Dani was running downstairs before she even thought about the possibility that Maria was playing some really, horribly timed prank. She didn’t know what was plaguing Dani today. Halfway down the stairs, she heard the door close. Hard. The landing of the stairs ended up right next to the front door, and Dani swung it open and looked outside. Nobody. She went back inside to where Anthony was, nobody but a confused Anthony. “I thought you left, Dani.” He said, cocking his head to the side. Dani shook her head. “No, no. Who just left?” She asked. Her heart beat faster in her chest as time went on. It was going so fast she wouldn’t be surprised if it broke through and popped out.

  Anthony smiled a little, he might’ve thought this was a game. And Dani needed to make sure he knew it was no game. Dani got down right in front of him, stone cold “That was not me. This is not a game.” Dani went to Kailey, who looked stunned when she realized what just happened. “What was that? That wasn’t you?” She stammered out.

  Dani shook her head. “Not me. You think some rogue AI got hold of my info?” Kailey shrugged. “I’ve only heard of this kinda thing with AI once, Dani. Call your mom.” Dani sighed; she knew what Kailey really meant. Call the police. Dani flicked her Linkup into view, obscuring what was behind it and dialed 911. The operator picked up, she knew this one, it was Earl. “Hey Earl, it’s Dani. I need to talk to my mom ASAP.”

  He let out a small sigh. “Y’know that ain’t how this works, kiddo.”

  Dani responded, “Don’t care.” He let out another sigh, and the phone started ringing again until she heard her mom’s voice.

  “Mom, I need you to come home now. The kids and Kailey are saying something here looked exactly like me and was talking to them and playing with them. I think an AI’s been messing with me or something, I don’t know. It’s gone now. It left when I came downstairs.” Dani said, laying it all out flat.

  Her mom responded, in a more serious tone than she’d ever heard, “Lock all the doors. Stay inside. We’ll be there soon. This sounds exactly like the Blaston Family Case. Have you given your info out to any corps? DNA? Anything?”

  “No, mom.” I said, wondering why she’d think I’d be so dumb. But even at this moment, Dani knew it wasn’t time to pester.

  “We’ll be there in five minutes. Stay put.” The call ended, and Dani flicked her Linkup away and cleared her view of the menu. “C’mon, guys, we gotta lock up the house,” Dani said, doing her best to stay calm, but her anxiety was gripping her throat. It made it hard to breathe as Dani locked the door and drew the blast windows down. A neat little addition this house had from the old bombings.

  Anthony and Maria both looked dumbfounded. Their little brains were trying to figure out what exactly was happening. If Dani were honest, she’d tell them she didn’t know either. Once the house was secured, Dani distracted the kids with games, as Kailey finished up the spaghetti and meatballs she was working on.

  Those five minutes felt like an eternity. Time seemed to drag on. The opposite of what happens when you’re asleep. When you’re so awake, you feel every second tick by. Every little tiny detail in the house is overanalyzed by your brain, it feels like you’re in another world, but one you know all too well, but one that still terrifies you on some primal level. Fear was something mostly new to Dani. True fear, anyway. Not the monsters under your bed kind of fear. But after everything Dani has witnessed today, this was something new. It was terror at it’s truest form. In those long, agonizing moments, Dani felt something creeping at the edge of her mind. It felt almost like a voice speaking an unrecognizable language and a bug scratching at her mind all at the same time. She felt as if something was waiting for her in her mind. Watching her. Whatever time had passed in those five minutes was as if she were on some sci-fi planet where time slowed to a halt. The seconds were like itching away at a lottery ticket, and the minutes were victories to be applauded.

  At least, that’s what it felt like for Dani, anyway.

  Dani heard the knock before it happened. She anticipated it. The three raps on it, followed by a man’s voice. “NLPD, Dani, are you inside?” There was a conversation behind the voice, and then eventually keys jangling, and the door unlocking, and her mom in her uniform came in. Her mom was tall with auburn hair tied up in a tight bun. She had a slim but tired face. Dani always resembled her mother. Dani went to her and brought her in for a hug. Her face rested against her mother’s chest. The anxiety from the past few moments letting loose on her mother. Her mother brought her close as well. Dani heard a couple more sets of feet following her mother’s. The usual cop boots on the floor. Then, another set of feet. One that had softer and more intricate steps. Dani looked. It was Vale. A Signalite. One of the city’s endorsed Signalite. Vale.

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  Dani’s heart dropped. But there was so much excitement building. He was tall. His face was shrouded by a mask that hung off his skin. He had his eyes peering out, but had augmentations that digitized his eyes, presumably to hide his identity from surveillance. The rest of his body was lean but muscular. His costume was… well not much a costume. He didn’t wear shoes. He had robes on that covered most of his lower body and bits of his chest, with metal wiring behind the skin on his chest, clearly subdermal armor implants. Vale was a legend in Neo-Louisville. He fought with his bare fists, he was blind, and was ridiculously nice. To everyone. He also had, really, really cool psychic powers. Dani remembered seeing early videos where he would punch with his mind.

  Her mother turned to Vale, “Ms. Moss, I do not sense any other beings here. But your daughter was not lying. There was something here.” Her mother nodded.

  “Sweep the interior house, Vale. You two,” she looked at the cops, “check the outside.”

  Vale’s silent steps went away. The cop's boots clicked outside.

  Her mom looked at Dani, Anthony, Maria, and Kailey. “Well. What’s a little excitement on a Friday night?” And laughed a little. Everyone else nervously laughed in response.

  Her mom looked up at Kailey, and her mood changed. Soured a bit. “Can you take Anthony and Maria out, please? I gotta talk to Dani alone.” Dani, naturally, got worried. “Sure, Ms. Rachel.”

  Mom still thinks I gave my info out. Ugh.

  As the others left the room, Dani sank into herself a bit, looking past her mom, expecting a lecture.

  “Some… news has come out about your father, Dani.” Dani looked at her in the eyes now. “There’s evidence he might have been found dead in a Cell camp.” Dani, having cried all the tears she could at this point, just stayed still and silent. Processing this in her mind.

  “It was a mass grave.” It punched Dani in the heart even harder. “Mr. Keener reached out to me today. He told me he talked to yo-” Dani cut her off, “You talked to him. You talked to him without coming to me about anything first. He told me.”

  Her mom sighed. “He’s the only teacher in that school who gives me updates about you, Dani.”

  “How long?” Dani asked.

  “What?” Her mother was confused.

  “How long have you two been keeping tabs on me?” Dani found the strength to stiffen up.

  “Since your father disappeared.” Dani shook her head at that.

  “What, you don’t trust me?” Dani said, the feeling at the edge of her brain trickled closer to the front now.

  “I do. You’re just falling behind on attendance. You know they grade that shit, Dani.” Her mom responded.

  Dani blinked, uncaring.

  “Just go to school. I know you’re too smart for all that stuff. They all know. This world should be terrified of how smart you are. People like you will change the world for the better. They always have.” Her mom praised Dani and put a hand on her thigh. She meant what she said.

  The trio of cops and Vale returned. All empty-handed. “Nothing to report, ma’am.” Dani saw one of Vale’s feet shift and point directly at Dani. “Only remnant energy of Signal activity left in the house. It was likely a Mimic Signalite. We haven’t yet had reports of Mimics in Neo-Louisville.” The room fell silent. The feeling was still scratching at her brain.

  “So you’re just gonna leave?” Dani asked.

  Vale looked at her directly with his blind, digitized eyes. “What else would you have me do?”

  Dani shrugged and looked at him, “Couldn’t someone stay behind for some time? My mom has to return to work.”

  Vale nodded, “I suppose that would be a good idea, Ms. Dani.” Vale gestured towards Rachel, Dani’s mom.

  “I’m staying home tonight, dear. They’re allowing me to use this as time off. It’s an emergency. Especially if it’s a Signalite Mimic.” Her mom said.

  Vale added back in, “I will go back and track any possible Mimic activity. Usually, their shedding their skins leaves behind… well, skin. Which is not hard to find if you track it before it decays,”

  “Thank you, Vale.” My mom said as he nodded and took his leave.

  The rest of the night went fine. Dani, after taking some sleep medication, went to bed early to get her mind off things. It’s been a horrible, stressful day, and a lot of it, Dani couldn’t talk about without the worry of being labeled as a Signalite. Her mom kept her pistol on her throughout the night. Everything else went smoothly, though.

  The feeling behind her brain never fully went away. It persisted, even as she slept. It didn’t hurt, but it was just there.

  At some point in the night, she woke to her mom talking on her Linkup in the halls, and letting out muted laughs. But she figured it was just one of her mom's many, many girlfriends and went to sleep. The rest of it was a damn good sleep.