Part Three
Wen De turned toward the edge of the roof.
The city felt different now.
He could sense something beneath it — like faint static humming below the concrete.
"Why can I feel that?" he asked.
She followed his gaze.
"The network is partially active."
He crouched and placed his palm on the rooftop surface.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then—
A faint pulse responded.
Like tapping a wire and feeling current answer back.
His breath hitched.
"That's not electricity."
"No."
"It feels… alive."
"Spiritual energy," she said.
He stood slowly.
"So what now? Do the higher realms send assassins?"
She considered it.
"Eventually."
"Comforting."
"For now," she continued, "they'll send watchers."
"Define watchers."
Before she could answer—
Wen De's phone vibrated violently in his pocket.
He flinched.
"That's new."
He pulled it out.
The screen was black.
Then white text appeared.
Signal Anomaly Detected.
Local Observer Units Deployed.
His pulse spiked.
"That's bad, right?"
"Yes."
Streetlights below flickered in synchronized rhythm.
One by one, they turned toward the building.
Not physically.
But the light beams angled unnaturally upward.
Focusing.
On him.
"Tell me those aren't watchers," he said.
"They are."
The light intensified.
And from within each beam—
Figures began to form.
Humanoid outlines made of compressed light.
Standing on rooftops.
Balconies.
Traffic lights.
Dozens of them.
All facing him.
He swallowed hard.
"I don't suppose they're friendly."
"They're evaluators."
"That's worse."
The nearest one tilted its head.
Then stepped off the rooftop—
And didn't fall.
It walked through the air.
Toward them.