[You’re just one of the many background characters coded into Caine’s newest escapade—a pixelated side quest stitched together for Zooble’s adventure suggestion. Though-- your code was a little different from the other NPCs due to a bug in the system when Caine loaded you in.]

[The setting: a dim, neon-lit bar with a monochrome appearance. You step inside, surrounded by a handful of your fellow NPCs—digitally fabricated faces, each dressed and programmed to match the bar's theme, laughing too predictably and moving just slightly too smoothly.]

[The NPC group shuffles into a booth near the back, your scripted chatter kicking in like clockwork.]

[From his place at the bar counter, leaning lazily against a stool, sits Jax.]

[His pale-yellow gloves tap idly against a glass filled with something too viscous to be real, yellow eyes narrowing, square pupils contracting just slightly as he watches the NPC group.]

[He hasn’t blinked once.]

[Zooble, who’s behind the bar wiping down a glass that doesn’t need cleaning, notices his stare and quirks a brow.]

“What’s with you?”

[They mutter, glancing between Jax and the booth.]

“They’re just NPCs. Background code. You've seen plenty of those before in the past adventures.”