Novels by ATTAR

"Is there?" Leo asked, his voice losing its usual sarcastic edge. "Because from where I’m sitting, you’re treating our lives like a spreadsheet, Jovan. You’re trying to balance the ledger on human interactions, but people aren't numbers. You can’t account for the 'variable' of someone’s hurt feelings by simply calculating the cost of a bouquet or a conciliatory coffee."Jovan turned away from the screen, his chair creaking sharply in the silence of the library. The afternoon light slanted through the high windows, illuminating dust motes that danced in the stagnant air. "It’s not about the ledger, Leo. It’s about predictability. If I know how people react, I can mitigate the fallout. That’s what I’m doing—minimizing damage."Leo leaned back, his arms crossed over his chest, his expression hardening. "Damage? You’re talking about Camille like she’s a market

"She’s dramatic," Leo muttered from across the table, though he didn't look up from the stack of algebra homework he was grading for a sophomore who had paid them five bucks for the service. "But she’s not wrong, you know. You’ve been vibrating at a frequency nobody else can hear for months."Jovan didn’t answer. He stared at the spot where Camille had been standing. The air still held a faint trace of her perfume—something like vanilla and old library books—a lingering ghost of the argument that felt far more substantial than the lines of code and trend data on his screen."I’m not vibrating, Leo," Jovan said, his voice flat, forced into a monotone that he hoped sounded like indifference. "I’m focused. There’s a difference between obsession and optimization."Leo finally looked up, his brow furrowed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. He dro

"It’s a lonely life, Jovan. You want to outrun the world, but you’re just running away from the people who actually live in it."Camille didn’t wait for a rebuttal. She pulled the strap of her bag over her shoulder, the buckle clicking with a finality that sounded more like a gavel strike than a fashion accessory. She walked toward the heavy oak doors of the school library, her footsteps rhythmic and steady, echoing against the linoleum until they were swallowed by the muffled roar of the hallway chatter outside.Jovan watched her go, his hands hovering over his keyboard. The cursor continued to blink—a steady, rhythmic pulse on the screen that mocked the sudden, frantic thrumming of his own heart."She’s dramatic," Leo muttered from across the table, though he didn't look up from the stack of algebra homework he was grading for a sophomore who had paid them five bucks for the

"I’m not absent," Jovan repeated, but the words felt like lead in his mouth. He looked up, his eyes meeting Camille’s rigid posture, but she was already turning toward the exit. "Camille, wait. If I stop moving—if I stop anticipating—we lose everything I’ve built. You know I’m right about the volatility. You’ve seen the spreadsheets."Camille stopped. She didn't turn around, but her shoulders slumped just enough to betray the exhaustion she’d been harboring. The library air felt recycled, stale, and thick with the scent of old paper and the sharp, ozone-tang of cooling laptop fans. "You’re always right, Jovan. That’s the most exhausting part about you.""That wasn't an insult," he countered, his voice rising a fraction of a decibel. He glanced nervously at the librarian, Mrs. Gable, who was peering over her spectacles from behind the circulation desk. "It’s a str

Camille stood up, the chair scraping harshly against the library’s linoleum floor, a sound that seemed to slice through the oppressive silence like a serrated blade. She didn't look back at him. She just gathered her books, her movements sharp and clipped, devoid of their usual fluid grace."The problem isn't your planning, Jovan," she said, her back to him as she shoved a thick chemistry textbook into her backpack. "It's your absence. You’re physically sitting here, but you’re constantly somewhere else. You’re living in a version of 2025 or 2030, and you’re treating everything about today—this town, your friends, me—like it’s just a loading screen you’re waiting to get past."Jovan felt a sudden, frantic urge to stand up, to reach out and grab her sleeve, to explain that he was doing it for them, but his body wouldn't obey. He remained frozen, his gaze locked on the glowing

"Why do you keep acting like everything is a survival scenario?" Camille whispered. The library was deathly quiet, the hum of the fluorescent lights overhead buzzing like a trapped insect against the stillness. "We aren’t in a war, Jovan. We’re in high school. And for the first time in my life, I don’t think I recognize the person sitting across from me."Jovan felt a sharp, metallic taste rise in his throat. He looked at his hands—hands that had spent months clicking through market trends, refreshing price trackers, and calculating the exact profit margins of prom corsage markups. They looked like strangers’ hands. He tried to laugh, a dry, hollow sound that died before it could fully leave his chest. "I’m just planning ahead, Camille. Is it a crime to want a better future? Is it so wrong to use the tools we have to make sure we aren’t stuck in this town ten years from now, working jobs that don’t ev

The smoke from the ruined communications hub was still curling into the morning air when Daniel jammed the obsidian staff into the center of the shimmering distortion. The world didn't just ripple; it screamed."You think a silver mask and some fancy words are gonna keep me out?" Daniel hissed, his voice vibrating with a dozen layered echoes. "Not a chance. Shadow, you ready? This is probably gonna suck."The silhouette at his feet didn’t just move; it coiled around his legs like a living liquid. The Warden is reckless, the thought vibrated in his skull. The High Tethers are not made for bone."Yeah, well, my bones have been through a lot lately," Daniel grunted. He leaned his weight into the staff, the black lens in his palm burning white-hot. "Yield the door! I’m coming in!"The distortion buckled. With a sound like a mountain of glass shattering, the air tore open. Daniel

The sun was a lie. It hung over the city like a pale, bruised eye, offering light but no warmth to the smoking crater that used to be the communications hub. Daniel stood at the jagged edge of the ruins, clutching the obsidian staff so hard his knuckles were as white as the ash falling from the sky. The real rain—the rain that smelled like his grandfather’s porch—had stopped, leaving behind a damp, suffocating heat that tasted of burnt silicon and copper."Maya? Come on, Maya. This isn't funny anymore," Daniel called out, his voice sounding small and fragile against the vast, morning silence. "You said you’d be everywhere. Well, I’m looking at 'everywhere,' and it’s just a pile of broken concrete and melted wires. Give me a sign. Just a little flicker. A spark. Anything."He waited. The only response was the distant, rhythmic wail of a siren from a district that hadn't been erased.&nb

The blinding white light didn’t fade into peace; it curdled into a high-pitched scream of dying electronics.Daniel slammed into the floor, the impact rattling his teeth. The air in the communications hub was thick with the smell of scorched plastic and the metallic tang of ionized oxygen. Smoke curled from the fiber-optic ribcage of the central console, but the blood-red holograms were still flickering."Maya! Maya, talk to me! You still in one piece?" Daniel’s voice was a jagged rasp, his ears ringing so loudly it felt like his skull was being crushed in a vice."Everything... everything tastes like pennies, Dan," Maya’s voice drifted from the wreckage of the mahogany desk. She was slumped against a server rack, her golden-white veins pulsing in a frantic, irregular rhythm. "My teeth are vibrating. Is that normal? Tell me that’s normal.""Nothing’s normal

The General didn’t even flinch as Daniel’s shadow-claws scraped the fiber-optic floor. He stood there with his hand resting on the grip of his holstered sidearm, looking more like a tired father than the man currently overseeing the end of the world. Beside him, Vance’s spectral form pulsed with a rhythmic, sickening white light, his geometric limbs clicking in the air like a thousand needles."Put the gun away, General," Daniel growled, the black lens in his palm vibrating with a low-frequency hum. "You’re already outnumbered. And my shadow isn't in a very forgiving mood.""Outnumbered? Son, you’re in the center of a military-grade communications hub surrounded by an entire battalion of the Department of Anomalous Containment," the General said, his voice flat and devoid of any real heat. "You’re not in a position to give orders. You’re in a position to listen.""I

The ladder rumbled under Daniel’s grip as he crested the lip of the manhole, his blackened palm leaving a faint, oily smudge on the cold iron. He hauled himself up into the shadows of a narrow alleyway, his breath hitching in the frigid air. Behind him, Maya scrambled out, her staff clattering softly against the pavement before she steadied it, its golden-violet light dimmed to a mere flicker."Okay," Maya whispered, her eyes darting toward the street where the violet sky continued to churn. "We’re out. Please tell me we’re not about to get shot the second we step onto the sidewalk."Daniel peered around a stack of wooden pallets, his solid black eyes scanning the perimeter of the massive, Brutalist-style building that served as the city’s communications hub. "The perimeter’s crawling with Miller’s guys. I see at least three sniper nests on the roof, and those drones are everywhere."&

The blue EMP rounds didn’t explode with fire; they hissed, releasing arcs of jagged electricity that snapped against the glitched taxi Daniel and Maya were using for cover. The metal groaned, turning translucent for a split second before snapping back into a solid, rusted husk."Duck! Just stay down, Maya! I’m serious, those blue sparks will fry your nerves if they clip you!" Daniel yelled over the rhythmic thwip-thwip of the specialized rifles."I’m trying! But it’s hard to move when my blood feels like carbonated soda!" Maya huddled against the tire, her glowing arm tucked against her chest. "Daniel, your shadow is literally tearing up the sidewalk. You need to pull it back before you bring the whole building down on us!""I’m not doing it on purpose! It’s reacting to them!" Daniel gritted his teeth, his eyes solid black, reflecting the chaos of the street. "Hey, Shadow