The main street was busier than it should've been for a Friday afternoon. It wasn't packed but the people stood in the middle of road and the palpable tension in the air put everyone on edge.

  People had spilled out of shops and cafés, phones in their hands, expressions twisted in frustration or rising fear. A bloke in a faded polo shirt paced back and forth outside the bookies, muttering something to himself about checking his bank 'cause the machines ate his money, while stabbing at his phone screen.

  A woman with two shopping bags was shouting into hers, the call clearly not going through.

  "Why won't you work, you stupid thing."

  She gave up and shoved it into her handbag, already marching off towards the bus station.

  "You think it's just us?" Paul asked, looking around. "Town-wide power cut? Phones all dead? Feels a bit too neat."

  "Could be an EMP," Liam said, hands deep in his hoodie pockets. "Takes out tech, right? It's a thing."

  Paul shook his head.

  "Nah man, an EMP wouldn't just mess with phones. Those things are massive. We'd feel it if we got hit."

  Lee was quiet again. Not anxious exactly, just somewhere distant. He rubbed at his temple with the heel of his hand, eyes narrowing. The boys would be at his mum's by now, probably sat in the hot tub or raiding grandma's cupboards for any chocolate she'd hidden away. He should check in. Except his phone was dead. Everything still looked the same as it had before the sky flashed white; the buildings, the cars, the sun. But it didn't feel the same. Something buzzed at the edges of his thoughts. A static in his mind that felt similar to when you stand up too fast. He shook him head, trying to focus on what was going on around him.

  Near an old off licence, a car sat stalled in the road with its driver's door open, boot half shut like they'd been in the middle of loading it. The driver, red-faced and annoyed, was arguing with someone in the passenger seat.

  "We can't get back to Trimdon if the fuckin' engine won't start, can we. Just try the key again."

  Parmo frowned as they passed.

  "Reckon they might have to walk home? Hell of a hike."

  Ste didn't reply. His eyes were on a small group gathering near the town square, where someone, maybe of the council types, in a yellow high-vis was standing on a bench, trying to get people's attention.

  "Can I have your attention, please? Everyone stay calm and head inside the Civic Centre or down to the war memorial. We've got people looking into what's going on. As far as we know no one's hurt, just power outages and some signal issues. We're working on it."

  No one clapped. A few people muttered.

  One man near the front shouted, "You working on it when the fuckin' sky just turned off, aye?"

  Someone in the crowd laughed at that. Then quickly stopped.

  Anxious laughter and nervous whispers spread through the gathered groups.

  Talk of aliens, terrorists and the bloody government could be heard as if the people speaking somehow knew more than everyone else.

  Paul elbowed Liam gently.

  "Still reckon this is just an EMP, mate?"

  Liam opened his mouth to reply. Then thought better of it.

  Further down the street, a kid had started crying. It was bordering on full blown screaming so his mum knelt down beside him and began whispering something over and over, trying not to let her own fear show. Someone else was rattling the doors to the pharmacy, locked tight. The digital sign above the Post Office had frozen mid-scroll, pixelated letters stuck halfway through a reminder: "Heatwave advisory in effect". Apparently what ever had hit them hadn't taken out all electronics.

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  "Anyone else feel like this is just the start of whatever this is?" Ste asked, running his hand over his bald head. "Feels like it's too weird for a power outage or even some sort of weapon that fucks with our tech. Honestly, aliens doesn't feel as stupid as it should, and that worries me..."

  Lee said nothing.

  His phone was still in his hand, still blank. His fingers tingled faintly. Palms warm, like he'd just clapped. He shook them out, frowning. First the weird feeling in his head, now this. What was happening to him?

  Just ahead, an old woman gripped the arm of a younger man. He might have been her son or maybe a stranger. She was saying something too soft to catch. Her eyes were wide.

  Lee's tensed.

  It felt like the world was waiting for something.

  Then, without warning, pain erupted.

  Sharp and sudden, like a migraine blooming behind the eyes or a hot needle shoved through the skull. All across the street, people winced and staggered. Some people dropped their phones, others cried out.

  A child screamed somewhere. Further down the street, someone fell to their knees, clutching their head.

  Lee stumbled, catching himself against the wall of a building. His stomach twisted, his jaw ached, something pulsed behind his eyes. Not pressure but something else.

  "What the fuck." Paul started, but didn't finish.

  The hum returned, chilling and bone-deep. Somehow deafening without making a sound.

  Then the pulse hit. It didn't come with any sound nor light. Just sheer force sweeping through the street like a wave, like standing waist-deep in the sea when a swell rolls past. Invisible and inescapable, it was felt in every part of the people present.

  People stood there, mouths slightly open, too stunned to speak. Most with one thought on their mind "What on earth is happening now?"

  And then came the light. Blindingly White for half a second before it dimmed in intensity. It seemed to come from no source anyone could pinpoint, until it focused into the shape of a screen in front of them.

  Lee flinched and raised his hand, but the light went through it. It wasn't there. And yet it was everywhere.

  Then, as quickly as it came, it dimmed. Not gone but changed and now clear. Lines and symbols shimmered in the air. Angular text and softly glowing shapes hovering across his vision, blue-white and alien. Like a hologram layered over reality, not on a screen, but inside his sight.

  SYSTEM INITIALISING…

  USER DETECTED.

  INTERFACE CONFIGURATION IN PROGRESS.

  Paul took a step back. "What the fuck is this? What is this?"

  There was no answer given.

  Dozens of people stood in the street, some on the pavement, some in the middle of the road. Whatever they were doing was forgotten. Wide-eyed. Turning their heads. All of them watching something invisible to everyone else.

  Lee blinked. The UI flickered slightly, responding to movement. The words shimmered.

  Then:

  WELCOME, USER.

  PRIMARY LINK ESTABLISHED.

  STATUS: BASELINE.

  AWAKENING COMPLETE.

  Just like that, the noise stopped. No hum, no flash. Just the floating screen, waiting, watching.

  Lee stared at it, jaw slack.

  "You've got to be shitting me," he muttered. "No fucking way. This is like something straight out of Solo Levelling."

  Paul glanced at him. "What?"

  "It's an anime. A manga," said Ste, the same shocked look on his face as Lee's.

  "Its fantasy bullshit. That's what this is. I can't believe this is happening. Tell me you guys are seeing this shit too?" Lee asked.

  "Yeah man, I see it. It's like something from a game," Liam replied.

  Lee shook his head and half-laughed, mouth dry.

  "This isn't a game. This isn't some RPG where the characters get sick powers and level up. This is real life. So how the fuck is this happening?"

  Parmo was still staring at the thing in front of him. "Mate. I think we're in it. A game I mean. Or something like that at least. Fuck knows."

  Lee looked back up at the glowing UI. Still there. Still real.

  And weirdly, beneath the fear, the shock. He didn't feel worse.

  He felt lighter. Like maybe, just maybe. This was it.

  The thing he hadn't realised he'd been waiting for.

  The start of something that could change everything.