The world was a roar of sirens and the smell of ozone.
Arthur sat on the damp pavement, his eyes wide and vacant. To anyone passing by, he looked like a victim of the "gas explosion" that had leveled St. Jude's High School. But inside his mind, it was a storm.
[STATUS: TEMPORARY BLINDNESS – 27:14 REMAINING]
[SYSTEM ALERT: HUNT LEVEL INCREASED]
[CURRENT THREAT: REGIONAL ENFORCEMENT UNITS DISPATCHED]
"Boss, we have to move," Sarah's voice was sharp, cutting through the haze. He felt her hands under his armpits, hauling him up. "The police are setting up a perimeter, but I'm seeing black SUVs that don't have plates. Those aren't cops."
"I can't see them, Sarah," Arthur croaked, his voice raw. "I can't see anything."
"I'm your eyes now," she snapped. "Elena, lead the way. If it glows purple, kill it."
[The Evolving Sense]
As they stumbled through a dark alleyway behind the school ruins, Arthur's blindness began to shift. The pitch-black void was suddenly pierced by sparks of light. It wasn't sight—it was vibration.
[EVOLUTION TRIGGERED: SPIRIT VISION (PASSIVE) → SONAR MAPPING (ACTIVE)]
Every time Sarah's boots hit the ground, a ripple of white light expanded in Arthur's mind, mapping the walls, the trash cans, and the silhouettes of his companions. When the sirens wailed, the sound waves painted the entire street in a ghostly, wireframe blue.
"Stop," Arthur whispered.
"What? We're almost to the car—"
"Left," Arthur commanded, pointing a trembling hand toward a brick wall. "Three men. Behind the dumpster. They aren't breathing."
Sarah didn't question him. She spun, her Ghost-tuned 9mm barking twice. The "Sonar" in Arthur's head showed two ripples of violet light exploding as the Thralls were neutralized before they could even step out of the shadows.
"How did you...?" Elena started, her voice hushed.
"The System took my eyes," Arthur said, his jaw tightening. "So I'm taking the System's frequency."
[The City in Flux]
They reached a nondescript gray sedan—the backup vehicle Sarah had hidden weeks ago. As they sped away from the burning school, Arthur leaned his head against the window.
The city was different now. Through his Sonar, the skyscrapers looked like giant tuning forks, vibrating with the energy of the System. He could see the "Ghost Lines"—golden threads of data running beneath the streets, connecting every bank, every camera, and every person.
"Elena," Arthur said, his eyes still staring at nothing. "The man you saw in the portal. The one with the crown. Did he say anything?"
Elena was silent for a long time. Arthur could feel the vibration of her heart—it was beating too fast.
"He didn't speak with his voice," she finally whispered. "He spoke into my mind. He said, 'Tell the Architect he's behind schedule. The first fragment was the easy one. The second is held by his mother.'"
[The Ultimate Stakes]
Arthur's heart stopped. The Sonar in his head turned a violent, bleeding red.
"My mother is at the police station," Arthur said, his voice dropping into a terrifyingly cold register. "They took her there for questioning after the explosion."
"It's a trap," Sarah said, flooring the accelerator. "The System isn't just deleting anomalies anymore. It's using our anchors against us."
[NEW QUEST: THE MOTHER'S ANCHOR]
• Objective: Rescue Mary Vance from the 4th Precinct.
• Complication: Blindness persists for 15 minutes.
• Hidden Condition: Do not use 'Reality Edit' (Next use may cause permanent damage).
"I don't need a Reality Edit to break a police station," Arthur growled, his hands clenching into fists. "I have fifteen minutes of darkness. Sarah, find me a heavy coat and a pair of dark glasses."
"What are you planning, Boss?"
Arthur turned his head toward her. Even through his sightless eyes, Sarah flinched.
"I'm going to show them why the 'Original' Arthur was the Architect of the End. If they want to play with my anchors, I'll pull the whole world down on top of them."
[NOTIFICATION: ACCESS LEVEL 2 – 'GHOST REACH' EVOLVED TO 'PHANTOM GRIP']
Arthur reached out his hand, and for a split second, the air in the car materialized into a solid, jagged blade of violet glass before vanishing.
He didn't need eyes to kill. He just needed to know where the heart beat.