Behind him, the faceless crowd synchronized their movements, turning in unison. Their empty heads tilted, and from where mouths should have been, they sang:
Kairo nearly dropped the box. "You... talk?"
the sky whispered. "Begin."
The kitten yawned. "Relax, Chronos. This one's different. He counted his fingers when he woke up in the alley. He checked for reflections. He even named me." W licked a paw. "He might last nine loops. Maybe ten."
He looked around. The other "people" in the alley had smooth, featureless heads—mannequin faces wearing stolen coats. They shuffled past, humming a lullaby about a cat with nine lives and a god with none. W TAILS CAT DELUSIONWORLD 1
That was the dangerous part.
it boomed, "you brought another one. You know the rules. Seven loops, then deletion." Behind him, the faceless crowd synchronized their movements,
W's tails intertwined, forming a spiral that glowed faintly violet. "In this delusion? Everything talks. The real question, Kairo, is why you still have a face." The kitten's eyes opened—one gold, one black void. "Everyone else here forgot theirs hours ago."
The eye blinked. The clock hands spun backward. Rain-whispers became screams. This one's different
W grinned—and for a split second, the kitten's grin was wider than its entire body, filled with stars that were screaming.
Kairo stumbled through the alley, clutching a cardboard box like a holy relic. Inside: a single kitten, no bigger than his palm, with fur the color of wet ash and that curled like question marks.