[Julian, people are coming! You need to hide—there's an alley nearby on your right. 20 meters!]

“...Okay,” Julian’s breath quickened as the sound of approaching footsteps echoed down the street. MEGAN's voice buzzed urgently in his mind.

He turned his shoulder in the direction MEGAN pointed out. His heightened senses locked onto the narrow alley just a few meters away. He started tapping his cane on the ground in habit, and quickly realized from the clanging sound that it was still, in fact, a rapier.

"...My cane," he muttered. He'd dropped the scabbard for his rapier when he started fighting the daemon.

[Julian! You can’t leave it there, someone will notice!] MEGAN’s voice grew more frantic.

"I know…" Julian hissed, cursing his luck as he turned his head around for MEGAN to scan the area.

[14 meters to where your head is currently facing. Quickly!] It took only a second for MEGAN to calculate its exact location.

Julian lunged to the left, patting the ground several times before grabbing the scabbard with a speed that rivaled the extinct cheetah MEGAN had once told him about. In one fluid motion, he sheathed the rapier, the weapon clicking as it transformed back into his unassuming cane.

But as soon as he had it secured, he realized something else. It was too late. The footsteps were too close. The people were already rounding the corner. Panic clawed at him, but only for a moment. An idea struck him. Ridiculous, yes. But desperate times called for desperate measures. He collapsed to the ground…

…and pretended to be unconscious. His cane fell just beside him, and he did his best to appear utterly lifeless.

The footsteps grew louder, and Julian willed himself to stay completely still. His body, still slightly thrumming with left-over adrenaline, resisted. He could hear his heartbeat, loud in his ears, but forced his breathing to slow. MEGAN was in his mind, practically screaming.

[Julian! What are you doing!? Hide! This is ridiculous! You—]

"Shh," he muttered under his breath, just loud enough for MEGAN to hear. "Trust me."

And then, he heard the voices.

“Holy shit…” a man’s voice came, footsteps slowing to a stop.

“Is that…?” another voice said, lower and more disbelieving.

Julian stayed still, his face pressed against the cold ground. He could hear their boots shuffling, coming closer. With MEGAN also blind since his eyes were closed, the only thing she and Julian could really rely on was the sounds and vibrations.

“It's… dead,” someone whispered, their awe clear.

“Brutal,” another voice chimed in, closer now. “Looks like something ripped the damn thing apart.”

Julian could practically feel their eyes on the Daemon carcass, the grotesque body torn asunder by his relentless attacks. He forced his breathing to remain even, though he could still hear MEGAN’s frantic commentary buzzing in his ear.

[Julian, this isn’t going to work, this isn’t going to work!]

The footsteps stopped just next to him, and Julian could hear the murmurs as they took in the scene. From their conversation, it became clear who they were: Exterminators. A group of hunters whose bodies are completely enhanced with cyberware. They were most likely here to respond to the Daemon attack.

Julian's body tensed when one of them stepped close enough to prod him lightly with the toe of their boot.

"Hey," the voice said. "There's a guy down here."

Another person approached, probably the leader as Julian could hear everyone else making way for her. “Is he… alive?”

A hand pressed firmly on his neck, checking his pulse. Julian made sure to stay completely limp, even as his mind raced. He felt her check for a heartbeat, her fingers lingering longer than necessary, and then a sharp exhale of relief.

“He’s.., alive,” the leader said. “Unconscious, but alive.”

“...Alive? How’s that even possible when this place is completely fucked?”

“You think… he might be the one who took the Daemon down?”

“Yeah, not with this,” Julian could hear one of them lightly kicking his cane, almost causing him to grip his hand into a fist, “Guy’s blind.”

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“Not as blind as the Daemon.”

“Hey, Derek – someone will finally find you attractive and it’s already dead. Get it? Because the Daemon is blind?”

“Oh, right – I remember you have a fetish for Daemons.”

“Who the fuck even started that rumor!?”

“Pft.”

A few of the others snickered at the comment, but the leader’s voice remained stern.

“That's enough. We need to investigate this area further. Something isn’t right here.”

Julian could feel their eyes scanning the scene, lingering on the Daemon’s grotesque corpse.

[Julian, don't move!] MEGAN’s voice was still screaming in his mind, even panicking more than Julian. [Just stay calm! Please! Oh god, this is bad, really bad!]

But despite the buzzing in his ears, Julian felt the overwhelming exhaustion seep in. His heart rate, once hammering in his chest, began to slow. The adrenaline, once burning hot through his veins, was finally completely, and truly fading. And as MEGAN continued to panic in his head, Julian couldn’t help but let out a long breath. The exhaustion won over, and before he knew it…

…He truly did lose consciousness.

***

"Hm...?" Julian’s eyes fluttered open for MEGAN; the weightlessness that surrounded his body felt like it pinned him down to the deepest parts of Earth.

[Julian, you’re awake… finally.] MEGAN’s voice was gentler now, calmer. [You’re in a hospital.]

Julian groaned, his senses still a little fuzzy. “My cane...” he mumbled, his hands blindly reaching out, tapping the edges of the bed in habit.

[It’s right beside you,] MEGAN started, but before she could finish, a different voice interrupted her, [But that is not important right now, there is–]

“Are you trying to find your cane?”

Julian stiffened at the sound of the unfamiliar, but commanding voice. A woman. His mind immediately raced back to the encounter with the Exterminators. It must be one of them. The leader, if he guessed correctly. Her voice was closer now, and there was a certain weight to it.

“You’re fine,” she continued, her voice neutral, but Julian could sense an underlying suspicion through her slightly monotonous tone. “A little too fine, actually.”

“...Where am I?” Julian whispered weakly.

“Tell me, how does someone like you survive when 24 people are dead and hundreds are injured? You’re blind, aren’t you?” The woman’s tone had shifted. It was clear to Julian that she didn’t believe for a second that he was just some random bystander. “And without any cyberware installed in any part of your body except that AI that is staring at me.”

“I’m… safe?” Julian forced a small, tired smile onto his face. “I… got lucky, I guess?”

“Lucky, huh?” The woman hummed thoughtfully. Julian could hear the soft click as she reached for something nearby. His ears twitched at the familiar sound of metal sliding free. His rapier. The woman had unsheathed it.

In a flash, she rushed forward, pointing the blade directly at him. Julian could feel the air shift as the rapier stopped just short of his chest. He knew he could have reacted, his senses screaming at him to do so. But he held still. If he reacted, she would know that something was up with him.

“Hello…?” And so, instead, he moved his head around, “...Are you still there?”

“Hm…” The woman hovered there for a moment, clearly testing him and then slightly retracted the blade when Julian leaned forward to the tip of the rapier. When Julian didn’t flinch at all, she slowly lowered the blade.

“Apologies,” she said, though her voice remained guarded. “I was just curious why you would have something like this.”

“You mean my… cane?” Julian muttered, his tone casual, almost nonchalant. “My father gave it to me when I was young – A blind man must have something to protect himself with – he said.”

“Well, I’m just going to place this beside your bed for now,” the woman placed the cane beside him on the bed and stood back. “You’re not in any condition to use this, anyway – you’re lucky to even be alive… I heard from the doctors that several of your ribs are cracked.”

“...I suppose it could have been worse,” Julian hummed.

“Cindy Solis,” the woman finally introduced herself, her tone a bit softer now, though still laced with caution.

[Julian, she’s a Class-A Exterminator.] MEGAN chimed in as she instantly searched her up, her voice now completely on edge. [She’s… supposed to be one of the best. Nickname, Phantom.]

"Did you hear anyone fighting the Daemon? Any signs of what happened?" Cindy continued.

“...I don’t even know what happened and why I’m here, Ms. Cindy,” Julian sighed; letting out quite a performance.

“...Is that so?” Cindy studied him for a long moment, her silence heavy. Finally, she nodded. “Well, I guess I should let you rest now–congratulations on surviving a Daemon attack, not many did.”

As she turned to leave, Julian could hear the faint murmur of voices outside the room. She stopped just outside the door, and the voices grew clearer. But even with his hearing amplified, Julian could really only barely make up any words – but not because his hearing wasn’t enough, no.

But because he was once again losing consciousness due to his injuries.

***

Outside the hospital room, Cindy stood near the door, her expression neutral, almost detached, as if she were calculating something.

"Ma'am, was it him?" the man waiting beside her asked, his voice tinged with nervousness. "Was he the one who killed the Daemon?"

Cindy didn’t answer right away. She glanced at her hand briefly, wiping off an invisible speck of dust from her sleeve before speaking in a tone completely devoid of emotion.

"Probably," she said flatly, her voice almost emotionless compared to the way she spoke to Julian. "He forgot to wipe the Daemon’s blood off his cane.”

The man’s eyes widened. "Should we interrogate him then? The police said—"

"No," Cindy interrupted, her voice cutting through the air with authority. "Tell the police he’s not a suspect."

"But—" the man stammered, his protest dying in his throat as Cindy's sharp gaze locked onto him.

"Do as I say," she ordered, her tone colder now, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "This stays between us. No one else needs to know."

The man hesitated for a moment before nodding. "Understood, ma'am... but why?"

Cindy's eyes darkened as she turned away, her thoughts momentarily drifting. She’d already looked into Julian’s past. A man who had lost his parents to Daemons, born blind, cursed with a condition that made him incompatible with any cyberware. By all accounts, he should be helpless against a Daemon.

And yet... the blood on his sword.

"Because if he’s more than he appears, Craig..." Cindy’s voice dropped to a whisper, laced with determination. "I need to make sure he’s ours before anyone else figures it out."

She glanced back at the door, a faint smile tugging at the corner of her lips. "Rest well, Mr. Winters…

…I’ll be watching."