From the rooftop above the laundromat, Priya knew the night sky cold. So she spotted it at once: a tiny blue dot inside Cassiopeia's crooked W, sitting where nothing should be. She checked her star atlas twice, then three different apps. The dot was real to her eyes and to her phone, but it wasn't on any map. Her hands went cold. New stars don't just show up overnight.

Priya grabbed her telescope and aimed it at the blue dot. Up close, it didn't twinkle like a real star. It held perfectly still and pulsed, slow and steady, like a heartbeat. That wasn't natural. She started counting the pulses, hunting for a pattern.

While she counted, the blue dot suddenly winked out. Gone. Priya held her breath. Ten seconds later it blinked back on, a little to the left. It wasn't a star at all. It was moving, and it had noticed her watching. She slowly lowered the telescope, heart pounding.