…You sound weird."
Elen didn't react.
Didn't look at her.
"…We should approach," she said.
Lyra turned sharply.
"…No."
Elen took a step forward anyway.
"…They're important."
That word hung wrong.
Pix tilted her head.
"…Important how?"
Elen answered immediately.
"…They're not being altered."
Sera added quietly,
"…Which means they're either immune…"
A beat.
"…or in control."
Lyra stepped in front of Elen.
Blocking her path.
"…We don't move without a plan."
Elen stopped.
For a moment...
It looked like she would argue.
But then...
"…Understood."
She stepped back.
Too easily.
Elric noticed.
"…That was fast."
Mii nodded.
"…Yeah, you usually push more."
Elen glanced at them.
Just briefly.
"…That would be inefficient."
Silence.
Pix's grin faded slightly.
"…Okay."
A beat.
"…you're definitely acting weird now."
Elen didn't respond.
Her gaze returned to the figure.
Still standing there.
Still watching.
Lyra's voice lowered.
"…We go around."
Kaida-9 nodded.
"…Alternative path identified."
They shifted direction.
Moving along the edge of the crowd.
Trying not to draw attention.
But...
The district didn't let them disappear.
Faces turned.
Not all.
Not obvious.
But enough.
Always enough.
Elric stayed close to the group.
But his eyes drifted...
Back to Elen.
She walked beside him.
Perfect posture.
Perfect pace.
But something...
Was off.
"…You okay?" he asked quietly.
She didn't look at him.
"…Yes."
Too quick.
"…You don't sound okay."
A pause.
Then...
She turned slightly.
Looked at him.
Her expression...
Normal.
But her eyes...
Focused.
Too focused.
"…Define okay," she said.
Elric blinked.
"…Uh… you?"
A beat.
"…That's not a definition."
Mii leaned in.
"…See? Weird."
Pix added under her breath,
"…She's processing differently."
Sera's eyes narrowed.
"…Not emotional deviation."
A pause.
"…Cognitive shift."
Lyra glanced back.
"…Cause?"
Silence.
No one answered.
Because...
They all knew the only difference.
This place.
The district.
The masks.
The lies.
Elen slowed slightly.
Just a fraction.
Then...
Stopped.
The rest of them moved a step ahead...
Before noticing.
"El..."
Elric turned.
Elen wasn't looking at them anymore.
She was looking...
At the figure again.
Across the crowd.
Still there.
Still unmoving.
Still watching.
"…We're deviating from optimal path," she said quietly.
Lyra's voice snapped.
"…We are avoiding a threat."
Elen shook her head.
"…No."
A pause.
"…We are avoiding information."
Silence.
That hit harder.
Pix whispered...
"…That's new."
Sera stepped closer.
"…Elen."
Elen didn't move.
"…That individual is not masked," she continued.
"…That means they exist outside standard parameters."
Kaida-9 responded immediately.
"…Which increases threat probability."
Elen turned slightly.
"…Or relevance."
Lyra's patience snapped.
"…We are not risking the group for curiosity."
Elen's gaze sharpened.
"…This is not curiosity."
A beat.
"…This is priority."
Silence.
That word...
Didn't belong.
Elric stepped closer to her.
"…Priority?" he repeated.
Elen looked at him.
And for a second...
Something flickered.
Not her face.
Something deeper.
"…Yes."
Her voice...
Still calm.
Still steady.
But wrong.
"…You are the anomaly," she said.
"…Anything unmasked is directly connected."
Mii shook her head.
"…Nope, I don't like this logic."
Pix muttered,
"…She's linking variables."
Sera added,
"…Too aggressively."
Lyra stepped forward again.
Firm.
Final.
"…We leave. Now."
Elen didn't move.
Didn't argue.
Didn't resist.
Just...
Stood there.
Looking at the figure.
Then...
Slowly...
She smiled.
Small.
Subtle.
Not like her usual one.
"…Understood," she said.
And stepped forward.
Falling back into formation.
Like nothing happened.
But Elric...
He didn't move right away.
Because something about that smile.
Didn't feel like agreement.
It felt like...
A decision.
Across the crowd...
The unmoving figure tilted its head slightly.
Still watching.
Still waiting.