The new presence didn't hide.
That was the first thing Adrian noticed.
It didn't creep along the edges of the room or twist through shadows like the echoes had. It moved cleanly, directly—like it belonged in the space it occupied.
Adrian stood still, eyes fixed on the far corner.
"…It's not trying to stay hidden," he said.
"No," the red-eyed woman replied. "It doesn't need to."
That answer sat differently.
Worse than before.
Adrian exhaled slowly. "Yeah. I don't like that."
The shadowed woman shifted slightly, positioning herself between Adrian and the corner without making it obvious.
"It's aware of us," she said.
"Us?" Adrian asked. "Or me?"
A brief pause.
Then, "Both."
The third woman stepped off the desk, her expression no longer playful.
"That makes this more complicated."
Adrian let out a short breath. "Everything is complicated right now."
The air tightened.
Not heavy like before.
Focused.
Like something had locked onto a target.
Adrian felt it brush against him—not physically, but close enough to make his instincts spike.
"…It just scanned me," he said.
"Yes," the red-eyed woman replied.
"Can I opt out of that?"
"No."
"Figured."
The corner darkened slightly—not unnaturally, just enough that something could step out from it without being immediately clear.
And then it did.
A figure.
Human-shaped.
That was the unsettling part.
Not distorted.
Not shifting.
Solid.
Real.
Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly. "Okay… that's new."
The figure stepped forward into what little light remained.
A man.
Tall, composed, dressed too neatly for someone walking into a half-destroyed office in the middle of the night.
His gaze moved across the room once.
Calm.
Measuring.
Then it settled on Adrian.
"…You're the one," he said.
His voice was normal.
Too normal.
Adrian blinked. "That's a strong opening line."
The man ignored the comment.
Instead, his eyes shifted briefly toward the three women.
There was a pause.
Recognition.
Then something sharper.
"…You've made a dangerous contract," he said.
Adrian frowned. "I didn't exactly sign paperwork."
"That doesn't make it less binding."
The shadowed woman stepped forward slightly. "State your purpose."
The man's gaze flicked to her, then back to Adrian.
"I was tracking a distortion," he said. "Something that doesn't belong."
Adrian let out a quiet breath. "Yeah, we've got one of those."
"It led me here," the man continued.
The third woman tilted her head slightly. "And now that you've found it?"
The man didn't answer immediately.
Instead, he took another step forward.
Closer.
Not aggressive.
But not hesitant either.
Adrian's instincts tightened slightly. "…You're not here just to observe."
"No," the man said.
His gaze returned to Adrian.
"I'm here to determine if you're part of the problem."
Silence filled the room.
Adrian stared at him for a second.
Then let out a short laugh. "Alright. That's new."
The red-eyed woman stepped slightly closer to Adrian.
"You're not in a position to judge," she said.
The man's expression didn't change.
"I disagree."
The temperature in the room dropped slightly.
Not from power.
From tension.
Adrian raised a hand slightly. "Okay, hold on. Before this turns into whatever it's about to turn into—who are you?"
The man looked at him.
For the first time, there was a clear answer.
"I deal with things that shouldn't exist," he said.
Adrian nodded slowly. "…That's still vague."
"It's enough."
"No, it's not," Adrian said. "Because from where I'm standing, I'm currently dealing with things that shouldn't exist too."
A faint pause.
Then the man said, "You're alive because of them."
Adrian didn't deny it. "Yeah."
"That makes you unstable."
"That makes me breathing," Adrian corrected.
The man's gaze sharpened slightly.
"That depends on what you become."
Adrian's expression hardened a little. "And you're here to decide that?"
"Yes."
The answer came without hesitation.
That alone annoyed him.
"…Right," Adrian said. "And if you don't like the answer?"
The man didn't respond immediately.
But he didn't need to.
The silence said enough.
The shadowed woman moved slightly closer to Adrian now.
Subtle.
Protective.
The third woman watched the man carefully, her usual calm now edged with something sharper.
The red-eyed woman didn't move at all.
Her gaze stayed locked on him.
"You're overstepping," she said.
"No," the man replied. "I'm doing my job."
Adrian let out a slow breath. "Yeah, that's not comforting."
The air shifted again.
But not from the man.
From outside.
That familiar pressure returned.
Stronger than before.
Closer.
Adrian's expression changed instantly. "…It's back."
The man's gaze flicked toward the broken wall.
"…So it is," he said quietly.
The shadowed woman's voice dropped slightly. "This isn't the time."
The third woman added, "If you're here to judge, you're about to get your answer."
The pressure surged.
Not testing.
Not observing.
Focused.
Adrian felt it lock onto him immediately.
"…Yeah," he muttered. "Definitely me."
The man looked at him again.
This time, there was no doubt in his expression.
Recognition.
"…You're the anchor," he said.
Adrian frowned. "The what?"
The pressure slammed into the room.
Harder than before.
The walls creaked.
The air twisted.
The thing wasn't sending echoes this time.
It was pushing through.
The man stepped back slightly, his stance shifting.
Prepared.
"…Now I see," he said.
Adrian clenched his jaw. "See what?"
The man didn't look at him.
He looked at the distortion forming in the air.
At the thing trying to enter.
"You're not the problem," he said.
A brief pause.
Then—
"You're the doorway."
Adrian's stomach dropped slightly.
"…That's worse," he said.
"No," the third woman said quietly.
"It's exactly what we expected."
The pressure intensified.
Reality bent.
The thing was coming through.
Not a fragment.
Not an echo.
Something closer to whole.
Adrian's heartbeat synced with the bond again.
Hard.
Heavy.
Unstable.
"…Alright," he said under his breath.
The man beside him shifted his stance slightly.
The shadowed woman disappeared into the dark.
The third woman's gaze sharpened.
The red-eyed woman stepped forward.
And Adrian—
Didn't step back.
"…Guess we're doing this again," he muttered.
But this time—
It wasn't just survival.
This time—
Everything was watching how he handled it.