Eli didn't sleep that night.
He sat on the edge of his mattress in the one-bedroom flat he barely called home, staring at the glowing rune on his palm. It pulsed like a heartbeat—no, like it had a will of its own. The system hadn't said a word since issuing the task. But the countdown in the corner of his vision was a silent scream.
23:04:17
Time was ticking.
"I have to influence three lives? What does that even mean?" he muttered.
He thought about messaging Caleb—his only close friend—but what would he even say? "Hey, bro, got possessed by a system that feeds on emotions?" No. That'd land him in a psych ward faster than he could finish the sentence.
He left the apartment by sunrise, hoodie pulled low and hands buried deep in his pockets.
It was raining lightly—enough to blur the lights of the city and slow everything down. The streets were quieter. Still, his mind felt like it was spiraling.
And then he saw her.
A girl, maybe seventeen or eighteen, sitting alone at the edge of a bus stop bench. She wasn't crying, not outwardly. But something in her posture screamed louder than words ever could—knees drawn close, shoulders hunched, and a soaked suitcase beside her that looked like it had been thrown together in a hurry.
Something tugged inside Eli's chest. Not pity. Not even curiosity.
The system stirred.
> Detected Emotion: Suppressed Grief
Target viable. Engage with intent.
He approached cautiously. "Hey... you okay?"
She flinched. Looked up.
Her eyes were red, not from tears, but from the kind of emotional exhaustion that came from trying not to cry.
"Do I look okay?" she snapped, hugging her jacket tighter. But then her voice softened, as if regret followed the sharpness. "Sorry. That was... rude."
Eli sat on the other end of the bench, leaving space between them. "No worries. Just... you looked like someone who needed a reason to believe the world's not always trash."
The girl gave a dry laugh. "You say that like you know."
He smiled faintly. "You'd be surprised."
She glanced at him. "I'm Mira. And yeah, my life's officially crashed."
"Eli," he replied. "Want to talk about it?"
She hesitated... and then, slowly, the words came.
Her mother had remarried. Her stepfather was controlling—manipulative in that quiet, cruel way people couldn't prove. Mira had tried to talk about it. No one listened. Last night, she packed a suitcase and ran.
She had nowhere to go.
No plan.
Just a desperate need to escape.
> Emotion Absorbed: Resentment, Fear, and Grief
+3 to Chaos Core
System Stability: 90%
Target 1 of 3 complete.
Eli blinked. The system's messages faded again. But his gaze never left Mira.
"You did the right thing," he said quietly. "Getting out. It's not weak—it's brave."
Mira looked at him then, really looked. "You're strange. But you listen. And right now, that's more than I've had in weeks."
He offered a small smile. "Stick with me for a while. I'm good at... weird situations."
And just like that, something shifted. For both of them.
But unknown to Eli, two shadowed figures were watching from across the street—one with a silver ring glowing faintly on his hand.
"She's made contact," the figure whispered.
"The system has chosen," the other replied.