Chapter 2:  Alley Code

CHAPTER 2: ALLEY CODE

Ethan brushed the last of the ash off his sleeves as he stepped back into the street, orb still warm in his pocket and a new kind of static humming under his skin. His fingers tingled like he’d stuck them in a socket wired by a dream.

The sky had darkened to a weird, purple-gold twilight that made everything feel like a memory. Fog rolled between buildings. A spirit hawker was shouting somewhere about steamed honey fungus and blessed dumplings.

His stomach rumbled.

“Hey Whisp,” he muttered, pulling his hood back into place. “You think my new pet core will let me digest ghost peppers?”

> “I think you’re about to digest consequences.”

“I already did,” he chirped. “They tasted like destiny.”

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He passed a stone pillar with a busted directional charm, turned a corner, and stepped right into someone.

They hit the ground first. A kid, slightly older than him, definitely thinner, wearing layered scholar robes patched at the knees. A leather case spilled open beside him, full of scrolls and half-eaten fruit.

The kid blinked up at Ethan, dazed.

“You okay?” Ethan offered a hand.

The kid stared at it. Then stared harder at Ethan’s eyes. “...You’re not from here.”

“That obvious?”

“You’re glowing.”

“Oh. That’s new.”

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Before the kid could say anything else, a distant hum split the fog — a high-pitched resonance like someone singing into a blade. Both of them flinched.

The scholar kid scrambled upright, grabbing Ethan’s wrist. “We need to move. Now.”

“Hold on, hold on. Who are—?”

“Doesn’t matter. You tripped a node guardian. It’s coming.”

“A what now?”

“A repurposed sect warden construct. We don’t want to be here when it finishes booting.”

Ethan looked back the way he came.

A blue glow had begun to spread from the alley’s mouth. The air vibrated. In the distance, stone cracked and something unfolded itself from inside a wall — tall, wrong, and humming.

Whisp popped his head from Ethan’s hood.

> “Oh. You really did it this time.”