Minh Truong noticed her by accident.
She was sitting on the opposite side of the bus, staring out the window with an expression that was neither tired nor alert—just present. Nothing about her stood out.
Except the silence.
Minh Truong's interface activated instinctively.
Everyone else on the bus displayed lifespans immediately. Clean. Stable. Corrected.
She did not.
No delay.
No flicker.
No data at all.
Minh Truong's breath slowed.
He waited.
One second.
Two.
Still nothing.
The system did not hesitate.
It ignored her completely.
Minh Truong closed the interface and reopened it.
Again—nothing.
The unreadable layer beneath other people's lifespans did not exist above her. No residue. No shadow. As if she occupied a space the system refused to map.
The bus hit a pothole, jolting slightly.
She turned.
Their eyes met.
For a split second, Minh Truong felt the pressure again—the sensation of being observed by something vast. But this time, it did not come from the system.
It came from her.
She frowned faintly, as if reacting to a sound only she could hear, then looked away.
Minh Truong's pulse quickened.
She had felt it.
At the next stop, she stood up.
Minh Truong followed without thinking.
Outside, the evening air was cool. Pedestrians flowed around them, lifespans flickering obediently above every head—except hers.
She walked with no urgency, yet Minh Truong struggled to keep the distance constant, as if space itself refused to behave normally around her.
Finally, she stopped near a convenience store.
"You've been staring," she said without turning around.
Minh Truong froze.
"I don't usually like that," she continued calmly. "But you're… different."
He swallowed. "Different how?"
She turned then, studying him openly.
"For a moment," she said, "it felt like someone tried to look at me through a mirror that wasn't there."
Minh Truong's interface pulsed once—hard.
A warning spike.
He shut it down instantly.
She smiled slightly.
"So you can feel it too," she said.
Minh Truong exhaled slowly.
The system could ignore her.
But it could not ignore this conversation.