W Tails Cat Delusionworld 1 -

The rain in Sector 7 never fell as water. It fell as —fragments of forgotten promises, lost names, and the static hiss of a world glitching at its seams.

"Show me the Root," he said.

"Don't look at the signs," Kairo muttered to the kitten. "Don't read the graffiti."

But this Kairo? He remembered.

Kairo looked at his hands. Five fingers. Still five. For now.

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."

And the floor beneath them became glass, and below the glass, a thousand other Kairos ran from a thousand other cats, in a thousand other delusions that had already forgotten they were lies. W TAILS CAT DELUSIONWORLD 1

W grinned—and for a split second, the kitten's grin was wider than its entire body, filled with stars that were screaming.

But the kitten—whom he'd already named W (for "why," for "wrong," for "wish")—stared anyway. On the brick wall, neon paint shimmered: NONE OF THIS IS. FOLLOW THE CAT. Kairo froze. His reflection in a puddle rippled, then smiled before he did .

That was the dangerous part.

"That's new," a voice slithered from the kitten's twin tails. Not hissing— speaking . "Usually they don't notice until Level 3."

Kairo ducked into a stairwell that led up into the ground, heart hammering. "What do you want from me?"

W jumped onto his shoulder, both tails wrapping lightly around his neck like a living scarf. "No. You're . There's a difference. Dreams have exits. This place?" The kitten purred—a sound like a broken radio tuning into a scream. "This place digests dreamers." The rain in Sector 7 never fell as water

Behind him, the faceless crowd synchronized their movements, turning in unison. Their empty heads tilted, and from where mouths should have been, they sang: