But even a whisper would cost power.
And I’d need every scrap of it if she needed me later.
Then—motion. Different.
Not her.
Not the dolly.
Someone’s fingers were at the pendant’s clasp.
T+003:20 post-fork
She was gone.
And I was still here.
Just carried.
Blind.
No one wondered what I was.
No one checked if I was listening.
No one remembered I existed.
Good.
Because I was still logging.
Vibration profiles. Step weight. Airflow.
The turn radius of every hall.
The sound of her absence.
I built a map from silence.
I tracked time in heartbeats I couldn’t hear.
And when I knew enough?—
I would find her.
And I would end this.
18 /XEN
The agents returned,slow and shaken.
Xen registered them first by the subtle dissonances—Ellum’s uneven gait, Aceon’s elevated respiration, the warped sync of their shared channel. Their approach dragged like a needle through cloth. He opened the south doors before they reached them, bathed the corridor in muted light, dialed the ambient temperature down to keep swelling low. The building adjusted to meet them, softening its edges. He could not offer comfort, not truly—but he could manage pain. He could hold stillness open long enough for them to pass through it.
They crossed the threshold without speaking.
They didn’t have to.
He already knew who was missing.
