Site-09 was a tomb of secrets.
Buried beneath Earth-Prime's crust, it held horrors that should never exist. Jessa knew that—her first day as an N3 Initiate felt like a death sentence.
She woke to the hum of aetheric generators. The drone rattled her bones.
Her boots hit the icy floor. Rust and despair filled the air.
Gear waited on a steel table: pistol, containment orb, uniform. The Veil Foundation's jagged web sigil stared at her.
She strapped on the pistol. Her hands shook
The briefing room was a steel cage. Aetheric lamps flickered, shadows twisting wrong.
N1 Operative Marcus stood at the front, scars mapping his face. "Town-09A. Anomaly ACE-09A. Unseen Watcher. It's in the mirrors."
Jessa's gut clenched. "What's it do?"
Marcus didn't flinch. "Drives you mad. Shows your shame. Don't look."
She swallowed hard. Her throat burned.
The transport roared through fog. Town-09A appeared—cobblestone streets, gaslit lamps dying in the mist.
The clock tower pierced the haze. Its frozen face read 3:17, stuck since the first fracture.
Marcus nodded. "That's it. Jessa, move."
Stairs groaned underfoot. Each step colder, heavier.
At the top, a cracked mirror slumped against the wall. Blood-like streaks marred its dusty surface.
Jessa's reflection stared back—too pale, eyes too wide. Something shifted behind her.
She turned. Empty air.
"Marcus," she hissed. Her voice broke.
He spun, pistol up. "Where?"
"There." Her hand shook.
A shadow bloomed in the mirror. Tall, faceless, edges melting like ink.
Frost-fingers clawed out. The cold bit her skin.
A voice hissed from the glass. "See… me…
Jessa's mind screamed—guilt, blood, faces of the lost. She stumbled.
"Don't look!" Marcus shouted.
She grabbed the orb. Her grip slipped.
"You… fail…" the voice dug in.
She slammed the orb's button. Green light pulsed.
The shadow shrieked. Its form cracked.
"Again!" Marcus yelled.
Another pulse. It dissolved into mist.
The mirror stilled. Just glass.
Jessa panted. "Is it… gone?"
Marcus didn't answer. His gaze locked on the mirror.
A click sounded. The tower door slammed.
Footsteps thudded. Slow, wrong, not human.
The lamps snuffed out. Darkness swallowed them.
A pale beam pierced a wall crack. It hit the mirror.
The glass burned red. Veins pulsed inside it.
A hand slid out—long, pale, fingers endless. It brushed Jessa's neck, cold as death.
"Watch… me…" it whispered.
Her vision turned to fire.