Kael sat alone in the hallway just outside the shelter.
No lights. No backup hum. Just the sound of dripping water echoing through rusted pipes.
He turned the frame core over in his hands again and again. It pulsed faintly now—barely there, like a flicker of breath. It wasn't rejecting him anymore.
But it wasn't embracing him either.
His sync hadn't worked.
He'd been helpless in the fight.
If Mira hadn't stepped in—
If Ryke hadn't blocked that strike—
If Juno hadn't closed the distance—
You would've died, again.
And they would've watched it happen.
He gripped the core tighter.
Inside the safehouse, the others weren't talking much.
Mira sat on the floor, legs crossed, running a tool across her drone's shell.
"You all right?" she asked without looking up.
Kael didn't answer at first.
Then, softly: "Yeah. Just thinking."
"Dangerous habit."
He leaned against the wall.
"That guy we fought. The corrupted one…"
Mira paused. "What about him?"
"He said the suit doesn't care about right or wrong. Just intent."
Now she looked up.
"And you're wondering if he was right."
Kael stared at the floor. "I'm wondering what kind of person I have to be for this thing to finally work."
Juno spoke from the far corner, where she was adjusting the sharpened edge of her blade.
"Someone alive."
They both turned toward her.
She didn't look up, just kept working.
"The Frame doesn't respond to ideals. It responds to survival. Pain. Will."
Kael studied her, searching for something past the cold edge.
"You've synced before, haven't you?" he asked.
A pause.
Then, quietly:
"Yes."
Mira's eyes narrowed.
"When?"
"Before I met any of you."
Kael sat forward. "And?"
Juno slid the blade back into its sheath.
"I nearly killed someone I cared about. The Frame didn't stop me. It only asked if I wanted to finish the job."
The silence that followed landed hard.
Mira looked away.
Kael didn't speak again.
Later, as they each broke off for rest, Ryke sat alone near the shutter gate. His armor was powered down, but his hands remained wrapped in frame tape, still stained with residue.
Kael approached slowly, not sure what to say.
Ryke answered before he could speak.
"You're hesitating," he said.
Kael frowned. "About what?"
"Yourself."
Kael let out a breath.
"What if I'm not built for this?"
Ryke didn't move. Just said:
"Then the suit will make you into something that is."
"That easy?"
"No. Never is."
Kael stared at the cracked wall ahead of them.
"You don't talk much."
"You talk enough for both of us."
Kael let out the softest laugh—barely there.
And for the first time, Ryke allowed the corner of his mouth to twitch. Just a little.
Across the city, deep in the Null zones, another pulse went out.
But this one wasn't from a Frame.
It came from the Obelisk Core.
And something woke up when it hit.
Something that remembered Kael's name.