Navir took a step closer. "Ardavan?"
The name split the hush. The silhouette shifted, sluggish and unsure, still steeped in shadow like the others, yet faintly lighter, just enough for recognition to ache into place. It stood slumped where it was, shoulders sagging, as if held upright by habit rather than strength.
Short silver-black hair framed a face Navir knew too well, sharper now, thinner, as if pieces had been carved away.
"Navir," Ardavan said. His voice landed a beat late, like it had traveled a long distance to reach him. "You're… here."
"What is this place?" Navir demanded.
"And how did you get here?" He swallowed.
Ardavan lifted his head, effort written into the motion. For a heartbeat, his eyes found Navir's, trying to hold, trying to anchor. "What?" The word came out thin, stretched, as if pulled from a distance. His focus wavered. A faint crease crossed his brow. "Hmmm..."
His effort failed. His chin dipped, shoulders sagging as though the weight of standing became too much. The brief clarity drained from his eyes, and his gaze slid downward again, retreating into the hollow stillness that clung to him.
Navir stepped closer. "Listen to me. This place isn't real. It's doing something to you."
Ardavan frowned with his drooped head, studying his own hands as if they belonged to someone else. "This place, It listens," he murmured. "When you think… too loud."
"Ardavan." Navir reached out, grasping Ardavan's shoulder, "Do you remember? The workshop? "You swore you'd rebuild the east grid."
A faint smile tugged at his mouth before fading. "I remember… starting."
He lifted his head once more, eyes heavy, unfocused, then his gaze slid past Navir as if pulled by something just out of reach. "Finishing is harder."
Fear tightened Navir's chest. "What happened to you?"
Ardavan opened his mouth, then froze, eyes locking on something far beyond Navir.
"It's… here." He sounded as his head drooped once again.
The ground pressed closer without moving. Navir felt it first in his ears, the quiet thickening until his own breathing sounded far away.
"Do you hear that?" he asked, forcing the words out.
Ardavan didn't answer.
The hollow figures shifted. They had been drifting in a single direction at first, drawn by some unseen pull, before slowly veering inward, steps uneven yet deliberate, heads canting as though responding to a signal Navir could not hear.
"Hey." Navir reached again. "Stay with me."
His pulse thudded too loud. The space between his thoughts shrank, each one colliding with the next. The wasteland leaned in, responding, feeding.
Ardavan jerked suddenly, fingers snapping around Navir's arm. The grip was tight, real.
Navir sucked in a breath. "You're here."
Ardavan's eyes cleared just enough to hurt. "It's reacting to you," he said quickly. "Every spike. Every fear."
"What?" Navir responded with a mix of urgency and relief.
Ardavan's grip tightened. His voice fell to a hush.
"It noticed you."
Navir's heart sank.
A low drag echoed across the ground.
Ardavan's gaze locked on something beyond Navir. A beat passed.
"Behind you."
Ardavan's breath steadied, not calm, resolved. "Don't move," he said, voice flat with certainty.
Every other sense in the wasteland blocked out.
Sound collapsed.
The distant shuffle died.
Even Navir's pulse seemed to hesitate.
"What did you… " Navir began.
A scrape cut him off.
Metal dragged across stone, slow and deliberate. The noise crawled along the cracked earth, setting Navir's teeth on edge. From the deepest shadow, something rose, first an outline, then a hunched mass pulling a contraption that looked assembled from refusal and rust. Hinges groaned. Plates shifted. Whatever powered it did not breathe.
Navir's throat went dry. "What is that?"
Ardavan didn't answer. His eyes never left the shape as it straightened, piece by piece, locking into a posture that mimicked a man without ever becoming one.
The contraption clicked. Settled.
Then the figure spoke, voice steady, intimate, as if standing at Navir's shoulder.
"Navir."
The name landed heavy, unmistakable.
Navir took a step back as the figure stepped fully into view.