The air felt heavier the next morning.
Not physically—but psychically, as though the universe had leaned a little closer to Aryan's world overnight. Everything around him seemed more vivid and more fragile at the same time, as though a crack in the surface of reality could form at any moment.
At breakfast, he barely touched his food. His mother watched him carefully, concern flickering behind her calm expression. She didn't mention the police case again. Aryan sensed she could feel something had changed in him—but didn't yet have the words to name it.
"She feels it too," he thought. "Even if she doesn't understand it."
At school, his classmates were different. Not in their appearance—but in how they felt. Aryan could now sense emotional frequencies like a second layer beneath people's voices. Excitement had a buzzing edge. Fear was cold and damp. Lies echoed like static.
And then there were those who felt like blank slates—almost invisible, quiet… too quiet. Aryan realized these were people hiding their thoughts even from themselves. He made a mental note to watch them.
KAZIM hadn't spoken that morning. But Aryan didn't feel alone. If anything, he felt as though he were being observed more than ever. Not by his classmates. Not by teachers. But by something else.
By someone—or something—that knew he had begun to awaken.
That evening, the signal came again.
The app KAZIM had placed on his phone began to pulse rapidly. Aryan tapped it. The map opened.
This time, the glowing dot wasn't two cities away. It was just a few blocks from his school.
Another resonance. Another awakening.
He stared at it, uncertain.
"Am I meant to go there?"
The screen flickered. A new line of text appeared:
"If you do not guide them, someone else will. And they may not be on your side."
"Free will doesn't mean no path, Aryan. It means you choose the trail others follow."
He pocketed the phone and stood. There was no time to debate. There was only time to move.
The address led him to an old government building now used as a vocational center. He approached slowly, blending in with a group of students exiting from the evening classes. Inside, the halls were dimly lit. He moved carefully, every footstep measured.
Then, he saw her.
A girl. Maybe his age. Standing alone in an empty hallway. She looked… lost. Not physically—but internally. As though she were trying to hold something inside that didn't belong to her.
Their eyes met. And in that moment, Aryan felt it—
The resonance.
Not just a signal on his phone. But a hum through the very fabric of space between them.
She blinked.
"Who are you?" she asked.
He didn't answer at first. Instead, he took a step closer, feeling the pressure build—like two magnets drawn together but unsure if they would snap into place or repel violently.
"You've been seeing things, haven't you?" Aryan said quietly.
She frowned. "What?"
"Dreams you don't remember. Feelings you can't explain. And lately, when you get angry… things move."
Her eyes widened, just slightly.
"How do you know?"
"Because it happened to me. And it's not going to stop. Not unless you learn to master it."
She stepped back, confused. "You're with them, aren't you? The ones who tried to talk to me earlier. The man in the grey suit. He said I was... a candidate."
Aryan's blood turned cold.
"Someone else is already trying to reach them."
He took another step forward. "I'm not with anyone. I'm with myself. And you need to choose carefully—because not all who come offering answers deserve your trust."
The lights in the hallway flickered. Not randomly—but in rhythm. Like a heartbeat.
Hers or his—he couldn't tell.
"Who are you?" she whispered again.
This time, he answered.
"My name is Aryan. And like you… I'm just waking up."
They sat in silence in the nearby park for almost an hour after that. Aryan told her what he knew. About KAZIM. About the map. About the powers growing inside them.
Her name was Aarna. She didn't understand what was happening to her. But she believed him. Because she had no one else who could.
And as they sat there, Aryan's phone vibrated once more.
KAZIM's voice.
"She is the first. Others will come."
"And so will they."
A second message followed, more cryptic.
"The hunter has been dispatched."
Aryan's eyes narrowed.
"Hunter?"
"To those who fear awakening… you are a threat. And threats must be erased."
The wind shifted. Cold. Sudden. Unnatural.
Across the street, a man in a grey suit stood beneath a flickering lamppost. He was watching them.
And then—he smiled.
Aryan stood quickly, his body tensing. But by the time he blinked, the man was gone.
Vanished.
Aarna looked shaken. "You saw him too? The man in the suit?"
Aryan nodded. "Yes. I think he just saw us for the first time together."
"We're not hiding anymore."
"And that changes everything."