Evolto City: The Nexus of Eternity

Dr. Wagner stepped into his lab, the soft hiss of the automatic doors followed by an unusual, almost eerie silence. The lights were off.

He furrowed his brow."Vhat in ze name of"

The lights snapped on.

Hovering upside down in the middle of the lab like some cryptic bat was Vidarath arms crossed, face unreadable, slowly rotating in place.

Before Wagner could utter a single word, Vidarath's voice cut through the air."You do realize you didn't answer a single question back there, right?"

Wagner froze mid-step, then sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose."Ja, ja, I know... but I vas already out of ze bar, und... I vas too embarrassed to go back in, okay?"

He waved his hand, gesturing vaguely."It vould haf been awkward! Ze moment had passed!"

Vidarath just stared, still upside down, rotating like a disappointed ceiling fan.

Vidarath floated a little lower now, his head nearly level with Dr. Wagner's, his arms still folded, expression blank save for the clear disappointment on his face.

"You… a medical war criminal… are embarrassed… because of one singular mistake?"

His tone was dry, incredulous, like he couldn't quite believe the words even as he spoke them.

"You're the man who stitched a man's soul back together using radioactive thread, turned a dying Jaeger pilot into a walking MRI scanner, and once injected yourself with sentient stem cells just to prove a theory and this… this is where you draw the line?"

Wagner raised a gloved finger. "Ach, okay firstly, it vas a social mistake, und those are very different! Secondly, zat soul-threading experiment vorked! For a few hours…"

Vidarath just slowly rotated again, sighing through his teeth.

"You're hopeless."

"Besides," Vidarath continued, still floating lazily, "at least you strengthened his resolve to take care of Eri. That's a good thing… I think."

He dropped to the ground with a light thud, brushing imaginary dust off his shoulder.

"Anyway," he said, sniffing and crinkling his nose, "you really have to fix that problem. I keep smelling motor oil. It's getting weird."

With that, he turned and walked out of the lab, his long coat trailing just slightly behind him.

As soon as the door slid shut with a mechanical hiss, Dr. Wagner's entire demeanor shifted. Gone was the awkwardness of a man embarrassed at the bar. His expression tightened, professional, focused. He glanced around.

"Nein… again?"

He moved quickly toward the far end of the lab, where the tall bookcase stood like a silent sentinel. As he approached, he noticed it seeping slowly from beneath the bookshelf. A thin, dark liquid. Viscous. Reflective. Almost ink-like in how it clung to the smooth floor.

He bent down without hesitation, pulling a white cloth napkin from his coat pocket. His eyes narrowed behind his lenses. No words just a long, silent exhale as he gently wiped the substance off the floor.

The napkin soaked it quickly, staining the white fabric black.

He paused, staring at the smudge on the cloth. He didn't need to analyze it. He knew what it was. And more importantly… what it meant.

"…Not again," he whispered, voice grim.

His eyes lifted slowly to the bookcase. Then to the shadows behind it. Something was wrong.

As Vidarath stepped out of the building, the warm hum of Evolto City's artificial dusk greeted him until a sharp, rhythmic beep-beep-beep erupted from inside his coat.

He froze mid-step.

"…No. No, no, no," he muttered under his breath, eyes widening in a mix of panic and irritation. "You weren't supposed to wake up yet."

He fumbled through the many hidden pockets of his coat, finally pulling out a device that looked like it had been forged in the grimdark forge worlds of Warhammer 40k metal plating, gothic engravings, unnecessary purity seals dangling from its side, and a glowing green skull icon pulsing on the center.

Vidarath groaned.

"Why make it look like a tablet if it just turns into a hologram? Just make it a cube. Like a normal, cursed, ominous artifact."

Looking around to make sure no one saw, he ducked into a nearby alleyway. The shadows swallowed him instantly. With a reluctant sigh, he tapped the side of the device. The metal cracked open with a mechanical click and whir, releasing a flickering hologram that floated a few feet in front of him.

It beeped.

Then again.

And then… a sound like muttering, distant and muffled like someone rousing from deep sleep. Glitches distorted the audio, fragmenting the voice as it struggled to fully boot.

Then, as if a wave had cleared through static

A woman's voice, gentle yet layered with something wrong, rang out clearly: "Honey… when will you return? I miss you."

Vidarath's face went blank.

"...Ah. That's not ominous at all why author why."