Chương 1: Are You Seeing This?

The sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the dim hotel room. Watching the scene from her hiding spot on the balcony, Scarlet refocused the camera and took another picture. The silent snap of the shutter immortalized the scene before her, and she briefly considered whether she needed to get a short recording as well. Posterity, and all. She moved her camera slightly so that the lens wouldn't reflect any light through the small gap in the curtain and continued to observe.

The woman was tied to a chair, her wrists secured and her ankles fixed with clean, deliberate knots. Whatever this was, it was obviously well planned out and professionally done. There was nothing rushed or sloppy about it. A strip of tape covered the woman's mouth, and a dark scarf blocked her eyes. She was breathing fast, but she wasn't straining against the restraints. Scarlet tilted her head slightly, observing. Without uttering a word, the man drew his hand back again to strike.

What exactly was he hoping to get out of this? Scarlet mused. From the details she'd gathered about the woman, the most remarkable thing about her was the amount of money Scarlet's client had paid to collect that information in the first place. A small, familiar weight shifted under her collar. Its tiny paws pressed briefly against her skin before settling again.

"Yes, yes, I know. The human mind is truly unfathomable," she agreed quietly. Her words barely a breath in the afternoon air. The weight shifted once more.

"Almost done," she added more softly. She adjusted the angle of her lens, refocused, then took another silent shot just as the man's hand started down again. When he was only centimeters from the woman's face he froze- -something flickered right into the middle of Scarlet's field of view. She went still. Somehow it didn't block her sight, but it was there. Fixed, clear and impossible to ignore. Scarlet lowered the camera slightly and read. [Congratulations!] [EARTH has reached planetary threshold for System integration] [Commencing Initialization] [Time until full integration: 71: 59: 58] [Welcome & Good Luck] She blinked once, blinked again, then peeked inside her shirt collar only to see a pair of beady black eyes blinking back at her.

"… ah." So she could clearly see through the messages. They were just sort of in the way. With the resignation of someone consistently inconvenienced by reality, Scarlet lifted the camera again, shifted her focus back to the room, and took one final silent shot before packing her camera away. Only then did she rub briefly at her forehead with two fingers, like she could press the message out of existence. Sure, she could see through it, but she wanted it to go away.

It seemed like that thought did something, because in the next moment the message disappeared. It was still there, somewhere, she could feel it, like a lingering sneeze. Present but not quite. She was somehow sure that if she wanted to she could recall the words. On a whim, she tried to bring only the countdown timer back into view. To her mild surprise, it worked.

"…ah?" Now in the corner of her vision were a faint series of numbers inexorably counting down to… something.

'Initialization'. Whatever that meant. [71: 57: 22]"…ah..." Yeah, it was time to go. Across the room the man had unfrozen. His expression was now shifting in a kaleidoscope of emotions Scarlet couldn't be bothered to decipher. The woman made a muffled sound behind the tape.

"-mph-!" The man leaned forward quickly and ripped the tape from her mouth. She sucked in a breath.

"Do you see this?"

"You see it too?" he shot back immediately.

"I can't see anything and I can still see it," she snapped.

"Take this off." He reached up and yanked the scarf free. It caught briefly in her hair. She winced.

"Ow- Watch it-""What is this?" he demanded, completely ignoring the woman as he waved his hands in front of his eyes like that would help. Support the creativity of authors by visiting Royal Road for this novel and more. Scarlet watched them for a few seconds longer. The woman exhibited none of the panic responses she'd expect from a victim of kidnapping or assault. She'd also made no attempt to escape or struggle before the messages had popped up. The knots on her ankles and wrists were neat and accessible.

The chair was positioned carefully. And on a side table there was a glass of water within reach. This was no hostage situation. That meant that whatever they were doing was no longer any of her business.

"That's good enough," she murmured, slinging her camera bag over her shoulder and opening the sliding balcony door. Both of the people in the room turned as she appeared from behind the curtains and stepped inside. The woman blinked rapidly at her, clearly having difficulty comprehending that a third person was now standing in the room. The man followed her gaze a moment later, his expression going strange.

"Was she there before…?" the woman asked.

"The maid? Is she a part of whatever this is? A hallucination?" the man said, looking between Scarlet and the empty air in front of him.

"Is she- Hey, are you real?" Scarlet did not respond as she strode across the room to the exit. Neither of them moved to stop her. The man's gaze snapped toward the half drunk glass of water on the table, looking at the beverage dubiously as Scarlet walked past them. They watched her go, but they didn't interfere. Something told them a voyeur was probably the least of their problems. When Scarlet finally stepped into the hallway, the shift was immediate.

What had been a quiet corridor only an hour or so ago was now filled with noise. Doors were opening and shutting, voices overlapping as people spoke over each other. Phones lit up in almost every hand.

"Wait, man. You see it-""No, I'm telling you, it's on the news, watch-""Mom? Mom, can you hear me?" Scarlet adjusted her grip on the strap of her bag and started walking, her pace steady despite the slight hitch in her step and the surge of movement around her. The small, warm, weight shifted again beneath her shirt.

"I know," she murmured.

"Bit of a bumpy ride, buddy." She glanced down at her phone as she moved. Her thumb flicked across the screen with practiced efficiency, opening and dismissing one app after another as she walked. Notifications were stacking faster than they could be read. One enterprising news site had already begun live reporting. Headlines, blogs, stories and social media were updating in real time, and despite nothing actually happening, they were somehow failing to keep up with whatever this was.

Twitter (X), WeChat, Line, VK, WhatsApp. Every feed, every app, everywhere. Scarlet looked at the innocuous little countdown in the corner of her field of view and frowned internally. A fuzzy little head poked out of her collar, and Scarlet put her phone away then stroked the silky fur.

"You're right buddy," she said. If we can't beat it we outthink it, outrun it, outlast it. [71: 54: 39] Her pace didn't change. And while her gait wasn't quite even, it didn't slow her at all. She wove through the chaos of the hallway with precise, deliberate movements. Somehow she managed to always be at least a step ahead of distress or disaster. She slipped between two people, one backing into the hall without looking, the other trying to make a call while lacing up their boots.

Scarlet adjusted automatically, pivoting around them on reflex. Eventually she made it to the access hallway. In just a few steps she was inside the storage room, closing and locking the door behind her. In front of her, the cleaner she'd borrowed the uniform from was a statue. She was dressed in a long robe, still sitting where Scarlet had left her a couple hours earlier, phone clutched in both hands, eyes locked on her phone.

Instead of the exhausted friendliness she usually displayed, now she was just staring dazedly at the screen like it owed her money. Thinking of which, Scarlet slipped a folded $100 into her free hand. Watched as her fingers reflexively curled around it, and when no further action was imminent, she simply let it go and got to business. She slipped out of the cleaning uniform in smooth, practiced motions, folding it once before placing it on a box near the other woman.

Then Scarlet turned, already reaching into her bag. Shirt first, then the pants. Next the vest. Now jacket over shoulders. Her hands moved through the motions without hesitation. Buttons aligned cleanly, cuffs were adjusted. Glasses slid onto her face, and a tiny friend was transferred securely into place.

"Slow is smooth, smooth is fast," Scarlet mumbled, and Scarlet was smooth. Her tiny companion nosed at her collarbone in agreement. Looking back at the cleaner, who had eventually stood up, though her eyes remained on her phone, Scarlet leaned in just enough to brush two quick air kisses against either side of her face before stepping back. It was as much habit as ritual at this point. Maybe that's what finally snapped her out of it enough to respond. The woman blinked at Scarlet, her expression tight.

"Did you see…" She waved her hand in front of her face.

"Indeed," Scarlet said.

"If I'm not mistaken, everyone did." Scarlet tapped at the 'trending' list on the woman's phone. #SystemInitialization #72Hours #Welcome&GoodLuck … The woman turned back to her phone but was already halfway to the door. She picked up her polished wooden cane and let it settle naturally into her grip. Shifting her weight the slight unevenness in her stance evened out.

"Once more into the fray," she murmured. Her tiny companion shifted slightly as she stepped into the hallway. [71: 44: 28] The noise hit harder in the hotel proper. What had been mass confusion a few minutes ago was starting to solidify into much more distinct reactions. Voices overlapped as people spoke over each other. Shouts, whispers, and exclamations created a disorienting cacophony of sound. The overwhelming atmosphere of uncertainty pressed at Scarlet like a physical weight.

Scarlet made her way through the throng. Her gait rhythmic as the cane touched down in quiet, measured beats. Where some hesitated or collided, she adjusted, angling past them with small shifts she made seem effortless to those paying attention. Scarlet always paid attention. Under her collar tiny paws pressed briefly against the side of her neck.

"It's loud, I know," she placated. The weight pressed closer.

"People are strange, and today is stranger." She shrugged. A cold snout pressed against her skin and Scarlet huffed an amused laugh.

"Yes, yes. They can't all be you." Scarlet stepped up to the balcony that overlooked the main hall. The convention floor spread out below her in full color and motion. A dense sprawl of costumes, booths, and people painted a bizarre moving picture below her. Some were filming, some laughing, and some arguing. Curiously, there were very few scenes of blatant panic, or fear. Scarlet supposed this was a fair reaction from a crowd of people attending a fantasy convention.

Her gaze moved across the floor as she sorted through the spectacle. Her mind was already on her next steps. What was useful, what to avoid. Where were the gaps, and the blind spots. She needed to prepare. Not just to survive whatever this was, but to use it to her advantage. Her focus flicked briefly back to the numbers in her vision. [71: 39: 39] She let out a slow breath, looked at the queue for the elevators, looked at the chaos near the fire exits, and finally turned to face the escalators. Eugh.

It was the best of bad options she supposed.

"Into the fray indeed…" She adjusted her grip on the cane and started forward. With great change came great opportunity, and Scarlet intended to capitalise.