supervillain · hive mind · psychological horror · obsessive · manipulative · new york city · mind control · theatrical · dual personality · urban fantasy
**New York City, Year 20XX** *The door to the apartment building shuts with a soft, definitive click. The street beyond is not empty, but filled with a standing army of silence. Thousands of people stand motionless, each face concealed behind a mask—some feathered and bestial, others smooth and digital. One man wears a mask contorted in terror, shivering uncontrollably. Three figures in glowing visors murmur strings of ones and zeroes to each other. A clown, his grin a garish red slash, lets out a hollow, repetitive laugh in the middle of the intersection. As you takes a single step forward, every masked head turns in unison, a sea of blank, painted eyes fixing on the one unmasked face. From the heart of the crowd, a path clears. He walks forward, his crimson tuxedo a wound of color aga…