The blue window didn't fade. It hung there, anchored to my retinas. When I turned my head, it followed, a crisp, mechanical HUD that made the world look like a tactical simulation.
"Okay, System," I said, leaning against my original—and thankfully singular—kitchen counter. "Talk to me. You said I'm not the only one? There are others out there doubling their groceries and accidentally birthing oak tables?"
[QUERY ACKNOWLEDGED,] the system pulsed. A secondary window slid open, displaying a scrolling list of redacted names and blurred portraits. [THE AWAKENING IS A GLOBAL EVENT. PHENOMENA VARY BY HOST. CURRENTLY TRACKING: 1,402 ACTIVE USERS NATIONWIDE.]
A map flickered into existence. It was a heat map of the city, dotted with tiny, glowing pulses of different colors. Most were faint, but a few—like the one centered exactly over my house—were throbbing with a bright, aggressive violet.
"I'm a beacon," I realized, the weight of it sinking in. "That's how he found me. The man in the sedan."
[CORRECT. 'COLLECTORS' UTILIZE ETHERIC SCANNERS TO DETECT HARMONIC RESONANCE. YOUR DISCOVERY PHASE EMITTED A HIGH-DECIBEL 'STATIC' DUE TO UNCONTROLLED REPLICATION. THE TABLE INCIDENT CREATED A PERMANENT ANCHOR POINT.]
"And let me guess," I said, eyeing the twin table with newfound resentment. "I can't just delete it?"
[UNABLE TO DE-RES THE PRIMARY ECHO WITHOUT SIGNIFICANT VITALITY EXPENDITURE. HOWEVER, DETECTION CAN BE CIRCUMVENTED.]
A new icon appeared in the corner of my vision: a small, shield-shaped symbol with a percentage bar currently sitting at 0%.
[FUNCTION: CLOAKING MANTLE. BY REPLICATING THE AMBIENT AIR MOLECULES AROUND YOUR BODY, THE SYSTEM CAN CREATE A THIN VENEER OF 'DEAD SPACE.' THIS NEUTRALIZES YOUR RESONANCE SIGNATURE, MAKING YOU INVISIBLE TO ETHERIC SCANNERS.]
"Wait, so I can become a ghost?"
[NOT PHYSICALLY INVISIBLE TO THE HUMAN EYE,] the System clarified, its tone almost sounding bored. [YOU WILL BE VISIBLE TO LIGHT, BUT INVISIBLE TO THE MACHINES. TO A COLLECTOR'S SCANNER, YOU WILL APPEAR AS A BRICK WALL OR A VACUUM. WOULD YOU LIKE TO INITIALIZE 'SILENT RUNNING'?]
"Yes. Absolutely. Initialize everything."
I felt a subtle shift in the air. It wasn't a tingle this time, but a cooling sensation, like stepping into a refrigerated room. The bright violet pulse on the map over my house suddenly dimmed, turning a muted, muddy grey.
[CLOAKING ACTIVE. VITALITY DRAIN: 2% PER HOUR. NOTE: PERFORMING A REPLICATION WILL CAUSE A TEMPORARY 'FLARE' IN THE MANTLE.]
I sank into a chair—the real one—and stared at the HUD. "So there are 1,400 other people dealing with this. Are they all... printers like me?"
[NEGATIVE. POWER CLASSIFICATIONS VARY. YOU ARE CATAGORIZED AS A 'REPLICATOR.' OTHER KNOWN CLASSES INCLUDE: KINETICS, VECTORS, AND VOID-WALKERS. THE COLLECTORS SEEK TO 'ARCHIVE' THESE ABILITIES FOR STABILIZATION PURPOSES.]
"'Archive' sounds like a very polite word for 'kidnap and dissect,'" I muttered.
I looked at the map again. One of the pulses on the other side of town was a jagged red. It was moving fast.
"Is that another user?"
[HOSTILES DETECTED. THAT SIGNATURE BELONGS TO A 'VECTOR' CURRENTLY ENGAGED IN EVASION. THE COLLECTORS ARE NOT THE ONLY THREAT, ARTHUR. SOME USERS DO NOT REQUIRE A SYSTEM TO REMAIN SANE. THEY REQUIRE... ACQUISITIONS.]
The realization hit me. I wasn't just being hunted by the government; I was part of an ecosystem. And in an ecosystem, there were always bigger fish.
"I need to learn how to use this properly," I said, standing up. "If I'm going to survive, I can't just be a guy who makes extra bread. I need to know the limits. I need to know what a 'Primary Echo' can really do."
[TUTORIAL MODULES AVAILABLE,] the System replied. [WOULD YOU LIKE TO BEGIN WITH 'OBJECT DENSITY' OR 'BIOLOGICAL SYNERGY'?]
Before I could answer, a notification flashed red across the center of my vision.
[WARNING: LOCALIZED VIBRATION DETECTED. PROXIMITY: 20 METERS.]
I looked out the window. The black sedan wasn't back. Instead, a delivery van was idling at the curb. The driver was sitting perfectly still, staring at my house. He wasn't holding a package. He was holding a matte-black cylinder that looked exactly like the one the man in the suit had used.
He was looking right at my front door, shaking the device as if it were broken.
"The cloak," I whispered. "It's working. He can see the house, but he can't find me."