The crack didn't open any further.It didn't need to.
One millimeter was enough for the park to shift into a different state—not visibly,but structurally.
Every tree, every bench, every blade of grassfelt like they were being quietly re-indexedby an unseen process.
Patch stepped back from the crack,its movements no longer cat-like,but calculated—as if aligning itself with a rhythm only it could hear.
I felt that rhythm too.
A low, constant pulse behind my ribs.A tug at the source point in my chest.A pressure in the air that didn't belong to weather,or physics,or anything human.
"What is this…?"
Patch turned toward me.
And in the space between one heartbeat and the next—the world lagged.
0.12 seconds.
Enough for the edges of the trees to blur,for the shadows to misalign,for my breath to feel like it was stuck in a different frame.
Then the system snapped back.
I staggered, clutching the railing near the mound.My spine buzzed with static.
Patch meowed—but the sound fractured,splitting into two layers:one natural,one… wrong.
A resonance from the crack responded.
A pulse.Sharp.Deliberate.
Not an attack.Not a call.
A test.
The air thinned.Not in oxygen—in stability.
Patch crouched low, fur bristling.Its eyes reflected the crack's glow—not light,but symbolic shapes blooming and collapsinglike a language unfolding itself.
My chest tightened.
Something on the other side was searching.
Not blindly.Directly.
For me.
The pressure increased—steady, oppressive,like a hand pressing against my sternum from inside my body.
My knees buckled.
Patch hissed sharply,the sound twisting into an unnatural echo.
The crack pulsed again.
A wave of cold swept out—spreading through the air,through the ground,through the seal.
My source point reacted violently.A sharp spike of pain like a wire made of icedragged across my chest.
I gasped and fell to one knee.
"—ghh—"
The world flickered.
Shadows lagged behind objects.Lines bent where they shouldn't.Colors split into faint double layers.
My vision blurred,not from dizziness,but from desync.
Patch leapt onto my shoulder, claws gripping my jacket.Its weight grounded me,but its body was trembling with an unnatural vibration—a frequency running through both of us.
The crack widened—just barely—and a sound leaked through.
Not a voice.Not a growl.
A breath with intention.
Cold.Measuring.Curious.Predatory.
I forced myself to look up.
The crack pulsed once more—and a symbol formed in the air just above it.White.Geometric.Alive.
It rotated slowly,scanning.
Then it locked onto me.
Patch hissed.The symbol brightened.My heart skipped.
A second pulse hit me—this one deeper,directly targeting the source point.
Pain shot across my chest.
The seal tested my resonance.
My identity.
My "signature."
I clenched my teeth.
"Stop—!"
The crack thinned.
The symbol flickered.
A third pulse surged—but this time Patch jumped off my shoulderand struck the ground with both paws.
A shockwave, small but precise,rippled outward.
The crack responded—shifting, resisting, recalculating.
The symbol broke apart into fragments.
The pressure vanished instantly.
The world snapped back into sync.
I collapsed forward, breathing hard.
Patch walked to me,placed its forehead against my hand,and let out a low, steady rumble—
Not a purr.
A stabilization signal.
I exhaled shakily.
"…It was testing if I could handle what's coming."
Patch blinked once.
A clear confirmation.
The crack behind us pulsed one last time—slow, heavy, intentional—like a creature turning over in its sleep.
Not awakened.
Not yet.
But aware.
And interested.