Sleep never came.
Ethan lay in bed looking at the ceiling. The strange app TheVeilburned in his mind no matter how much he tried to put it aside. Its words kept replaying: "Your world is incomplete. The Veil reveals what lies beneath."
He was exhausted by morning, but his thoughts were sharper than ever. He couldn't tell why but a part of him felt as though the world had turned during the night and he was standing at the edge of something he didn't understand.
He went to the kitchen, served himself some cofee and unlocked his phone.
The icon vibrated faintly on the home screen. Waiting.
Despite better judgment, Ethan tapped it.
"First Directive.
A man in a gray coat will collapse on Seventh Street at 8:13 a.m.
Assist him.
Reward: [Skill Fragment – Perception I].
Failure: [System Recalibration]."
It wasn't just words now. It was a prediction. A specific event. A time. A place.
He swallowed hard. A prank, he told himself. "Some elaborate scam. Someone's playing games with me."
But what if it wasn't?
He checked the clock. 7:42.
He should ignore it. He wanted to delete the app, throw the phone out the window and forget this madness. But his legs carried him to the door before his brain could decide otherwise.
The morning air was cool and the streets still wet from the last night's rain. Seventh Street was not far, just a fifteen minutes walk.
With every step Ethan took, his unease grew heavier. His mind screamed at him to turn back but he was just too curious
By the time he reached Seventh, it was 8:11.
He stood at a corner scanning the crowd. People passed by in suits and coats, taxis honked, a delivery truck parked nearby. Nothing unusual.
8:12.
His heart was pounding in his ears. He almost laughed at himself. Standing there waiting for a prophecy from a phone app. It was crazy. He was insane.
8:13.
A guy in a gray coat stumbled out of an alley.
Ethan froze. The man staggered, clutching his chest. His knees bent and within seconds he collapsed onto the wet pavement gasping for breath.
Ethan's phone vibrated in his pocket.
"Event Triggered.
Action required."
For a moment, fear gripped Ethan in place. This can't be happening. Not like this. But then his instinct pushed him forward. He knelt beside the stranger with shaky hands and shook the man's shoulders.
"Hey! Can you hear me?"
No response. The man's skin was pale and his lips blue-tinged.
Ethan's mind went blank, then desperately, he remembered the CPR he had taken years ago. He tilted the man's head back and listened for breathing. Nothing.
"Damn it…" He clasped his hands together and pressed down hard on the man's chest. "One, two, three." His palms slammed in rhythm, his own breathing ragged as panic surged through him.
People be to notice what was going on and formed a little crowd but no one stepped in to offer help. "Come on, breathe," Ethan growled. He kept pressing not willing to stop.
Finally, a cough tore through the man's throat. His chest rose weakly, a struggling gasp filling the silence.
Relief hit Ethan like a wave. He fell back, chest heaving and rain mingling with sweat on his forehead.
Somebody called for an ambulance. Sirens wailed faintly in the distance.
Ethan's phone vibrated again. He pulled it out with shaking hands.
"Task complete.
Reward granted: [Perception I].
Calibration stable."
The words glowed on the screen, calm and certain, as though saving a life was nothing more than checking a box.
Ethan stood still, breath caught in his throat. His hands still shook with panic but another sensation pulsed through him. Subtle and strange.
The world around him seemed sharper. Clearer. The chatter of the crowd, the wail of the sirens, even the smell of rain on asphalt. All of it pressed against his senses with intensity.
The reward was genuine and with that realization, Ethan understood one thing with absolute certainty.
Whatever the Veil was… it wasn't a game.