Dingdong!
The doorbell's chime cut through Zeph's dreamless sleep like a knife.
His eyes snapped open, body tensing automatically into combat readiness before his conscious mind caught up with reality. Right. Apartment. Sanctuary. Civilization. No one was trying to kill him.
Probably.
He rolled off the mattress with the fluid grace of someone whose AGI stat was 156, crossed the small space in three strides, and checked the peephole.
Nothing.
Just an empty hallway and a small cardboard box sitting on his doorstep.
'Package delivery. Right. That's a thing that happens in civilized society.'
Zeph opened the door, scooped up the box—surprisingly light for its size—and retreated back inside, locking the door behind him with the three separate mechanisms he'd installed yesterday.
Old habits died hard.
The box was plain brown cardboard with a shipping label from TechHub Express and a delivery timestamp of 6:47 AM.
'They deliver this early? Damn. Efficient.'
