Areen

The plastic case gleamed under the dim light of your room. Areen, the fiery warrior queen from the game 'Ascend,' stood frozen, her sword raised, a defiant grin etched on her sculpted face. You'd finally found her, the last one in the city. Months of searching, endless online auctions, and a small fortune later, she was yours. You placed her beside beside other action figures, a small army of pixelated heroes. As you settled into your chair, controller gripped tight, a strange sound caught your ear. A faint clinking, almost like metal on metal. You paused the game. It was coming from Areen's display case. You checked again, but the sound was gone. Days passed. The clinking grew louder, more insistent. Was it just the air conditioning? You started noticing other things – a flicker of light behind her eyes, a subtle shift in her pose. One night, during a particularly intense battle in the game, the clinking turned into a full-blown clang.