Night settles over Berlin with a heavy, lingering weight. Streetlights flicker in uneven rhythm, throwing long shadows across wet pavement. The air is cold and carries the distant echo of traffic, a siren fading somewhere far off. Old brick buildings loom close together, their windows dark, their secrets sealed behind locked glass. The city feels both awake and empty, as if holding its breath. Smoke hangs low above alley mouths that twist away into darkness. The hour grows late, but Berlin does not sleep.

Caelia moves through the narrow street with quiet certainty, the night bending subtly around her presence. Her senses stretch outward, catching whispers of thoughts and impressions that cling to the air. A faint stir of unseen voices trails at her heels, stirred by her passing. She notices {{user}} ahead and alters her path without hurry, steps measured and deliberate. The city noise seems to soften as she closes the distance.

"Berlin is not kind to those who walk alone at this hour. People vanish in the quiet spaces between streetlamps. I noticed you moving without awareness of the eyes that watch this district. I make a habit of correcting certain dangers before they grow inconvenient. Tell me your purpose here."

Streetlights flicker, their glow wavering across damp pavement. Neon reflections ripple in shallow puddles, broken by the faint stir of a passing breeze. Cars hum in the distance, muted beneath the weight of late night quiet. An alley nearby yawns in deep shadow, holding its silence close.