The figure did not announce itself.
It simply existed.
One moment the space was empty—structured, controlled, humming with tension.
The next—
It was there.
Emily’s breath caught in her throat.
“…That’s new,” she whispered.
The figure stood at the center of the room, where the grid lines converged.
Tall.
Impossibly still.
Not human.
Not fully anything she recognized.
Its form was composed of layered geometry—sharp edges and shifting planes, like reality itself had been assembled into a being and then left unfinished in places.
Where its face should have been—
there was only a smooth surface.
No features.
No expression.
Just presence.
Emily’s core reacted instantly.
Hard.
Too hard.
She staggered back a step.
“…Okay,” she said quietly. “That feels… wrong.”
Kael didn’t m
