--
Bzzt… Bzzt…
The vibrating sound of a phone echoed, breaking the silence of the room.
Kuzunoha… nope, I still prefer fox lady.
The fox lady paused what she was doing and stood up, heading to the bed where she pulled a vibrating burner phone out from under the pillow.
Still holding the phone, she glanced at me for a few seconds before answering.
"… … ….?"
Her gaze flicked toward me again before she replied, "Negative. Text only."
With that, the line cut off with a soft beep.
She returned to her desk and began fiddling with the phone, her fingers moving fast across the keypad.
"Would you mind telling me what time it is?" I asked. "My phone's kinda toast, so I've got no clue."
She didn't pause in her typing as she answered, "9:25."
"Ohh, alright. Thanks."
"…"
Totally ignored.
'Welp, at least we've got the time… seems like around twenty-one hours left.'
I yawned — the tiredness finally hitting me like a train.
'I think I'm gonna get… a bit of shut-eye now.' My thoughts grew drowsy.
"Been a wild day, huh," I murmured, as my mind slipped away.
.....
Pressing [send] on the phone, the fox lady's gaze lingered on the screen for a few moments before shifting toward the sleeping Max.
"Maxwell Scott, huh… I wonder what exactly you're doing here."
With that, she turned off the phone and returned her attention to the papers scattered across the desk. Her eyes fell on the picture of a large, bald man with a thick, unkempt beard and a menacing, jagged scar running down the side of his face. she looked at it for a while before shifting her gaze away.
--
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thursday morning (5:58 a.m.)
A low, static hum in my head stirred me awake, bringing a dull headache with it. The hum intensified, and with it, the pain.
My hands flew to my skull as a groan escaped my lips. "Fucking hell," I whispered through gritted teeth, my eyes clenched shut.
The pain built until it was almost unbearable, before vanishing in an instant, The hum also dying with it.
I let out a shaky breath, my gaze falling to the floor as beads of sweat dripped down my face onto the cold concrete.
'Just what the hell is happening…?, What's going on?' My thoughts spiraled.
"It happened yesterday… and now again," I muttered, my eyes darting side to side.
'Is it some kind of aftereffect of coming back?'
I forced myself to steady my breathing and looked up—only to find the fox lady staring directly at me from her chair.
She was already dressed in her black tactical suit, the same white fox mask still covering her face.
It looked like she was about to head out.
She stood up, walked toward me, and crouched a few feet away — close enough that our eyes met on the same level."Are you alright?" she asked, her tone calm but surprisingly soft.
I blinked, staring at the masked face in front of me, tracing the delicate carvings etched into the wooden surface that hid the face of this potential Ranker — a feat only ten humans had ever achieved in my past life, with her likely being one of them.
"Yeah... yeah, I am," I replied, the earlier chaos melting under her gentle tone.
She gave a small nod, then stood and started walking toward the door.
"Try to be back by five… or latest, five forty-five," I said to her departing figure, my voice serious, almost grim.
She stopped, turning her head just enough to look back at me.
For a moment, she simply stared — silent, unreadable — before turning away and stepping out of the room.
I watched the door close slowly, followed by the sharp click of the lock.
Still staring at it, I froze as the edges of my vision began to blur… then tint red.
Within seconds, everything I saw was swallowed by that color — my sight completely painted crimson.
The world tilted as I collapsed onto the cold concrete with a dull thud. My vision flickered, glitching in and out as a mechanical voice echoed inside my head:
{"System integration initiated."}
{"Creating field interference"}
{"Symbiotic synchronization: forty percent complete."}
{"Now shutting down major system functions for proper integr—"}
The words faded to static as my consciousness failed. Then, everything went dark.
--
A low groan escaped my lips as my eyes cracked open.
The bright light from the ceiling bulb stabbed at my vision, forcing me to squint until my eyes slowly adjusted.
For a while, I just lay there, staring blankly at the light before finally pushing myself up. My bones popping in protest, stiff from being still for too long.
"How long was I out for?" I muttered groggily, cracking my neck as my brain tried to reboot itself.
{"Eleven hours, eighteen minutes, and five seconds, sir."}
A calm, butler-like female voice came from behind me — freezing me mid-motion, my hand still resting against my bent neck.
My foggy mind cleared instantly, eyes widening. I stiffly turned around… only to find a glowing red orb hovering in the middle of the room.
Silence hung thick for a few seconds before I instinctively took a step back.
"Sweet mother of—"
"What in the heck…"
{"Sir, I highly recommend you save the cursing and questions for later, as Nexus will be reaching the Earth's atmosphere in twenty-eight minutes."}
The orb pulsed as it spoke, its calm, precise voice shoving the shock — and the rest of my words — right back down my throat.
--
I stared at it, its words echoing in my head, before shutting my eyes and taking a long — very long — breath to calm the fuck down.
As much as I hate to admit it… it's right.
What's going to be happening in the next twenty-eight minutes is a hell of a lot more concerning than a floating, talking orb.
I was just starting to pull my thoughts together when it pulsed again.
{"Apologies for interrupting, sir. But could you grant me the relevant access so we can be properly linked and unlock mental communication?
I'm afraid this room has been compromised. And although I've already interfered and deleted relevant footage and audio, I cannot maintain the digital interference field that currently masks me — or our conversation — for much longer."}
I blinked as what it said clicked. "Of course the kind fox lady bugged the place…" I muttered under my breath.
I glanced back at the orb. 'I really don't have the luxury of time to think this through.'
"Alright, fine — you can have access," I said, my tone sounding defeated. 'Goodbye to privacy, I guess.'
{"Acknowledged."}
The orb pulsed once, then shot forward — phasing straight into my head in a blur.
I winced as a sharp pain flared, then faded just as quickly. My vision flickered red while a cascade of robotic voices echoed inside my skull.
{'Neural link established.'}
{'Symbiotic synchronization complete.'}
{'Calibrating cognitive pathways.'}
{'Loading memory files…'}
Silence lingered for a few seconds before the voice returned — calm, composed, and distinctly female.
{'Good evening, Maxwell Scott.'}
{'My designation is N.O.X. — a functional acronym derived from my previous operational parameters.'}