I didn't know how far I had run.
My lungs burned. My legs trembled.
But the forest finally opened… into a quiet glade I had never seen before.
There, sitting by a pool of still water—
Was a girl.
She wore a black uniform, like something from a forgotten academy, with long sleeves and high collar. But the most striking part…
Was her mask.
Glass-like. Perfectly clear. And behind it, I could see only fragments of her face, shifting like mist in a bottle.
She looked at me.
Not startled. Not afraid.
Just… curious.
---
> "You touched a thread, didn't you?" she said.
My breath caught.
> "You shouldn't be able to see that," I replied.
She smiled faintly behind the mask. "Neither should I."
She stood, walked slowly toward me.
> "What's your name?" I asked.
She tilted her head. "Names don't mean much in the Grid."
Then she paused. Looked into me, not at me.
> "But I've heard yours."
My spine went cold.
> "Kael Rivenhart."
She shouldn't know that name.
She stepped even closer—and whispered:
> "They're hunting people like us, Kael. And if you don't learn to use what's inside you..."
She reached up, removing her mask just slightly—
> "You'll die before you ever understand who you really are."