The night was unusually quiet.

The summer wind drifted lazily through the streets, carrying the scent of damp earth after an evening drizzle. Every house glowed with warm yellow lights while the distant barking of stray dogs echoed through the neighborhood.

On the terrace of one of the connected family houses stood Elena, seventeen, leaning against the railing with a bottle of cold juice in her hand.

Beside her was her cousin and best friend, Nina, also seventeen.

The two had grown up together. Different schools, different classrooms, but the same childhood.

"So..." Nina sighed dramatically. "Guess who failed chemistry again?"

Elena laughed.

"Don't tell me."

"I did."

"You studied for exactly... what? Five minutes?"

"Four."

They burst into laughter.

"You are impossible."

"And you're boring," Nina teased. "All you do is study and play cricket."

"I don't only study."

"Oh really? Then what?"

"I sleep."

"Wow. Such an exciting life."

Both girls laughed again.

The clock inside Elena's house chimed.

9:00 PM.

The neighborhood below them was still alive. Children chased each other near the corner shop. A fruit vendor pushed his cart slowly down the road while couples walked beneath the streetlights.

Everything looked...

Normal.

Then—

FLASH!

An unbelievably bright white light exploded from somewhere below.

The entire terrace lit up for less than a second before darkness returned.

"What was that?" Elena whispered.

Nina blinked.

"I... I don't know."

Both girls hurried toward the edge of the terrace and looked down.

The street looked ordinary again.

Then...

FLASH!

This time they clearly saw where it came from.

"The camera..." Elena murmured.

The security camera fixed on the streetlight pole.

It moved.

Very slowly.

It turned...

Left.

Then right.

Then left again.

"...Did you see that?" Nina asked nervously.

Elena didn't answer.

Security cameras weren't supposed to move like that.

Not that much.

The camera suddenly stopped.

Its black lens pointed directly at a man walking with his phone in his hand.

The lens began glowing.

A tiny red circle formed inside it.

"What is it doing?" Nina whispered.

The glow became brighter.

Brighter.

BRIGHTER—

ZZZZZT!

A blazing red laser shot across the road.

The beam struck the man's phone.

BOOM!

The phone exploded into hundreds of tiny burning pieces.

The man screamed.

"My phone!"

People around him jumped back in shock.

"What the—"

"Did it explode?"

"Battery blast!"

"No! That came from the pole!"

Another person quickly raised his phone.

"I'm recording this!"

"No, don't—"

Before anyone could stop him...

The camera rotated.

Its movement was smooth.

Almost...

Alive.

The glowing red light returned.

"No..." Elena whispered.

ZZZZZT!

Another laser.

The second phone shattered instantly.

Pieces of glass rained onto the pavement.

The crowd froze.

"What is happening?"

"The camera!"

"It's attacking!"

"No way!"

Someone else lifted their phone.

"This has to be fake."

The camera turned toward him.

Almost...

Like it had heard him.

It fired.

The phone exploded before he even managed to unlock it.

People began screaming.

"RUN!"

Everyone scattered in every direction.

Cars screeched.

Children cried.

The fruit vendor abandoned his cart.

Within seconds the busy street became chaos.

Elena grabbed Nina's arm.

"We have to tell everyone!"

But Nina couldn't move.

She was staring at the camera.

"It..."

"What?"

"It looked at me."

"What?"

"It looked right at us."

A chill crawled down Elena's spine.

The camera slowly tilted upward.

Toward the terrace.

Toward them.

The glowing lens reflected the moonlight like a giant black eye.

For one endless second...

It simply stared.

Neither girl breathed.

Then...

The lens dimmed.

The camera rotated away as if nothing had happened.

Nina finally inhaled.

"I don't like this."

"Me neither."

Below, frightened people gathered again.

One teenager carefully pulled out another phone.

"I'll post this online."

"No!" another shouted.

"Don't!"

"It's proof!"

He aimed the camera toward the pole.

The security camera froze.

Its lens suddenly focused.

A strange mechanical clicking echoed through the street.

Tick...

Tick...

Tick...

"What is that sound?" Elena whispered.

The teenager pressed Record.

Nothing happened.

He laughed nervously.

"See? It's—"

Without warning...

The security camera detached itself from the pole.

Metal bolts snapped one after another.

CLANG!

It floated.

No wires.

No support.

Just hovering in midair.

Every person on the street stood frozen.

"What..."

The camera slowly rotated.

Small metal wings unfolded from its sides.

Like the blades of a drone.

The rotors spun faster.

WHIRRRRRR...

"It's flying..." Nina whispered, unable to believe her own words.

The camera shot into the sky.

People screamed again.

It flew straight toward the teenager holding the recording phone.

He tried to run.

Too late.

The camera stopped directly above him.

Its red eye glowed.

"No! Please!"

ZZZZZT!

The laser struck the phone.

It exploded into molten fragments.

The boy dropped to his knees.

"My phone!"

The camera hovered silently for a few seconds.

As if...

Checking something.

Its lens blinked once.

A tiny mechanical voice emerged from somewhere inside.

"Recording detected."

Everyone froze.

The voice continued.

"Evidence removed."

Then...

The camera turned toward the terrified crowd.

"Witnesses identified."

A long silence followed.

The drone-camera rose higher into the night sky.

Without another sound...

It disappeared into the darkness.

Only the faint hum of its propellers remained.

Elena felt her hands shaking.

"Nina..."

"...Yeah?"

"We're not telling anyone."

"What?"

"No one's going to believe us."

Nina looked back toward the empty street.

People were already arguing.

"It was a drone!"

"No! It was hacked!"

"It was fireworks!"

"The phone batteries exploded!"

Everyone had a different explanation.

Everyone...

Except them.

Far above the clouds...

A tiny red light blinked once.

Watching.

Waiting.

Remembering every face.

And somewhere deep inside the machine...

A list began to grow.

Target Log Updated.

Witnesses Found: 27

Priority Observation: Elena.

Priority Observation: Nina.

Mission Status: Secret Must Be Preserved.