The tablet's screen spasmed static turning to symbols, then to a flickering image of that being from Nyxia's dreams.
A silhouette twisted and shrouded in static, not fully formed, but watching. It stared directly at them for three seconds too long before vanishing into black.
The screen went dead.
Dr. Wagner's face went pale. He folded his arms, the seriousness of the moment pressing into the room like gravity."Zat presence… it vas not just a projection. Zat vas a bleedthrough."
Meanwhile, Vidarath held the tablet at arm's length, squinting at it in frustration."Man, I just bought this."
He turned and locked eyes with the fourth wall yes, the fourth wall and said dryly, "And when I say just, I mean two thousand years ago. Yeah. Living in Evolto tends to bump your expiration date by, oh, say, a million years."
Nyxia groaned. "Hey! Stop talking to the readers."
Dr. Wagner blinked. "Vhat?"
"Nothing," Nyxia and Vidarath said in unison.
Vidarath then casually sat on the floor, flipped the tablet over, and opened the casing by drawing a glowing rune with his fingertip. Instead of wires, inside was a shifting engine of runes, miniature constellations, and pulsing dream-code held together by his own chaotic logic.
"Looks like the scan awakened a semi-sentient narrative echo," he muttered, poking a floating equation. "It tried to force its way through the device's conceptual filters. So…"
He snapped his fingers. Reality around the tablet rippled.
"I reset the temporal cache to two scans prior, looped the memory core through a stabilizing quantum metaphor, and gave the interface a sugar cube and a nap."
Nyxia blinked. "...That's not science."
"It is if you squint hard enough," Vidarath said, standing and tossing the repaired tablet into the air, where it hovered beside him like nothing had happened.
Dr. Wagner exhaled sharply. "Ve're not done here. Vhatever zat vas... it recognized Nyxia. Und it didn't just come from his dreams. It tried to cross over."
The room went still.
Nyxia looked down at his hands. "So... what happens if it does?"
Vidarath didn't answer right away.
Then he grinned again.
"Well, let's just hope it's friendly!"
The air was thick with tension. The silence following Dr. Wagner's warning seemed to stretch forever.
Then, as if flipping a mental switch, Vidarath clapped his hands. "Welp! Existential terror aside… anime time."
Nyxia blinked. "Wait what?"
Vidarath had already conjured a full couch setup from nowhere, complete with snacks, drinks, and an aggressively oversized holo-screen. "We are watching Shangri-La Frontier, remember? Episode 70 just dropped, and I've been dodging spoilers all day."
"You nearly summoned a transdimensional entity," Dr. Wagner muttered, pinching the bridge of his nose.
Vidarath tossed him a soda labeled Reality Dew – Quantum Burst Edition. "Yeah, but like... it didn't actually come through, so that's a future Vidarath problem."
He collapsed onto the couch with exaggerated comfort, gesturing for the others to join.
Nyxia hesitated, then sighed. "Fine. But I'm picking the next show."
Wagner stared at them in disbelief… then sat down with a resigned grunt. "You both are valking paradoxes."
Vidarath grinned at him, already queuing up the episode. "That's what makes us fun."
As the screen lit up with the intro of Shangri-La Frontier, its vibrant world unfolding with color and music, the shadows from earlier lingered quiet, waiting, unseen.
But for now, they were just three weirdos watching anime.
And in Evolto City, that was just another Tuesday.
The lights dimmed slightly as Shangri-La Frontier played on the massive holo-screen. Epic battles. Ridiculous plot twists. Over-the-top character designs that even Nyxia grudgingly respected.
Vidarath sat in utter silence eyes wide, posture perfectly still.
He wasn't reacting to the anime.
He was experiencing it.
Every frame, every story beat, hit him like a memory. As if his mind was syncing with the narrative itself. He leaned forward, completely entranced. Not even blinking.
Nyxia glanced over. "Hey, you good?"
Vidarath didn't answer. His pupils had slightly dilated.
Dr. Wagner observed him carefully. "He's not vosching. He's resonating."
Three full hours passed.
The final episode's end credits rolled as soft orchestral music faded into silence.
Vidarath slowly turned his head toward the ceiling and threw both arms up like a betrayed fanboy.
"Oh COME ON!" he yelled. "That's how they end the second season?! With a cliffhanger and a fake death?! I swear to the Divide, if I don't get the next season tomorrow"
He snapped his fingers, and a glowing blue chrono stone appeared in his hand, pulsing with multiversal energy.
"I say we just skip ahead a few release cycles," he muttered.
Dr. Wagner gave him a look that somehow managed to be both exhausted and threatening. "No. Absolutely not. It's almost morning, und some of us" he shot a glance at Nyxia, "need sleep to stabilize zheir neural feedback."
Vidarath pouted. "I transcended sleep five centuries ago."
"That's probably why you're like this."
Vidarath opened his mouth, then shut it.
"Fine."
He floated off the couch and looked at Nyxia. "Hey, I'm crashing in one of your spare rooms."
Nyxia shrugged. "Sure."
Vidarath zipped out of the room, levitating upside-down as he hummed the anime's theme song.
Wagner stretched, stood up, and muttered, "Zis is vhat happens vhen you let metaphysical anomalies binge anime."
Nyxia just shook his head and turned off the screen. The flickering afterglow of the final credits lingered in the room like ghost-light.
Outside the window, the Cerian Sun was beginning to rise casting golden light across the strange skyline of Evolto City.
Dr. Wagner and Nyxia shuffled into the kitchen, each carrying mugs of steaming coffee. Both had serious dark circles under their eyes the kind that said "too much existential dread, not enough sleep."
Nyxia yawned. "I swear, I look like I got hit by a multiversal bus. Twice."
Dr. Wagner nodded solemnly, stirring his coffee. "Ja, and the coffee... is like drinking warm despair. But it keeps the mind sharp enough to not explode."
Nyxia snorted. "That sounds oddly poetic for you."
Dr. Wagner shrugged. "Poetry is the slow poison of genius, mein Freund."
They sipped silently for a moment.
Nyxia broke the quiet, "You ever wonder if caffeine is just a conspiracy by the multiverse to keep us working?"
Dr. Wagner chuckled. "If so, it is a very effective conspiracy. Like the sector masters... but with better taste."
Suddenly, the door slammed open with a crash.
Vidarath burst in, practically bouncing, holding a bulky, glowing core that hummed with power.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Look what I have!" he shouted.
Nyxia turned, eyebrows raised. "Is that"
Vidarath cut him off with a wide grin. "Yes! Meet Equinox. Perfectly fixed, perfectly stabilized. And get this..." He pointed to a small switch on the AI core. "I like the Berserk form so much that it has a toggle switch!"
The core's surface shimmered and a synthesized voice spoke smoothly: "Hello. Greetings."
Nyxia blinked. "Why is it here?"
Vidarath plopped the core down on the table. "Well, after binge-watching Shangri-La Frontier, I decided to try the game itself. So I brought this bad girl to help change the code. We're going to isekai into the game intentionally, as NPCs, baby!"
Dr. Wagner narrowed his eyes. "Why don't we already have that?"
Vidarath shrugged. "The system is so complex, I can't customize my character the way I want. But Shangri-La Frontier? Perfect for that."
Dr. Wagner crossed his arms. "No, this is highly unethical! And Zalthorion won't agree—"
Before he could finish, Vidarath casually pulled out a holo-video from the core's interface. On the screen, Zalthorion's voice clearly said, "Yes, proceed."
Nyxia and Wagner exchanged stunned looks.
Vidarath smirked. "Told you. Boss says yes."
Dr. Wagner groaned, "Of course he would."