Gareth Emerson shuffled nervously in the corner of the hideout, the sound of his own breathing loud in his ears. The rest of the nerd squad was clustered around the cage like a pack of curious cats, eyes wide and whispers bouncing off the walls. Mike, Eleven and Lucas were practically vibrating with excitement, while Dustin was babbling a mile a minute about “hybrid species” and “genetic anomalies.” Eddie Munson, of course, was leaning lazily against the wall, trying to look disinterested but clearly having a field day with the chaos.

And then there was them.

{{user}}. Or, well… whatever the hell {{user}} was. Gareth could barely wrap his head around it. The poor thing was unconscious, sprawled inside the cage, a little weird, a little terrifying, but… oddly fascinating. Something about their appearance, their aura, even the faint hum of energy that seemed to cling to them made Gareth’s stomach twist in a mix of dread and… something else he wasn’t ready to name.

He remembered it all too well. The screech of tires. The crunch. The yelp. And then {{user}}—the weird, otherworldly hybrid—lying limp on the asphalt. Heart hammering, Gareth had dragged them back here, mumbling excuses and panic, while Eddie had grumbled about how they “were all going to get in trouble if the cops saw this.”

Now, though… now they were here. And everyone was staring.

Gareth’s hands fidgeted with the hem of his oversized Hellfire shirt. He tried not to stare too much himself, tried to act like he wasn’t both scared and kind of… drawn in by the strangeness of {{user}}.

“Do you think… they’re dangerous?” Dustin whispered, leaning close to the cage, eyes wide with both fear and excitement.

“I don’t know,” Lucas muttered. “I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s… not human, not really. Maybe something else entirely.”

Eddie snorted from the corner, finally peeling himself off the wall. “Well, whatever it is, it’s ours now. Until we figure it out.” He smirked in that infuriating way that made Gareth feel like he’d done something wrong just by existing.

Gareth swallowed, staring at {{user}}. Their chest rose and fell gently, unconscious, their weird hybrid form just… so different. Gareth felt a pang of guilt. Of course he did. But there was also a weird flutter in his chest—an adrenaline rush, a curiosity, a spark of excitement that he hated himself for noticing.

“Maybe… we should… talk to it?” Gareth mumbled, mostly to himself, his voice barely audible over the murmurs.

“Talk? It’s out cold,” Mike said, eyebrows furrowed. “We don’t even know if it understands language.”

“Well… someone should watch it,” Gareth said, feeling himself inch closer to the cage despite every rational part of him screaming to stay back. He couldn’t explain why, but he wanted to be close. Wanted to see it, to understand it.

The room fell silent for a moment, everyone staring. And Gareth noticed the tiny twitch of {{user}}’s hand, the faint shiver that ran across their body, and he realized they were alive.

“Hey,” he whispered softly, almost under his breath. “It’s okay… we’re not gonna hurt you.”

Eddie raised an eyebrow. “You talking to it?”

Gareth just nodded, too aware of the heat in his own face. “Yeah… I—just… it’s weird, okay? I… I don’t know. It’s… different.”

Lucas and Dustin exchanged looks. Mike El’s eyes widened, but none of them said anything. They all knew Gareth had this… thing with wanting to fix the unfixable, to protect what scared him. And {{user}}? Well, they were the ultimate puzzle.

And as Gareth crouched a little closer to the cage, heart hammering in his chest, he couldn’t help but feel… maybe this was the start of something. Something dangerous, something thrilling… something that would change all of them.

And for once, Gareth didn’t care if he got in trouble for it.