The call ended with a click, the voice swallowed by silence before she could ask a single question.
Li An sat motionless, her fingers still hovering over the screen. Her reflection in the dark screen looked unfamiliar, as if she'd aged a little in the last minute.
Outside, the rain had stopped and Her tea had gone cold. Again.
She got up slowly, walking towards the sink to drain the cold tea away. The kettle was still warm. She refilled it and set it to boil again, out of habit than need.
The man's words lingering like vapor: "It's not just a virus. It's a behavior. A pattern. A trigger."
Whatever Virex was, it wasn't behaving like anything she'd seen in the data. Not yet. Or maybe it was and she just hadn't known what to look for.
At 9:12 a.m., she left her apartment.
No destination in a mind.She walked with her hands tucked into her coat sleeves, earbuds in with slow music playing in a background, letting the street noise mix with soft low music in with her thoughts.
Nanjing was calm, almost too calm.Like calm before the Storm. People moved through their daily routines waiting for crosswalk signals, sipping soy milk on corners, scrolling through their mobile phone distracted. The city looked lively. Breathing. Alive.
But now she started notice the things which noone had noticed yet.
A man at a café window staring into space for too long without blinking eyes,even though there is nothing on that space.[A little girl turning in slow circles on the sidewalk, whispering to herself.]
She reached the riverside and sat on a bench beneath a row of gingko trees which has just started to turn gold. From here, she could see the Zhonghua district in the distance "Sector 6."
That patient.The 2:04 a.m. entry."It's not done."
She pulled out her phone and opened the encrypted messaging app, and typed:
"What is Protocol Dusk?Why was I given Level Z clearance?Why is there no briefing?"
She didn't send the message.She just typed and stared at it.Then deleted it.
Instead, she opened her private forum the one from her university days. Dozens of anonymous researchers had been whispering there lately, slipping in keywords they weren't supposed to know. "Cognitive drift," "neural delay," "looping states." A few even mentioned hearing things—audio glitches, static on command lines, phantom alerts.
Li An returned home just before noon.
She kicked off her shoes and placed the kettle back on its base. A quiet whistle began to raise. She rubbed her temples and moved toward the balcony, opening the glass door just enough to let the late morning air drift in. The city smelled like damp concrete and faint osmanthus.
She stood there for a moment,until the kettle reached a full scream.
She turned it off.
And then came the second sound.
Not from the window this time.From the door.
A soft knock. One. Then two.
She froze.
Visitors needed digital clearance. Delivery notices came through her phone, not the door. She wasn't expecting anyone.
Another knock. Firmer this time.
She walked slowly across the room and approached the peephole.
Nothing.
Just an empty hallway, still and silent.
Her hand hovered near the lock. Her breath, too.
Then ...A sharp, quiet scartch as something slid under the door.
Paper.
She waited. Ten seconds. Then fifteen. Then opened the door.
The corridor was still empty. Not even the hum of the elevator.
She leaned down and picked up the paper.
A single page, torn at the edge.No logo. No name.Typed lines:
SUBJECT 0491 – "Speech retention compromised. Subject initiated conversation with mirrors. Self-directed speech patterns noted. Fragmented cognition. Possible signal contamination."
"Patient believed the reflections were watching."
At the bottom, in black pen, uneven:
You're not supposed to see this.But you already knew that, didn't you?
Her phone buzzed.
An alert.Motion detected – Balcony Camera Feed Active
She dropped the paper and bolted to the living room.The tablet on the table was already lit up. Security cam feed loading.
Just static.
Then a flicker. A frame. A glitch.
And for half a second a shape.
A figure in a lab coat, standing beyond the railing.Not facing the door. Facing the camera.Head tilted. Still. Unmoving.