Normal streets are louder than broken ones.
That was the first thing I noticed after the Witness left us behind. Vendors argued over prices that didn't matter. Footsteps overlapped without rhythm. Somewhere, a radio played a song I didn't recognize but felt like I should.
No pressure seams.No narrative tension tightening the air.No subtle resistance when I moved.
The world had accepted me again.
Not as a problem.
As background.
Arjun hated it immediately.
"This is wrong," he muttered, scanning faces. "Everyone's acting like nothing happened."
"They didn't feel it," Aaryan replied. "Big discharges rarely register where they land. Only where they would've hit."
The girl squeezed my hand once, then let go. She was watching me—not worried, just attentive. Like she was checking whether I'd drift now that the weight was gone.
I rolled my shoulders again.
Still clear.
Still quiet.
Still me.
