Vienna Central Station felt wrong the moment I walked in.Not eerie.Not supernatural.
Sterile.Too clean in a way that didn't belong to this world.
It wasn't polished.It wasn't well-maintained.It was as if dirt itself was not allowed to exist here.
I took ten steps.The dust under my shoes vanished.
Not scraped off.Not rubbed away.
Erased.
The Source Point in my chest warmed immediately.A low, steady pulse—like the entire station was recalibrating its rules,frame by frame.
I kept walking.
The edges of my vision trembled.A tiny delay stretched longer…0.19 seconds.0.20.
Most people would never notice.But the symbols fused to my optic nerveslet me read distortions like second nature.
This wasn't "a strange station."This was system-level wrongness.
Someone approached.
Black coat.Footsteps too precise—every step aligned like a metronome.
An ARC field tester.
He wasn't even within arm's reachwhen the Source Point snapped once,fast and sharp.
The symbols under my skin warmed,recognizing pressure before I did.
Then I saw it—and my stomach twisted tight.
His shadow touched the ground half a second early.
Not lag.Preload.
Like the world rehearsed his movementbefore his body executed it.
He didn't notice.But I did.
A cold line ran down my spine.
He stopped two meters from me.Emotionless stare.Flat expression.As if comparing me against some internal template.
He stepped forward.
First step—the air tightened.
Second step—my peripheral vision stretched unnaturally straight.
Third step—the Source Point yanked inside my chest.
Crack.
His ARC badge shattered into grey powder.
He froze.Not scared.Not confused.
Just… blank.As if this event wasn't in the script he was following.
I hadn't moved.The Source Point had acted on its own.
The symbols under my skin burned hot.
Then something appeared—
Bottom-right of my vision.Text that shouldn't exist.
02:47:11
A timer.Not a reflection.Not a projection.
Something was shoved directly into my visual field.
I blinked.It stayed.
The tester stiffened for a moment,received a silent command,and backed away with surgical precision.
The timer kept counting.
02:46:5202:46:51
A force pulled at my ribs,then snapped back.
Not pain.Two rules pulling in opposite directions.
Something was forming,and the station didn't bother hiding it anymore.
ARC Monitoring Division – Internal Log
Location: Vienna Central StationTracking ID: B-39Reading: 80% → 45% collapse → 51% recoveryStatus: Non-random anomalyCorrelation: Yin–Yang Node proximityProtocol: Vienna Protocol – Article 4Next Step: Contact-Level Intervention
RED ALERTPredicted approaching entity: AE-00Tier: ObservationNote: Details restricted
I walked toward the outer platform.
02:43:19
The temperature dropped so fast it hurt.The space didn't feel empty—
It felt like waiting.
The Source Point jumped again.Not warning.Not rejection.
It felt like recognition.
Something on the verge of formingalready knew I was coming.
And it had been waiting for me.