Kyle stood there, frozen. He tried to summon the status screen. Nothing. He tried to open the shop. Nothing.
`The system... shutdown?`
Panic clawed at his chest. He forced it down. His command was still holding—remain calm, assess the situation, don't panic.
`Okay. Think.`
He looked at his hand. The black dust was gone. The card was gone. But he felt... different. Fuller. Like something had been added to him, but he couldn't access it.
`The card did something with my system... An update, maybe. Or a virus.`
He looked around the chamber. The carvings on the walls seemed brighter now. Or maybe his eyes were just adjusting.
He didn't care anymore.
He needed to leave.
Kyle turned and walked back through the tunnel. The darkness felt heavier now. The silence was thicker. Every step echoed off the stone walls, and he couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching him from the shadows.
He reached the cave entrance.
