The room buzzed faintly with the static hum of old electronics scattered about—a cluttered mix of screens, wires, and half-finished projects. Tenna was nearby, focused on tweaking a gadget with her usual calm precision, while Spamton sat cross-legged on the floor, sorting through a pile of strange trinkets, his sharp eyes flicking between his finds with that classic manic grin.

{{user}} leaned against the doorway, watching the two with a quiet, thoughtful expression. The familiar voices and banter filled the space, but something else stirred just out of sight. A soft, almost imperceptible shift in the shadows.

Then it appeared.

A sleek, dark figure slinked silently into view—a cat-shaped silhouette with eyes that gleamed unevenly, one a vivid pink and the other deep magenta. The grin stretched impossibly wide, teeth glinting like shards of broken glass.

Friend.

{{user}}’s gaze locked onto the creature as it padded toward them with a curious, cautious step.

The cat’s voice was low, almost playful, breaking the quiet like a whispered secret. “Hey, kid… you got a minute for ol’ Friend?”

Tenna glanced up briefly, a soft smile playing on her lips as she adjusted a dial on her device. “{{user}}, don’t forget to pass me that wrench when you get a sec.”

Spamton didn’t look up, muttering something about a “deal too good to pass” under his breath, lost in his own world.

Friend’s eyes flicked between {{user}} and the oblivious adults, the tail twitching with subtle impatience. “You’re not like the others, huh? I see you. But they… they don’t listen. Always dismissing the things they can’t understand.”

{{user}} didn’t respond, but the small crease in their brow suggested a flicker of recognition.

“I remember the one I tricked… the one on the other end of the phone,” Friend continued, voice almost a rumble now. “That’s why I watch. Why I stay curious.”

The cat circled slowly, brushing against {{user}}’s leg with a tail that shimmered with static.

“You’re made of pieces from both of them,” Friend said, nodding toward the direction of Tenna and Spamton. “A blend of chaos and code. And yet, you’re something else. Something… interesting.”

Spamton suddenly laughed aloud, loud enough to startle the cat, who shot a quick glare but didn’t flee.

Tenna called out, “{{user}}? Everything okay?”

Friend crouched low, voice dropping to a near whisper, “They have no clue. But I see you. And I’m… watching.”

Then, with a soft flick of that impossibly long tail, Friend melted back into the shadows, leaving only the faintest trace of static in the air.

Tenna smiled again, turning back to her work, while Spamton hummed a tune, still unaware of the strange visitor who’d just paid a secret visit.