**Zulphithos**
**
Ape Dark Ages – Year 520 post-Agreement
Temecula, Neutral Enclave of Southern California
(one of the few cities that still pretends the world hasn't ended, because the show must go on)
Ana of Temecula cleaned the floor of the community auditorium with mechanical, almost rhythmic movements.
Old broom, bucket of gray water, faded blue uniform that read "Maintenance – Always Smile".
She had 32 years on her face, but her eyes carried the same 19 that never aged since the first reset.
The wolf's hunger still throbbed in her stomach, but now it was muffled by another hunger: the hunger to be seen.
Three months ago, a traveling producer of Britain's Got Talent – a post-apocalyptic version, broadcast via stolen satellites and shown on makeshift screens around the world – discovered her singing while scrubbing the stage.
It wasn't a pretty song.
It was a low howl mixed with old pop, something that came out of her throat when she forgot she was human.
The producer cried.
He said it was "too authentic."
He said she had made it to the final.
Ana spent the following weeks practicing in the auditorium's basement.
Her voice came out cleaner, less wild.
She learned to smile without showing fangs.
She bought a simple black dress with the money she saved from extra cleaning jobs.
She dreamed of the spotlight, of the applauding audience, of the moment when she would finally be more than "the howling cleaning lady."
The final was scheduled for that night.
The giant screen in the central square was already set up.
Thousands of survivors from Temecula and the surrounding areas were going to watch.
It was the first time in years that something seemed like real hope.
But at 5:42 PM, Karma disappeared.
It wasn't a subtle disappearance.
He simply… evaporated.
Ana had seen him that morning: he appeared in the auditorium, thin, with sunken eyes, murmuring something about "the final manipulation isn't over yet."
He gave her a quick hug, too tight, and said:
"You're going to shine today. Don't let anyone dim your light."
After that, nothing. No cell phone signal. A trail of scent lost in the dry wind.
No body.
No note.
Only the emptiness he always left when he strayed too far from himself.
Ana waited until 7:30 PM.
The producer called three times.
"Where are you, Ana? The show starts in an hour!"
She stood in the makeshift dressing room, staring at the black dress hanging like a corpse. At 8:15 PM, the presenter announced on the screen:
"Unfortunately, Ana de Temecula will not be able to attend tonight. We wish her a speedy recovery and hope to see her again soon."
The crowd murmured.
Some booed.
Most just sighed and mentally switched to the next act.
Ana didn't go on stage.
She returned to the basement where she trained.
She closed the door.
She sat on the cold floor, hugging her knees.
The hunger of a she-wolf came on strong, but it wasn't for meat.
It was for everything she would never have:
the applause,
her brother by her side,
the feeling that, for one night, the whole world would see that she existed beyond the broom and the fur.
She picked up the curved knife she still carried from her battalion days.
The blade reflected the faint glow of the hanging lamp.
"You will shine today," Karma had said.
But without him, the shine seemed like a lie.
She pressed the tip against her chest, exactly where the fragment of lunar bone used to be (but the bone had vanished along with it).
Tears fell before the cut.
"I'm sorry, brother," she whispered. "I can't stand being what's left over anymore."
The cut was clean.
Quick.
Deep.
The body fell to the side, slowly, as if still trying to clean the floor before dying.
The silence of the basement swallowed everything.
On the big screen in the square, Britain's Got Talent continued.
A street magician made a coin disappear.
The audience applauded.
But somewhere very deep, within the Hundred Hearts that still beat beneath the cracked earth,
one beat failed.
Then another.
Then several.
As if a piece of the narrative had been forcibly ripped away.
And in the void that remained, a low, almost inaudible voice echoed:
"She shone.
But nobody saw."
**End of Volume 2 – Chapter 1**