The silence between Doctor Tanashi and me is broken by a sudden static hiss. Above my bed, the flat-screen mounted to the wall flickers to life. A breaking news bulletin.

  The image is crisp, too perfect. Aerons appears on screen. He no longer looks like the raging titan from the previous footage. He's sitting behind a desk, his complexion a bit pale, but his voice steady.

  "Citizens, I address you today to put an end to the uncertainty," Aerons begins in a solemn tone.

  "As many of you now know, I was the victim of identity theft. While I was receiving confidential treatment at the hospital following a previous mission, a polymorphic entity took my form to sow chaos."

  I freeze, my eyes glued to the screen. Tanashi, however, doesn't take his eyes off my face. His smile doesn't falter.

  "Elite units intercepted the threat two hours ago," Aerons' voice continues.

  The footage cuts away. A blurry night-vision video plays. Soldiers surround a creature slumped on the ground a shapeless, grayish mass whose limbs seem to melt into the asphalt.

  "The culprit has been neutralized. The national lockdown is lifted with immediate effect. Paranoia no longer has a place here. Return to your lives. We are watching over you."

  The screen goes black. The silence that returns to the room is heavy, almost stifling.

  "A relief, isn't it?" Tanashi whispers, tucking his pen into his lab coat. "

  The culprit is behind bars. The population can sleep soundly."

  I clutch the sheets with my good hand.

  "It's a lie."

  The Doctor tilts his head, feigning surprise.

  "I beg your pardon?"

  "The monster on TV... it looked like nothing. Aerons says it changed appearance constantly, that we don't know its true form. But if it can become anyone... how can they be sure they have the right one?"

  I look Tanashi straight in the eye.

  "They just showed some random monster to stop people from slaughtering each other in the streets. They're afraid the panic will destroy the city before the polymorph does."

  The Doctor steps closer to my bed, so close I can smell the antiseptic on his clothes.

  "You are very perceptive, Tanaka Kenji. Too much so, perhaps. It's dangerous to doubt the official version. Especially when you've been spotted at a crime scene... with the face of a man who shouldn't have been there."

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  He places his hand on the rail of my bed.

  "Tell me... if that monster is still out there, what's to prove it isn't you? Or worse... that it isn't me?"

  He gives me a quick wink a gesture so almost-friendly it makes my blood run cold before heading for the exit.

  "Get some rest. Paranoia is a difficult disease to cure."

  The silence following Doctor Tanashi's departure was heavier than the roar of the explosion. On the room's monitor, the image of Aerons had frozen on a red banner:

  "LOCKDOWN ENDS: THREAT NEUTRALIZED."

  A state-sponsored lie. I could feel it in the pit of my stomach.

  I grabbed my phone with a trembling hand. Not to call the police, but for my insurance. The adrenaline was fading, giving way to a far more down to earth anxiety: the cost of my survival.

  "Your policy expires tomorrow, Mr. Tanaka," the voice hissed on the other end. "You got lucky. This time, everything is covered."

  I hung up, breath short. My life was hanging by a thread, and so was my bank account.

  Knock, knock.

  The door opened to a frail silhouette. The schoolgirl. She wore a scarf to hide light burns on her neck, and her arm was in a sling. Behind her, a ball of fur scurried forward.

  "Sir?"

  I pulled myself up with difficulty.

  "It's me... Kenji."

  Woof! The little dog jumped onto my bed, nearly knocking over my IV drip. Its paws scratched at my sheets, and for the first time in days, I felt a warmth that wasn't from the flames. The girl approached, her eyes glistening with tears she refused to let fall.

  "They say on TV that the Heroes handled it," she whispered, stroking her dog's head as it rested on my lap. "But it was you who was there. Without you, that house would have become our tomb."

  She placed her good hand on mine, carefully avoiding my bandages. That simple gesture, that human recognition, shattered the darkness Tanashi had instilled. My actions had meant something. I wasn't just a badge number or a suspect; I was the reason this dog could wag its tail and this girl could breathe the fresh air.

  "Thank you, Kenji," she said simply.

  She left shortly after, called by her parents on the phone. The room suddenly felt very empty.

  A few hours later, I forced my own discharge. The hospital was a furnace of the wounded and the screaming; the overworked nurses let me sign the release forms without asking too many questions.

  The air outside was freezing. The "return to normal" decreed by Aerons was a masquerade. People walked fast, heads down. Every gaze met was loaded with suspicion.

  I arrived at my building, my ribs still aching. And there, my heart skipped a beat.

  Okiku.

  She was standing there with her suitcases, like an apparition. The memory of the slap she had dealt me that inhuman strength that had nearly broken my jaw flashed back across my face. My hand instinctively went to my cheek.

  I turned to flee, but she was on me in the blink of an eye. It wasn't a normal run. It was a blur, an acceleration that defied physics.

  "Mr. Tanaka... wait."

  Her hand brushed my shoulder. I froze, expecting to be thrown against the wall. But her grip was light, almost pleading. She bowed low in a deep reverence.

  "I'm sorry. For the other day. I was... I was so scared."

  I turned around slowly. Her long white hair hid her face, but I could see her hands trembling on the handles of her suitcases. I stayed silent for a moment. The slap still burned in a corner of my memory, but… this wasn't the time. She was shaking too much for me to hold a grudge.

  "It's okay," I finally said. "Let's forget it. So, you live here?" I asked, my voice dull.

  Her shoulders rose slightly, her eyes widened and trembled for a moment, then she exhaled slowly, closing her eyelids.

  "Yes, I live nearby. I had to leave my home. A friend is hosting me as a roommate..."

  She looked up, and her eyes reflected the same terror as the citizens in the street, but deeper. She stepped closer, her voice becoming a barely audible whisper:

  "Sir... about what I did. My strength. I beg of you... keep it a secret. If they find out, they'll say it's me. They'll say I'm the monster from the TV."

  She wasn't threatening me. She was asking me to become her accomplice in a world that was searching for scapegoats to sacrifice.