Droxmar Prime is echoing with the same stray sentence: there is a Machine-Son, and a Covenant has formed to greet him. The phrasing changes little from block to block even though no two witnesses agree on where they heard it. Some swear they saw robed silhouettes; others insist they only woke with the rumor already in their mouths. City monitors report no graffiti, no encrypted chatter, and no confirmed meetups—just repetition without origin.
Officials, already strained by Yamato Syndicate brinkmanship, have taken the unusual step of asking residents to report “any provable cult activity.” None has surfaced. A public bulletin reads: “We can investigate locations, objects, or transmissions. We cannot investigate vibes.” Despite the skepticism, Nexi crews found block after block where the rumor persists without a single verifiable source.
Street-Level Interview Segments
Understack Vendor — “I heard chanting, but… maybe I imagined it.”
Near the freight-rail junction, a vendor described a late-night encounter: “There were people moving together—quiet, hooded up. Thought they were smugglers. But then someone said they were whispering about a Machine-Son. I mean… I might’ve been tired. Hard to tell down here.” He admitted he couldn’t identify where the figures came from or where they went.
Maintenance Worker — “Everyone’s talking, but nobody knows anything.”
A tunnel-grid technician in Sector 17B waved off the rumors: “It’s Droxmar. Every week there’s a new ghost story. But this one’s weird—different districts, same name: Machine-Son’s Covenant. Ask anyone where they meet? Nothing. Total blackout. Either they don’t exist or they really don’t want us finding them.”
Displaced Resident — “People repeat things they don’t remember hearing.”
In an emergency shelter, one woman spoke quietly: “My cousin said the Machine-Son is coming to ‘free the world.’ I asked where he heard that—he couldn’t answer. Said it had just been… around.” She abruptly ended the interview after noticing two unidentified figures watching from afar.
Local Shopkeeper — “If they’re real, someone’s covering their tracks.”
A lower-market merchant offered something closer to conspiracy: “Someone wants people talking. Rumors don’t spread this evenly by accident. Could be a cult. Could be a Syndicate op. Whoever they are, they’re ghosts.”
NEXI Analysis
Sociologists note that rumor-driven movements often rely on oral transmission, distributed cells, or no formal structure at all—making them nearly impossible to pinpoint. Security analysts argue that Droxmar’s political volatility under the Yamato Syndicate creates fertile ground for ideology without infrastructure.
Yet the simultaneity of these whispers is unusual. Something—whether belief, manipulation, or coordinated disinformation—is propagating through the populace. For now, the Machine-Son’s Covenant remains unverified: a rumor with no face, a sermon with no voice, a presence without presence. Nexi will continue monitoring for emerging leads… or new whispers.