***
The sky above Aerphine City slowly shifted from pale blue to thin gray as the sun rose. The surfaces of the towering buildings reflected the washed-out light, forming a city silhouette that looked weary after a long night filled with minor electrical disturbances.
Aelion sat on the edge of his balcony, both legs dangling toward the main road below. The morning wind carried the metallic scent of the city's magnetic rails, mixed with the smell of dew from a small garden at the corner of the residential block. Everything felt normal… except his body.
It had been two days since a small fracture appeared in the sky—since the unknown energy seeped into his body during the previous incident. Two days since the first light pierced his skin.
And now, he could no longer ignore the strange symptoms.
---
The First Vibration
Aelion raised his hand toward the sunlight. At first, there was nothing—just an ordinary hand bearing faint scars left behind by the previous incident. But when he took a deep breath, something inside his chest seemed to push back.
The vibration appeared again.
Subtle.
Yet pressing outward from within.
By reflex, Aelion's fingers tensed… and then—
Tck!
A small flicker appeared at the tip of his finger.
The size of a speck of light.
Glowing as thin as a line.
"Again…" he murmured softly.
He rubbed his fingers together, hoping the flicker was only an illusion. But when he repeated the small, nervous gesture, another vibration surfaced—this time accompanied by a pulse that felt like cold electricity running from his finger bones up into his arm.
The tiny light jumped—
as if searching for its own way out.
Aelion froze. In his mind, he still remembered what had happened during the previous incident: dreams of geometric patterns, layered voices calling to him, his body being drawn into the light of Axiom.
"Is it… getting stronger?"
He tried clenching his fingers tightly. The light dimmed, but it did not vanish. Instead, it felt as if it were circling beneath his skin, waiting for another chance to emerge.
For the first time in his life, Aelion felt that his body no longer fully belonged to him.
---
Disturbance Beneath the Balcony
An electronic hum rose from below. Aelion leaned forward and saw several city workers repairing a traffic panel that was flickering erratically.
"This is the fifth panel this morning," one technician complained.
"Ever since two days ago, all signal-sensitive systems have gone haywire."
Aelion frowned.
He studied the light patterns on the panel. The same.
The same small glitch symbols he had once seen in his dreams.
Symbols of Axiom.
The pulse in his chest suddenly tightened again.
His fingers flickered once more.
And at that very moment—
The panel below burst with small sparks.
The technicians jumped back.
One of them glanced up toward Aelion's balcony, as if sensing something.
Aelion quickly pulled himself back inside.
His heart pounded.
"I have to control this…" he told himself. "I can't let anyone else get hurt."
---
The Reflection in the Mirror
He stepped into his room and stopped in front of a large mirror. His face looked pale, his brows slightly tense, and his grayish-blue eyes appeared brighter than usual—like fine grains of light embedded within his irises.
A small flicker returned at his fingertips as he raised his hand.
Aelion swallowed.
"What's happening to me…?"
The flicker stretched into a thin line, then faded again, leaving behind a dense warmth beneath his skin.
Not pain.
Not radiation.
More like… a response.
As if his body were speaking to something newly awakened.
---
A Voice at the Door
A soft knock sounded.
Tok. Tok.
"Aelion?" Lysara's voice called.
Gentle. Slightly hoarse. Still weak after her physical condition had dropped at the end of the previous incident.
Aelion immediately hid his hand beneath his jacket.
The light still tried to escape, but he forced it back.
"Come in," he said.
The door opened slowly. Lysara entered carrying a cup of warm water. Her face was pale, but her eyes remained sharp, observing every detail.
"You look restless," she said.
Aelion didn't answer.
Lysara looked at him, then sat down on the sofa facing him without another word.
"That energy appeared again, didn't it?"
Aelion flinched slightly.
Lysara nodded slowly.
"I can feel it… even from here. The pulse is unstable."
Aelion's voice trembled faintly. "I can't control it. Even the city panels malfunctioned just because I was standing nearby."
Lysara looked at his hand. "Show me."
Aelion hesitated. But after taking a long breath, he opened his palm.
A subtle vibration surfaced, then—
a brief streak of pale blue light shot outward.
Lysara didn't step back. She stared at the light as if analyzing a mathematical pattern suspended in the air.
"This isn't ordinary energy, Aelion," she whispered. "This form… its resonance is similar to what touched you in the Fracture Zone."
Aelion replied quietly, "The Axiom Pulse…?"
Lysara held his gaze for a long moment.
"I don't know whether this is a blessing or a curse," she said. "But one thing is certain: whatever has awakened inside you… it hasn't finished evolving."
---
A Bad Omen
Suddenly, all the lights in the room dimmed.
The light at Aelion's fingertips ignited on its own.
Lysara stood up quickly. "There's something outside."
From the balcony came a sound like—
metal clashing with digital resonance.
A phenomenon they had never heard before.
Aelion and Lysara both turned toward the window.
In the distance, a figure stood on the rooftop of the building across from them, barely visible—blending into small glitches dancing in the air.
Aelion felt the hair on the back of his neck rise.
The figure did not move at all.
It only watched.
From afar…
from within the drifting currents of glitch surrounding it…
the figure's eyes glowed faintly.
As if saying:
"I see you."
Aelion stepped back half a pace.
Lysara gripped his arm tightly.
"Aelion," she said softly, "you must prepare yourself. Because whatever has awakened inside you… someone out there already knows."
The room lights went out.
The glow in Aelion's hand became the only source of light.