[The wind picks up again. The air feels charged.]
DING
[Atranslucent window appears in front of Aryan. Glowing. Flickering. Like a hologram.]
Aryan (staggering back): What the—!? Guys! There's a freaking menu in front of me!
[Dev turns—and sees a similar window appear in front of him.]
Dev: I see one too. It's… like a character screen?
[Tejas blinks as a third window appears.]
Tejas: Okay. This is real. I've got one too.
Aryan (waving): Can you guys see mine?
Dev: No… just mine.
Tejas: Looks like we can only see our own. Not each other's.
[They all fall silent, staring at the blue screens floating in front of them.]
[The glowing menu screens hanging in front of them suddenly flicker.]
[The interface glitches. Then—changes.]
A new message appears in bright red text:
"Arrival of the Coordinator."
[The trio look up instinctively. They're not the only ones.]
[Across the skies—across the entire planet—a jagged crack forms. Like broken glass in the heavens. It spreads unnaturally, slow but unstoppable.]
[From that rift, a massive screen forms—floating like a god's television.]
[And then it appears.]
The Coordinator.
[It doesn't look human. Not even close. Its face is twisted like an ancient goat—horned, unnatural, like the devil spoken of in scriptures. Its limbs are massive—thick, brutish, like the hands of Norse giants. Its presence oozes power. Malice. Supremacy.]
[The voice doesn't come through the screen. It comes into their minds—telepathic, layered, thunderous.]