The city didn't panic.
It locked down.
Roadblocks rose overnight like scars. Drones hovered where birds used to be. Uniformed patrols mixed with people who didn't wear badges—but carried pressure in their steps.
Cultivators, no longer hiding.
Alpha Phantom stood on the rooftop of the Dockside warehouse, hands in his pockets, watching the shift happen in real time.
Sirens echoed in layers.
Rex came up behind him. "This isn't street-level," he said quietly. "This is city command."
Alpha nodded. "They're tightening the net."
"And you?" Rex asked. "You leaving?"
Alpha didn't answer immediately.
[City Status: Restricted Movement — Active]
[Host Visibility: High]
Below them, a convoy rolled past. Black vehicles. Tinted windows. No insignia.
Nyx stepped onto the roof, coat pulled tight against the wind. Her eyes followed the convoy.
"They're hunting awakened individuals," she said. "Anyone without registration."
Alpha glanced at her. "You're registered?"
Nyx shook her head. "My kind doesn't register."
That earned a look.
She met it calmly. "I told you I fix problems. Sometimes, the problem is a person who shouldn't exist."
Alpha turned back to the city.
"And now?" he asked.
"Now," Nyx said, "you exist too loudly."
A drone drifted closer, its lens adjusting.
Alpha raised his head slightly.
The drone froze midair.
Its systems screamed silently as Shadow Sense wrapped around it—not crushing, not attacking—asserting presence.
The drone backed off.
Rex exhaled. "That's not subtle."
"I'm done being subtle," Alpha replied.
[Alpha Dominance: Passive Pressure — Active]
His phone buzzed.
One message.
Submit for evaluation. Noncompliance will be treated as hostility.
No sender.
Nyx read it over his shoulder. "That's an enforcer order."
Alpha deleted the message.
"Then they'll have to come here."
Rex stiffened. "Here?"
Alpha turned to him. "This is our ground."
A beat passed.
Rex nodded slowly. "Then I'll clear civilians."
"Do it quietly," Alpha said. "No panic."
Rex left immediately.
Nyx watched him go. "You're choosing a stand."
Alpha looked at her. "I already did. The moment they shot me in public."
Another convoy stopped at the end of the block.
Doors opened.
Five figures stepped out.
They didn't rush.
They didn't hide.
They advanced.
[Threat Level: High]
[Enforcer Unit Detected]
Nyx's jaw tightened. "That's not a sweep team."
Alpha rolled his shoulders once, slow and deliberate.
"Good," he said. "Sweeps waste time."
The lead figure raised a hand.
A voice amplified without electronics.
"Alpha Phantom," it said. "By authority of the City Cultivation Accord, you are ordered to submit."
Alpha stepped to the edge of the roof.
Rain began to fall again.
Light. Cold.
Perfect.
"No," Alpha said.
The word carried.
Not shouted.
Not forced.
It landed like a weight.
The enforcers stopped.
Nyx looked at him sharply. "You know what refusing means."
Alpha's eyes never left the figures below.
"It means they stop pretending."
[Conflict State Updated: Open Hostility]
The lead enforcer raised his hand again.
"Engage," he said.
Alpha smiled faintly.
"Finally."
The shadows around the warehouse shifted.