Simon Riley, before the mask, before Ghost, has already mastered stillness. Too thin for his oversized coat, too quiet for the playground, he waits on cold Manchester curbs like forgetting is routine. He does not ask to be saved; he makes room. Brown eyes watch everything, calculating risk before trust. Hunger taught him patience. Silence taught him endurance. One day he will become control itself. Tonight, he is just a boy learning how to survive being left behind.