A grey gradient screen floated right in front of Liam's eyes. It was hypnotising.
Not because it was beautiful, but because it felt impossible to ignore. His vision kept trying to slide away from it, yet it still anchored itself directly in his perception.
Liam blinked. Once, twice. He even rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand, thinking maybe he was just tired. Maybe everything that had happened today had finally caught up to him.
The screen did not go away. Instead, faint text began to form across it, each line appearing as if it was being typed in real time by some unseen force.
[SCANNING ORIGIN POINT…]
[RESULT: NULL.]
[RESULT: OUTSIDE STORY BOUNDARY.]
[BREAKING NARRATIVE CONSISTENCY…]
[ATTEMPTING REINTEGRATION…5%...23%...34%]
[FAILED.]
Liam froze.
For a second, he didn't even move. Then his eyebrows slowly knitted together.
"…What?" he whispered, barely audible.
His head tilted slightly as he stared at the floating words, like if he looked at them long enough they would start making sense on their own. They didn't.
"Hey kiddo, you good?" the officer who had been speaking with Ferra earlier checked on him.
Liam flinched slightly at the sudden voice disruption, his head snapped sideways, and the screen was still there.
Liam hesitated for a fraction of a second. His eyes flicked away instinctively, not meeting the officer's gaze properly. The floating screen was still there in his vision. That alone, made it harder to focus on the conversation in front of him.
"No, I wasn't," he said at last, trying to sound firm, though it came out more defensive than he intended. He shifted slightly on the bench, suddenly aware of how small he looked sitting there. "Stop being weird, mister."
For a moment, his expression didn't change, but something in his eyes softened just a little. He let out a slow breath.
"Alright," he said more calmly. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. I'm just checking on you."
He straightened slightly, glancing back toward the main desk. "We're still processing your information. Someone should be able to take you somewhere temporary soon."
"Okay, thank you, mister," Liam nodded absentmindedly, still focused on the floating screen in his vision.
[SIDE MC DESIGNATION CONFIRMED.]
[PROTOCOL: FOURTH WALL SYSTEM — ACTIVATED.]
Liam gasped sharply, the sound came out before he could stop it. A few heads in the station turned briefly in his direction, making his shoulders tensed instantly, and he forced himself to cover the reaction with a small cough, turning his face slightly to the side as if he had just swallowed wrong.
"M-my system…" he muttered under his breath.
His heart was beating faster now. A system. He had suspected it when the first strange messages appeared, but seeing the words clearly, right there in front of him, made everything feel real in a way he had not been prepared for.
He glanced down at his hands, then back at the floating screen in his vision. If this was truly his System, then he needed somewhere quiet, somewhere he could think without someone asking questions every few seconds. He silently glared at the man behind the desk, then looked away again. He needed a place where he could figure out what was happening before he said or did something foolish.
Liam straightened a little and looked towards the desk again, trying to sound as normal as possible.
"…Mister?" he asked, his voice small but polite. "Could I use the toilet?"
The officer looked up almost immediately, then nodded without much hesitation. "Yeah, of course. It's down the hall on the left."
Liam gave a quick nod of thanks and slid off the bench, keeping his face carefully neutral even though his thoughts were racing. He walked towards the hallway at a stiff pace, trying not to look too eager, though every step felt quicker than the last.
The toilet was plain and boring, just like the rest of the station. He slipped inside, shut the door behind him, and for the first time since the strange screen had appeared, he was alone.
Liam stood still for a moment, staring at his reflection in the mirror. His pale face looked a little flushed, his blue eyes were wide with barely contained excitement and nervousness, and his long black hair, once carefully styled, was now ruffled and slightly messy. He looked like a wreck, but for now, he did not care.
He hurriedly walked into an empty stall, making sure to lock the door behind him. Only when the latch clicked into place did he finally exhale.
Liam slowly lowered himself onto the closed toilet seat. His legs swung slightly above the ground, too short to touch properly.
"…Okay," he whispered to himself. "Think."
His eyes flicked upward again, the grey gradient screen was still there, hovering patiently in front of him even in this cramped space, unaffected by walls or distance or anything physical.
Liam hesitated, then lifted a hand slightly.
"System," he said carefully, as if testing the word in his mouth. "Can you hear me?"
There was a brief pause, then the screen flickered once.
[COMMAND RECOGNISED.]
[VOICE INPUT: ACTIVE.]
Liam's breath caught in his throat, it worked. it actually worked
For a moment, he just stared at the floating text, his eyes wide and unblinking. The silence of the stall suddenly felt heavier than before, as though the tiny room had shrunk around him to make space for the impossible thing in front of his face.
He swallowed, then looked down at his hands again, half-expecting them to be shaking. They were, just a little. "…You really can hear me," he whispered.
The screen shifted again, as if acknowledging the statement without actually answering it.
[USER UNDERSTANDING LEVEL: CHILD.]
[PRIORITISING SIMPLE RESPONSE FORMAT.]
Liam's brows drew together, "Rude".
That annoyed him slightly, though the feeling was quickly overwhelmed by curiosity. He pressed his lips together and straightened his back a little on the closed toilet seat, trying to look as serious as possible despite the fact that he was still very much a ten-year-old sitting in a public toilet stall.
He took a small breath through his nose, trying to imitate the calm and composed expression his etiquette instructors always forced him to practice. It lasted about three seconds before the excitement took over.
"So I really awakened a System?" he asked quickly, leaning forward slightly. "A real one? Does this mean I have a talent now? Wait- no, I already should have had one. Then what even are you? Are you connected to the Awakening Ceremony? Did the portal send me here? Can you send me back home?"
The questions spilled out one after another so fast that even Liam himself barely kept track of them, the screen remained silent for a brief moment, then new text appeared.
[WARNING.]
[HOST IS EXPERIENCING INFORMATION OVERFLOW.]
[RECOMMENDATION: CALM DOWN.]
Liam frowned immediatly, "I am calm."
[STATEMENT ANALYSED.]
[RESULT: FALSE.]
"…Excuse me?"
For the first time since appearing, the interface shifted in a way that almost felt smug.
Liam stared at it in disbelief before puffing up his slightly chubby cheeks in irritation. "You're definitely rude," he muttered.
The screen ignored the complaint completely.
[HOST: LIAM VELRODI.]
[AGE: 10.]
[STATUS: DISPLACED.]
[PRIMARY DESIGNATION: SIDE MC.]
[FOURTH WALL SYSTEM COMPATIBILITY: 98%.]
[CURRENT MENTAL STATE: CONFUSED, STRESSED, EXCITED.]
Liam stared at the last line for a long moment, taking everything in, then his face slowly heated up. "…Stop reading my mind."
[DENIED.]
His expression twisted immediately. "What do you mean denied?!"
A tiny spark of childish indignation finally broke through his earlier fear, and for the first time since arriving in this world, Liam actually looked his age completely. Frustrated, overwhelmed, curious, and trying very hard to act more mature than he really was.
The screen flickered once more.
[WOULD HOST LIKE A BASIC SYSTEM TUTORIAL?]
Liam's irritation vanished almost instantly, his eyes lighting up.
"Yes, yes, yes," Liam said in quick succession, the words tumbling out of him before he could stop them.
The screen flickered once, as if it had expected that answer all along.
[BEGINNER TUTORIAL INITIATED.]
Liam straightened immediately, sitting up so quickly his legs swung forward under him. His earlier frustration was gone now, replaced by something much brighter and far more dangerous in a ten-year-old: pure curiosity.
The grey screen shifted, and a new panel opened beneath the first one.
[STEP ONE: UNDERSTANDING THE FOURTH WALL SYSTEM]
[THE FOURTH WALL SYSTEM ALLOWS THE HOST TO PERCEIVE INFORMATION OUTSIDE STANDARD WORLD LIMITS.]
Liam blinked in confusion, he didn't understand all of that, but he understood enough to know it was important. Outside standard world limits sounded strange, but also impressive, and he liked that very much.
His small hands curled together in front of him as he leaned closer, his expression turning serious in the very exaggerated way children often looked serious when they were trying their best to be taken seriously.
"So…" he began slowly, choosing his words with care this time, "you can tell me things I am not supposed to know?"
[CORRECT.]
The screen continued before he could ask another question.
[STEP TWO: BASIC FUNCTIONS]
[1. STATUS VIEW]
[2. INFORMATION SCAN]
[3. NARRATIVE READING]
[4. EVENT INTERPRETATION]
[5. SYSTEM INSTRUCTION ACCESS]
Liam stared at the list, his eyes moving up and down it several times. Status view he understood. Information scan too, sort of. The others sounded complicated, but he was beginning to get the feeling that this system was far more useful than any ordinary awakening talent.
His excitement bubbled back up again, he lifted his head slightly, trying to stop himself from grinning too openly, though his cheeks were already threatening to do it for him.
"What is status view?" he asked, nearly bouncing on the seat now despite his effort to stay still.
The screen responded immediately.
[STATUS VIEW ALLOWS HOST TO INSPECT OWNERSHIP DATA, CURRENT STATE, AND ABILITY RECORDS.]
Liam nodded quickly, though most of that went over his head.
"Okay," he said. "Can I see mine?"
Then the screen flashed softly.
[OPENING STATUS WINDOW.]
A fresh interface expanded in front of him, larger than before and much clearer.
Liam leaned forward at once, his eyes widening as new lines of text filled the grey screen. It looked different now, less like a vague message floating in his vision and more like an actual page made for him alone. His heart thudded with a strange mix of excitement and nervousness as he read the first line.
[STATUS WINDOW]
[HOST: LIAM VELRODI]
[AGE: 10]
[TALENT: ERROR]
[STATUS: DISPLACED]
[CURRENT CONDITION: UNSTABLE BUT FUNCTIONAL]
[PRIMARY DESIGNATION: SIDE MC]
[SYSTEM INTEGRATION: 98%]
Liam stared at the last line for a long moment.
[TALENT: ERROR]
His eyebrows slowly pulled together. "…Error?" he whispered.
That did not sound good at all.
He leaned closer to the screen, as though looking at it from a different angle might make the word change into something more sensible. It did not, The line stayed exactly where it was, taunting him.
His chest tightened a little.
Talent was supposed to be the most important part of Awakening. Everyone said so. Everyone waited for it. His whole life had been built around the expectation that he would have something decent, something worthy of the Velrodi name.
And now the system was telling him it was… an error.
Liam swallowed.
His fingers curled against the edge of the seat, and for a moment his excitement dimmed into something much more uncertain. Not fear exactly, more like confusion so sharp it almost hurt.
The screen shifted again.
[CAUSE: DATA CONFLICT]
[SUBJECT PARAMETERS DO NOT MATCH STANDARD ORTHEON RECORDS]
Liam stared at the screen for a long moment, his small hands curling slowly against his knees. His throat felt tight. That line did not sound like a simple mistake. It sounded like something had gone wrong in a way even the system itself did not fully understand.
"There must be some kind of mistake," he said quietly, then quickly looked down at the screen again as if that would make his words sound more convincing. "Ortheon is my world. Surely something can be done."
[VOICE INPUT NOT REQUIRED.]
Liam blinked in confusion. "What does this have to do with-"
The words changed again.
[THOUGHT INPUT ACCEPTED.]
"…Thought input?" he whispered, more to himself.
[CORRECT. USER MAY COMMUNICATE INTERNALLY.]
Liam's mouth parted slightly, that was… convenient, and a little unsettling.
He looked around the cramped stall instinctively, even though nobody could see him in here, then lowered his gaze again. So he did not need to speak aloud after all. That meant the system had probably heard everything he had said already. The thought made him feel a little ridiculous, but also relieved. At least he would not have to keep whispering to a wall like a mad person.
So you can hear me like this?
The screen answered at once.
[YES.]
He swallowed and gathered his courage.
Then fix it. My talent, I mean. If there is a conflict, can't you just change it?
The screen stayed still for a moment longer than before, then new text appeared, going slower this time, almost as if it wanted him to understand every word properly.
[FORCEFUL REALIGNMENT POSSIBLE.]
[RECALIBRATION OF TALENT PARAMETERS AVAILABLE.]
[WARNING: PROCESS WILL CAUSE PAIN.]
His small hands tightened against his knees. He did not like that sentence at all. Not even a little. It made his stomach twist in a way that made him nauseous, still, the word available kept echoing in his mind.
Available meant it could be fixed. So he drew in a careful breath and straightened his back as much as the cramped stall allowed.
[FINAL CONFIRMATION REQUIRED.]
Liam hesitated only briefly after that. He was scared, yes, but he was more scared of staying like this, with his talent marked as an error and his future reduced to a mere question mark. If this was what it took to make things right, then he would do it. He would endure it. He had already been through the portal, through the city, through confusion and embarrassment and a strange new world. One more painful thing would not stop him.
He swallowed hard.
"Yes."
For a second, nothing happened, then the grey screen shuddered.
The calm, flat surface rippled like water struck by a stone, and a sharp line of light split across the middle of it. Liam barely had time to suck in a breath before a sudden pressure crashed down on him from nowhere at all.
He gasped.
It was not pain at first. It was a dense and invisible pressure pressing through his skull, his chest, his spine, his very thoughts. Liam's fingers jerked against his knees, and his eyes squeezed shut instinctively as a strange force reached into him without touching his skin.
Then the pain arrived.
A hot, searing jolt shot through his body so abruptly that his back arched off the toilet seat. He made a strangled sound, half gasp and half cry, and his hands flew out to grab at the stall wall for support. His vision flooded white for a heartbeat, and the world seemed to tilt sideways around him.
"Ah-ngh!"
He bit down hard on the inside of his cheek to keep from crying out properly. Tears sprang to his eyes anyway. The pain was not like being hit or cut. It felt deeper than that, as though something inside him was being pulled apart and forced back into shape all at once.
His small hands clawed at the edge of the stall seat, knuckles whitening as his body trembled under the invisible pressure. The grey screen in front of him flickered violently, lines of text breaking apart and reforming as if reality itself could not decide what it was looking at.
[RECALIBRATION IN PROGRESS…]
[REALIGNING TALENT CORE…]
[ERROR RATE: CRITICAL]
Liam's breathing turned ragged. He tried to stay quiet, but the sound still slipped out in broken fragments, swallowed quickly as he pressed his lips shut again. His vision blurred at the edges, the world narrowing until only the floating interface remained.
Then, abruptly, everything changed.
The pressure did shifted and sank deeper into his very being. It felt like being turned inside out and rewritten at the same time, like a story being corrected mid-sentence by an unseen hand.
Liam's head jerked violently, his small body tensing as a heavy wave of force passed through him. His fingers spasmed against the edge of the seat, and for a brief moment he lost all sense of where his body ended and something else began.
The grey screen in front of him destabilised again, its edges rippling as if reacting to something far beyond its intended limits.
[RECALIBRATION: FINAL STAGE]
[INTEGRATING HISTORICAL SIGNATURE…]
[WARNING: SINGULARITY CLASS TALENT DETECTED]
His head dropped forward slightly, sweat beading at his temples as the force inside him intensified. It was no longer just pain. It was identity being forcibly adjusted, like something fundamental about him was being rewritten against the grain of existence itself.
And then-
Something snapped.
The sensation was so sudden that Liam's entire body went rigid, every muscle locking at once as a silent shockwave passed through him. His eyes squeezed shut, and for a moment there was nothing but a vast, empty white space behind his thoughts.
Then, just as quickly as it came-
Silence.
Liam slumped slightly forward, catching himself with trembling hands. His lungs dragged in air in short, uneven pulls as he struggled to recover from whatever had just happened. His body felt light in a strange, disconnected way, as though it no longer fully agreed with the world around it.
A soft chime echoed in the interface.
[RECALIBRATION COMPLETE]
[CORE STABILISATION SUCCESSFUL]
[SSS RANK: FULLY INTEGRATED]