Locke:
How are you feeling?
Eris:
Better. Still on edge.
Locke:
Then you’re paying attention. Good.
That doesn’t sit right, though I can’t quite articulate why. I mean, I’m always paying attention. I have to… Between my job, cartel ties, and life in Crimson Bay, one shouldn’t turn their back on strangers unless they’re willing to take a knife to the spine.
Eris:
That’s not exactly comforting.
Locke:
It wasn’t meant to be.
My thumb hovers above the screen for a moment as realization smacks me in the face.
Eris:
You sound different.
Locke:
I’m always the same. Maybe you’re hearing me better now.
I start to ask why it’s gaslighting me, but I stop typing. The back of my neck prickles, and the cafe suddenly feels too bright as I glance around at all the unknown faces.
Another sound from my phone pulls me back to the moment. Different tone, different app… One I didn’t download.
It’s a forced install.
And a new push notification.
Motion detected:Front Door Camera 1.
I frown.
What the actual fuck?
I don’t have a front door camera.
Not unless…
I tap the notification. The feed opens into a brand new security suite. Not the system I built myself, piggybacking onto the building network months ago.
I know every hallway in my apartment complex, every blind spot.
But this?
This work isn’t mine.
Dots spiral on my screen, loading an image. My empty apartment hallway. High-resolution. Time-stamped… And angled right at my front door.
