Sean didn't move.
He sat in complete stillness, his breath steady as the faint footsteps outside his door stopped.
Silence.
Then knock, knock.
Soft. Careful. Almost polite.
Sean's fingers instinctively hovered over the phone, but he didn't open it yet.
He stood up, slow and quiet, approaching the door without making a sound.
"Kinsa man?" he asked in a low, steady voice.
("Who is it?")
No answer.
Just the soft sound of retreating footsteps down the hallway.
He waited until he heard the outer door click shut before peeking through the peephole.
Empty hallway.
But he wasn't fooled.
---
Later that night, after double-locking the door, Sean sat by his desk again.
His mind was calm but alert.
Someone was watching him.
---
Out of habit, he opened Survive again. The browser remained quiet this time—no glitches, no strange pages.
But the last page he had visited still lingered in his mind.
"Target."
He had only scratched the surface of this phone's power.
---
He closed the browser, opening Utube instead.
At first, he thought of watching more fighting techniques but something pulled his focus elsewhere.
He typed "how to protect your digital identity."
The video that popped up wasn't special, just a simple guide about burner phones and digital footprints but Sean's mind connected the dots quickly.
"I can't keep using this phone for everything," he muttered.
He glanced at Pretty's Toktik profile, still saved in his bookmarks.
Pretty had replied to him again earlier that day—just a simple voice message this time.
"Salamat sa imong pagtan-aw. Murag kaila na gyud ko nimo gamay, Shadow."
("Thank you for always watching. I feel like I'm starting to know you a little, Shadow.")
Her voice was soft, honest. No pretense.
But that name again Shadow rang louder each time she said it.
Sean's lips curved into a slight, almost amused smile.
"Soon… I'll need another phone," he thought.
"But for now… this will do."
---
As he leaned back, his eyes caught something outside his window again.
A man in a dark jacket stood across the street, staring directly at his building.
No movement. No expression.
Just watching.
Sean didn't panic.
He simply stood up, calmly pulled his curtain shut, and whispered to himself,
"If they want to watch… let them."
He picked up the phone again, his thumb resting on the Survive icon.
"They're not the only ones who can watch."