A minute of deafening silence slapped him on the face, eyes wide open, his soul out of his body. His body became stiff like the hour hand on the wall clock. He can't believe what he just heard from Philip."Fire!! Fire!! You need to come out now!!What are you waiting for?! Desmond!" Philip's voice tore through the room. Hands trembling. "No, no, no, no, no" he kept whispering with fear in his voice.He felt Philip's hand grab him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him out of the room immediately. At the corridor, right in the middle of the chaos and cries for help from the other students, he pushes Desmond a little with anger and fear in his eyes."What is wrong with you?!" he asked, shaking him back to reality. "The Common Room is on fire, we need to leave the building now or do you want to die?!"They aimed for the emergency exit at the back of the hostel very close to their room, leaving behind everything and prioritized their safety first. The other students in the hostel were

The outcome he just saw seized his breathe. His mind caged in fear, the words Altered by Individual (User) kept lingering in his head even after shutting down the laptop."Des, what's going on?" Philip asked, still shaken from the fact he just escaped death."I'm.....being monitored", staring into thin air with his eyes wide open. "What have I gotten myself into? I'm being monitored!" His voice already shaky, bursting into tears. "Chill out man, I'm sure it's all BS. There's no way that's possible" Philip, filled with doubt, stands up from his bed. "You wanna know what I think? All these, the accident outside, someone monitoring you? They're all fake man, none of this is real. Stop acting like you're in a horror movie, haha"While at it, Desmond heard footsteps approaching, then it suddenly stopped."Did you hear that?" Desmond cuts him shut."Hear what? Just find something meaningful to do man, don't waste your time on nothing" Philip shrugged.The footsteps continued, this time ea

Desmond's brain was working overtime and as a result, he blanks out for a few seconds, just five minutes to the Algorithm's prediction, in that moment, his vision fractured — flashes of a leaking pipe, the hiss of invisible gas, a spark near a burner. No sound, only flashes, like memories of a future - and that gave him a solution, a way of preventing the explosion from happening. Philip wasn't even paying attention any longer, just silently saying his last prayers waiting for it to end.He snapped back to reality, dashing out of the laboratory without taking permission from the lecturer. Philip who was frozen in his seat, and couldn't move his legs to follow Desmond just stared as he ran out. Desmond ran straight to the gas room where the gases and chemicals are kept. On getting there, he found a gas pipe that was already leaking, located the valve and closed it, stopping the gas from leaking the more. He ran back to the lab, at the exact moment the lecturer was about to turn on the

The next morning felt unusually heavy, like the air itself had grown thicker overnight. Desmond dragged himself out of bed, his head still full of the paper’s chilling words: Physical confrontation imminent. Philip was quieter than usual, his sarcasm and playful jabs were absent as they prepared for their morning class. They avoided talking about last night and the message on the paper but they both knew whatever it was, was waiting for them. The weight of the thoughts lingered in their minds like dark heavy clouds hovering over their heads. It was just past noon when the first sign came. Desmond noticed a figure across the faculty's courtyard, standing still under the shade of the almond tree. At first glance, he thought it was just another student, but then on a proper look, he noticed the figure wasn't moving - not pressing a phone, not talking to anyone. Just still....staring in their direction."Phil, Phil! He whispered, tilting his head to look out the window. "Don't move your

The message on the paper dwells in his mind all night. Even with his eyes shut, he could still see the beautifully written words, Friend of Aeris. You are the key. You've been identified.He turned to his side on the bed, staring at Desmond who was snoring lightly at the other corner of the room. The key to what?By morning, he had already given up on trying to read - nothing was getting through his busy brain. He brought out his pen and began drawing out clues, crude patterns - circles for spots the man has showed himself, arrows for where he vanished.The realization unsettled him: He wasn't random, he was deliberate. He chose those spots.I wonder who he is by the way, or what his name is. It's crazy how he has a hold on us this much. He acts like… like he’s passing judgment with the Algorithm, and we’re pieces on his board..... hmm, Arbiter... that's what I'll call him.The evening cloud was turning really dark more earlier than normal but you could pretty much still see everyth