He’s standing. Talking...
And then, mid-sentence, something invisible just switches off inside him.
His voice stutters to a stop — not because he decides to, but because his whole system hard-freezes... mid-word. His eyes widen a fraction, like his brain just realized it’s losing control.
He sways once.
A sharp, unnatural jerk — like a wire short circuited inside him.
Then he drops.
No hands. No prep. No warning...
Just straight down.
a dead vertical drop that ends with a brutal thud as his knees slam the floor first, then the rest of him collapses forward.
His palms don’t catch him. They don’t even try.
He hits face-first, breath punching out of him in a sharp, ugly sound that barely counts as a gasp, cheek scraping asphalt.
Someone calls his name in panic.
He doesn’t respond.
A long, slow exhale leaks out of him, an uncontraollable sound, a weakened breath escaping an empty body.
One hand twitches.
Just once.
A tiny, lost signal...
Then... nothing.
People stir around him.
He stays down — out cold, knocked out of the moment.
