Chapter 39: Static
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The radio refused to speak again.
Rasheed had spent nearly three hours adjusting every dial.
Nothing.
Only static.
He leaned back in his chair.
“…Come on.”
Silence.
The Pulse Core glowed faintly on the opposite workbench.
Almost teasing him.
He ignored it.
The radio mattered more.
If his father had reached him once…
He could do it again.
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The next morning…
News spread through the city.
Another Chrona fragment had appeared.
Not in the underground.
Not in a warehouse.
In the middle of a public park.
Hundreds of people surrounded it.
Police struggled to hold them back.
Everyone wanted to see the glowing crystal.
Nobody understood the danger.
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Helix arrived first.
Blue drones established a perimeter.
Scientists in protective suits scanned the fragment.
The Director watched from a command vehicle.
“Energy output?”
“Stable.”
“Resonance?”
“Climbing.”
Dr. Sato frowned.
“It shouldn’t be this calm.”
The Director’s expression hardened.
“Exactly.”
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Rasheed reached the park minutes later.
Hidden beneath a hoodie.
He stayed behind the crowd.
Something felt…
Wrong.
The fragment wasn’t leaking energy.
It was…
Waiting.
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Across the street…
Mr. Vale stood inside an old café.
Watching.
Not interfering.
One of his men entered.
“Should we retrieve it?”
Vale sipped his coffee.
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because it doesn’t belong to us.”
The lieutenant blinked.
“Then whose is it?”
Vale smiled.
“The city is about to answer that.”
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Without warning…
The fragment cracked.
A pulse of silver light swept across the park.
Everyone stumbled.
Except…
Three people.
Rasheed.
Omar.
Adesewa.
For one impossible second…
They all heard the same whisper.
”…Find me…”
Then it vanished.
The civilians looked around in confusion.
“What was that?”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“My ears are ringing.”
Only the three of them stood frozen.
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Omar instinctively looked through the crowd.
His eyes landed on Rasheed.
Not because he recognized him.
Because Rasheed wasn’t reacting like everyone else.
Their eyes met.
Just for a heartbeat.
Then the crowd surged between them.
The moment disappeared.
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Adesewa stood beside the shattered fragment.
Her sketchbook slipped from her bag.
Pages fluttered in the wind.
One stopped at Rasheed’s feet.
He picked it up.
His breath caught.
The drawing…
Was today’s park.
Today’s crowd.
Today’s fragment.
Drawn three days ago.
In the corner of the page…
One figure was shaded completely black.
Standing inside the café.
Watching.
Mr. Vale.
Rasheed looked toward the café.
Empty.
Vale was already gone.
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That evening…
The Librarian examined the broken fragment.
His face turned pale.
“This wasn’t an accident.”
Rasheed folded his arms.
“What was it?”
The old man looked up.
“A signal.”
“To who?”
“I don’t know.”
He paused.
“…but someone answered.”
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Far beyond Earth…
David stood before a massive wall of crimson crystal.
Embedded within it…
Hundreds of glowing symbols pulsed like stars.
One symbol…
Suddenly lit up.
Then another.
Then another.
David’s expression fell.
“They’ve started.”
He closed his eyes.
“They’re waking the network.”
Behind him…
The crimson wind carried a familiar laugh.
Not loud.
Not threatening.
Just…
Patient.
David didn’t turn around.
“I know you’re there.”
The laughter stopped.
A voice answered from the storm.
“You’ve delayed the inevitable long enough.”
The crimson mist shifted.
A silhouette stepped forward…
But remained hidden.
Only two golden eyes glowed through the storm.
David’s fists clenched.
“You’ll never reach him.”
The figure chuckled.
“You still think this is about your son.”
A long silence followed.
“It never was.”
The storm swallowed the silhouette once more.
David stood alone.
But for the first time in twenty years…
He no longer felt like the only person trapped inside the Chronal Zone.
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