## Echo Bloom The chipped Formica countertop felt cold beneath Leo Maxwell’s elbows. He hadn’t bothered to turn on the kitchen light, preferring the pre-dawn grey filtering through the blinds. Outside, Denver breathed quiet, a city holding its breath. He…
## The Algorithm’s Shadow Rain hammered against the corrugated iron roof of “Pixel Perfect Media,” a relentless percussion mirroring Elias’s growing panic. He scrubbed a hand through his already disheveled hair, the faint scent of burnt coffee clinging to it.…
## The Sunken Chorus The chipped ceramic warmed Maya’s palm. Not with heat, exactly. More like a thrumming silence. She traced the spiral grooves etched into its surface – not by hand, she suspected, but *grown*. It felt…familiar. Like a…
The rusted gate groaned open, spitting flakes of silver paint. Six of us. Six mistakes Silverthorn Prep hadn’t bothered filtering out. Rain slicked the manicured lawns, reflecting the gothic spires like broken glass. We weren’t supposed to *be* here. Not…