Unknown Rider

he clang of a rusty gate echoed softly as Gabriel wheeled Phantom into Mr. Reyes's garage. The afternoon sun had dipped lower, casting amber streaks through the dusty windows. Phantom's frame rattled faintly, almost as if the bike itself sensed something was about to change.

Mr. Reyes stood silently by the workbench, eyes already fixed on Phantom. "Right on time," he said, his voice calm yet edged with something unreadable. "You brought her."

Gabriel nodded, parking Phantom near the center of the room. "She's been with me forever," he said quietly. "Feels weird handing her over like this."

"You're not handing her over. You're waking her up," Reyes replied.

Gabriel blinked. "Huh?"

Mr. Reyes only grinned and motioned him closer. He rolled up his sleeves and began pulling strange, antique-looking tools from an old metal cabinet. They looked nothing like any tools Gabriel had seen — gears within gears, glowing tips, and even a wrench with what looked like runes etched along the handle.

Gabriel hesitated. "Uh, we're just fixing a flat chain, right?"

Reyes smirked. "You think that's all that's broken?"

Outside, Wyn crept quietly beside the mango tree, scanning the yard. "Where the heck did he go…" he whispered to himself. He'd followed Gabriel all the way from school, keeping his distance. But as soon as Gabriel stepped near the garage, he seemed to vanish — no footsteps, no sound. Just gone.

Wyn frowned. He studied the garage from across the road. It looked… normal. Too normal.

Back inside, Reyes and Gabriel had removed Phantom's seat post. What Gabriel thought was just rust and wear turned out to be hiding something else: inside the frame was a hidden compartment. And in it — a small rectangular device with the same two interlocking gear logo embossed on it.

"W-What is that?" Gabriel asked.

Reyes didn't answer. He simply pulled it out carefully and clicked it into a strange scanner on his desk. The device lit up.

IDENTITY CONFIRMED.

PHANTOM SYSTEM: LINKED.

USER ACTIVE: GABRIEL LOPEZ.

Gabriel stepped back. "Wait—what do you mean 'user active'?"

Reyes smiled, though his eyes looked distant. "You've been activated. Just like the card said."

Gabriel's head spun. "What card? What is all this?"

"You'll understand soon enough," Reyes said. "But for now… let's fix Phantom."

The two worked in silence for a while, Reyes guiding him with unfamiliar instructions — lubricating areas Gabriel didn't know existed, tightening bolts that weren't visible before. It felt less like repairing… and more like unlocking.

Outside, Wyn felt the wind shift.

A strange sound — like a faint mechanical hum, like the whirl of gears and the tick of a watch — reached his ears.

He stared harder at the garage. Something inside was moving.

Something wasn't right.