Chapter 1: The Chirping Void

The insistent chirping of his phone dragged Julian from a vivid dream about finally landing that corner office with the panoramic city view.

He slapped a hand onto his nightstand, fumbling for the device until his fingers closed around its smooth, cool surface. 6:17 AM.

Too early. He groaned, pulling the covers higher, but the persistent digital bird wouldn't be silenced.

With a sigh, he brought the phone closer, squinting at the screen. Standard notifications: a weather update predicting another humid Manila day, a few WhatsApp messages from his family group chat, and a reminder for his 9:00 AM project meeting with Mr. Ramirez. Nothing out of the ordinary.

He tapped open the weather app, his thumb brushing against another icon – one he didn't recognize. It was a small, perfectly circular black void against a stark white background, nestled between his banking app and the game his daughter, Chloe, loved to play. He frowned. He hadn't installed anything new recently. Maybe Chloe had been messing with his phone again.

He tapped the unfamiliar icon. Instead of opening an app, his phone screen flickered violently, displaying a rapid stream of characters – symbols, numbers, and glyphs that looked utterly alien. It was like watching digital hieroglyphics scroll by at an impossible speed. Julian instinctively recoiled, dropping the phone onto the bed as if it had suddenly become hot.

His heart hammered in his chest. What the hell was that? A virus? A glitch? He picked up the phone cautiously. The screen was back to normal, but the mysterious black circle icon was still present. He tapped it again. Nothing. It was as if it had never done anything.

"Weird," he muttered, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

He'd deal with it later. Right now, he needed coffee and to get ready for another day at OmniCorp, pushing spreadsheets and attending meetings that could have been emails. His ambition burned steadily beneath the surface of his routine, fueled by the desire to give his wife, Sarah, and Chloe a better life.

That corner office wasn't just about the view; it was about security, about opportunity.

As he showered and dressed, the image of the swirling, alien characters kept flashing in his mind. He made a mental note to run a virus scan later. He was usually pretty careful about what he downloaded, but you never knew.

During his commute, while navigating the chaotic Manila traffic, he absentmindedly scrolled through his phone. He checked emails, skimmed news headlines, and even played a quick round of a puzzle game. The black circle icon remained, inert and unassuming. He tapped it a few more times out of curiosity, but nothing happened.

At the office, the usual Monday morning bustle filled the air. Julian greeted his colleagues, grabbed a cup of coffee, and settled into his cubicle.

He dove into his work, the upcoming project meeting with Mr. Ramirez demanding his focus. He was preparing a crucial presentation, hoping to impress his boss and solidify his position as a valuable asset to the team.

Hours passed in a blur of data analysis and slide creation. Lunch was a quick affair at his desk. By the afternoon, the strange incident with the phone had faded somewhat into the background, overshadowed by the demands of his job.

It was during a brief lull, while waiting for a large data set to load, that he glanced at his phone again. The black circle icon seemed to… pulse. A faint, internal light flickered within its seemingly empty depths. Julian leaned closer, his brow furrowed. He could have sworn it hadn't done that before.

He tapped it.

This time, the screen didn't erupt in chaotic symbols. Instead, a single line of text appeared, stark white against the black background of the newly opened "app":

Query: Current Status?

Julian stared at the screen, his coffee momentarily forgotten. This wasn't a glitch. This wasn't a virus. This was something else entirely.