——[Subtitle: Whispers Beneath the Ink.]
Shawn's fingers hovered over the old piece of paper, hesitant yet drawn to it by an invisible force.
The air around him felt heavier, charged, as if the universe itself was holding its breath.
The same symbol.
His breath hitched.
Not only was the shape identical, but it pulsed.
At first, he thought it was a trick of the light—his exhausted eyes playing games with him.
But no, the V-shaped fissure wasn't static.
It flickered, faint and rhythmic, like ripples sliding across the surface of a still lake.
It was as if something beneath was pushing against the barrier, trying to break free.
And deep within that glow—almost imperceptible—
Something moved.
A shadow. Twisting. Shifting. Coiling.
Shawn's heartbeat slammed against his ribs. He leaned closer, barely daring to breathe. The shadow stretched, its form taking shape within the confines of the paper's fibers.
A dragon.
Its limbs flexed, its mouth open in a silent roar, trapped beneath the flickering light.
But it wasn't just an image—it felt alive, imprisoned within the depths of the symbol itself.
Shawn's fingers trembled as they traced the worn edges of the yellowed paper.
The rough texture grounded him, but his mind refused to settle.
He had kept this for twelve years.
******
Grandpa.
The memory surfaced, unbidden.
He was six when the old man had pressed it into his hands, his voice a low murmur, eyes shadowed by something Shawn hadn't understood at the time.
His grandfather—respected principal of the local high school, a man who had spent his life studying the I Ching.
He often spoke of balance, of the way all things followed the natural order.
Below the symbol, in old, deliberate script, were a words:
"Harmony exists in the rhythm of change, where all opposites find their place."
At the time, Shawn didn't understand.
But he remembered the way his grandfather's fingers had lingered over the paper. The weight in his voice as he spoke:
"Some answers are not before you. They are far away."
******
Now, a decade later, Shawn stared at the glowing sky and the faded ink in his hands. A cold unease spread through his core.
This wasn't a coincidence.
He could feel it.
Something far greater was at play.
The glow from the paper pulsed in time with the flashes in the sky.
Shawn tightened his grip. His mind raced with a thousand questions, but only one stood out.
Why now?
For twelve years, the paper had been nothing more than an odd keepsake, a fragment of his grandfather's cryptic wisdom.
Now, on the very night the sky split open, it responded.
He turned the paper over, scanning every crease, every mark. Nothing had changed—except for the symbol.
The dragon beneath it.
It moved again.
Shawn's pulse quickened.
He wasn't imagining it.
The dragon's tail curled, its body shifted, as if straining against invisible chains.
A faint tremor ran through his fingers. He wanted to dismiss it as his own anxiety, but the sensation was external.
Real.
The paper wasn't just reacting to the sky.
It was… alive.
*****
His phone buzzed again, dragging him back to reality.
Don.
Shawn hesitated, then swiped to answer.
"You're still there?" Don's voice was quieter this time. Not calm—measured. Controlled.
Shawn forced a breath. "Yeah."
"You're still doubting, aren't you?" Don's voice pulled him back.
Shawn exhaled. "They're hiding something."
"They always are," Don muttered. "But this—this is different."
Shawn glanced down at the glowing paper. "I need to know more."
Don hesitated. "Then you need to get inside."
Shawn stilled. "You're saying I should join them."
"You don't have to be one of them," Don said. "But if you want answers—real answers—you can't find them from the outside."
Shawn's mind reeled.
"They know what this is," Don continued. "And if you get in, you'll have access. To the real data. The real experiments. The real truth."
The truth.
A few months ago, he wouldn't have cared.
Now?
Now, he wasn't so sure.
Shawn's eyes flicked back to his schoolbooks.
Advanced Mathematics. Theoretical Physics. Chemistry.
He had spent months pushing himself to the limit for the entrance exams.
If he aced them, he could get into a top university, study real science.
But AGI-ST?
That was something else entirely.
He took a slow breath, trying to steady himself. "Even if I wanted to join… you know what I think about their methods."
Everything about AGI-ST felt like a carefully crafted illusion. An intricate web designed to lure the best and the brightest.
To change them.
But Don was right.
If he walked away, he'd never know the truth.
If he stepped forward, he might lose himself.
******
Then, his phone buzzed again.
A new message.
Jolie.
> "So, are you applying?"
Shawn hesitated. He hadn't told her about the call. Or the sky. Or the feeling in his gut that something was very, very wrong.
His fingers hovered over the screen.
Then—another buzz.
Another message.
> "You should. It's bigger than you think."
He stared at the words, his pulse hammering in his ears.
A chill crept up Shawn's spine, icy and unrelenting.
******
He glanced at his laptop, its blue light casting long shadows across the room.
Half-finished practice tests and digital textbooks stared back at him, remnants of a life that now felt impossibly distant.
He had been knee-deep in calculus problems and physics equations just moments ago, cramming for the upcoming university entrance exams.
It was supposed to be his priority—his future, his shot at one of the top schools.
Every night had been the same: coffee, problem sets, and trying to keep his mind from wandering.
But tonight—focus was impossible.
The Rift in the sky was closing. Whatever had happened tonight was just the beginning.
And the paper in his hands still pulsed.
A choice——
Walk away.
Or step into the unknown.
Shawn exhaled, his fingers tightening around the paper.
Maybe his grandfather had been right.
Some answers weren't in front of him.
They were waiting—somewhere far beyond.