A few minutes had passed since the pulse and the reveal of the weird game-like system. Lee still hadn't touched the UI, the need to experiment stifled by the murmurs, the jostling crowd, and the strange stillness in the air that kept pulling his attention away. People were talking, arguing quietly, checking phones that didn't work, trying to make sense of what had just happened. For the time being, it felt like the crowd was dry kindling, every glance and movement a potential spark ready to set it everything on fire. It made focusing on anything else difficult, the system included.

  Ste crouched nearby, fingers drumming on the pavement, eyes flicking between the weird user interface and the crowd gathering slowly in the square. He wasn't worried, just curious. Like someone puzzling over a strange system he couldn't quite crack.

  Paul leaned against a lamppost, scanning faces and murmurs, stepping forward occasionally to ask a question, trying to piece together what everyone was thinking.

  Liam hovered between them, catching quick snippets of conversation from all sides, working out his own take.

  Parmo sat next to Lee, in his own world for the moment, wrestling with thoughts of worst-case scenarios. Unlike the rest of his friends, he lived out of town. He'd need to figure out a way home soon.

  Around them, the people of Monkhaven moved in a tense shuffle. Some had managed to get their phones to work, but broadband access and signal were still gone. One woman was trying to take a photo of the UI but getting nothing at all. Apparently, the latest camera models couldn't capture the impossible. Cars sat silent which brought further attention to the fact that the usual hum of life felt muted.

  Lee rubbed his jaw, glancing up at the strange symbols still flickering in the air. "I still can't believe this is real. You sure we're not all just having a weird shared dream? In the middle of the day?" He said, sounding more and more confused as he spoke.

  Ste nodded, eyes fixed on the floating shapes. "Too many people saw the same thing for it to be some sort of one off or mass hallucination."

  Paul stepped forward, voice low but loud enough for those nearby. "Anyone heard anything about the power? Like from the council or anyone official?"

  "There's that woman over there, the one who was on the park bench earlier. She looks just as lost as the rest of us," said a man standing close by.

  Murmurs, once again rippled through the crowd. No one knew anything, and that was worrying. Someone needed to do something. Where were the police or more of the council when you needed them?

  Liam circled back to the group. "People are still saying it's an EMP or something, same as I said earlier." Liam shrugged, hands in his pockets. "But even I can see the writing on the wall. Doesn't explain the UI, or why phones are useless but buildings with solar panels still seem to be working. Like, the corner shop's still got their vape deal flashing in the window; five for a tenner. Thats a bargain actually."

  Parmo shifted uneasily. "Sounds like they're making it up as they go, but what else can they do? None of this makes any sense."

  Before Lee could answer, a man came running down the street, looking like he'd just seen a ghost. Sweat dripped from his brow, his ragged breathing doing little to quell the unease permeating the area. In fact, it only turned confusion and worry swiftly to dread.

  The man swallowed hard. "Does anyone know where the police are? Or anyone from in there?" He pointed towards the Civic centre. " I need to talk to someone, anyone, because everything past Murry Street is completely gone!"

  The crowd shifted uneasily. Some stood on the cracked pavement near the Civic Centre steps, others by the road across from the war memorial. All were acutely aware of the heavy silence coming from the direction of Murry Street. Eyes flicked that way, drawn to where the north-east area of the town should be.

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  Paul frowned. "What d'you mean gone? Blocked off or something?"

  The man shook his head. "No. The road ends. Like the town's been cut off. Past that, there's just grass. Open fields. No houses. No roads. Nothing familiar. It's like the world just stopped."

  Ste's brow furrowed. "If that's true, then this situation is way worse than we thought."

  The man's expression was grim.

  Lee glanced down at the UI hovering nearby, then back up. His jaw tightened. We need to see it ourselves.

  The same panic from earlier, that had simmered slightly, was begining to crop up again. Agitation and people who looked ready to run at the first sign of danger could be seen everywhere. Then a voice cut through it all, calm, firm, and familiar.

  "Right. Listen up, folks."

  Heads turned. A man in his fifties stepped forward, tall and broad through the shoulders despite the years catching up with him. His grey hair was tied back loosely, more practical than neat, and a short, salt-and-pepper beard framed a face lined by sun, smoke, and long hours rather than age alone.

  He wore an old denim jacket, faded and scuffed at the seams, over a band T-shirt, merch from a group few people had ever heard of. He moved with a slight stiffness, a knee that never quite healed, but there was nothing uncertain about him.

  It was Mike Ellis. Ex-fireman. Everyone in Monkhaven knew him. If something had gone wrong in town over the last couple of decades, odds were Mike had been there, keeping things together while everyone else panicked.

  He didn't raise his voice, yet those around him quickly quietened down. People had been looking for someone to take the reins, someone solid to get things moving. In a lot of people's eyes, Mike was that man.

  He raised both hands, not to hush the crowd, but to ground it.

  "Phones are down, power's spotty, and something weird's happened, aye. But standing about sweating and guessing won't fix owt. If you've got little ones or anyone fragile with you, get 'em inside the Civic. It'll be cooler in there. Anyone inside already, make sure they've got water. Simple stuff, yeah?"

  A few people started to move. Just a couple at first, then more. The tension didn't vanish, but it shifted. From static to motion.

  Nearby, a woman in a barista apron, one of the girls from the coffee shop by the King John's, added:

  "I've got bottled water in the back room. Not loads, but something."

  Another voice: "We've got a first aid kit at the salon. I'll grab it, just in case."The crowd wasn't calm. But they weren't frozen anymore, either.

  Little offers and ideas started being voiced, small and scattered. Not a plan. Just people doing what they could to feel like things were getting back on track, even if only barely.

  Lee watched it from the edge, arms folded tight. It helped, seeing the tension shift from panic to movement, but it didn't solve anything. It just bought time.

  No police. No sirens. Not even a council worker trying to take charge. With this many people gathered near the Civic, that absence said more than any rumour. Whatever this was, it was bigger than a power cut or the internet deciding now was a great time to die.

  Then Paul turned slightly, eyes tracking the edge of the square.

  "What about that lad before? The one who was going on about the street just ending?"

  The low murmur faltered.

  "Just grass," Paul added, quieter now. "No roads. No buildings. Just empty countryside from the sounds of it."

  Some of the calm Lee had regained slipped away, replaced by that ever-present worry.

  Liam straightened. "We'll go check it out." He glanced at Mike. "We'll let you know what we find. Probably nothing, but we need to be sure."

  Paul was already moving.

  Mike nodded once, eyes flicking briefly toward the edge of town before turning back to the crowd.

  "Well," Paul said, trying to lighten the mood as they fell in beside him, "let's see if the anime screen thing is still the weirdest part of today."