By the time Kael emerged from the vault, the sky was darker. Ash drifted heavier now, mixing with a cold drizzle that turned everything to muck. He pulled his hood low and moved quickly, weaving through the ruins, mind buzzing with what he'd seen and what he'd felt.
He couldn't unsee it. Couldn't unknow it.
The memory the book had given him was still pulsing behind his eyes like an afterimage burned into his brain. Cities of light. Then flame. Then something... else. It wasn't just knowledge. It was like the truth had touched his bones.
But what the hell was he supposed to do with it?
His boot slipped on a loose stone, and he caught himself on the wall of a half-collapsed pharmacy. He'd taken maybe ten more steps when a low hum filled the air a familiar sound that froze the blood in his veins.
Drones.
Kael ducked behind a broken pillar, heart hammering. Three black orbs swept overhead, scanning beams slicing through the ash like lances. Enforcer scouts. And if the drones were here, the boots wouldn't be far behind.
Too close to the vault.
Had they followed him?
He moved carefully, sticking to cover. The rain masked some of the sound, but his movements felt too loud. Too obvious. His breath caught as the first Enforcer emerged from the alley behind him.
Black armor. Full visor. No markings.
Kael didn't run. Not yet. He waited, hidden in the wreckage of a burned-out tram car. Another Enforcer stepped into view, then another. Three. All moving in silent formation. One held a scanner, its display flickering with red pulses.
They weren't here randomly.
They were tracking something.
He cursed under his breath. The book. The memory. The vault had warned him they'd know. Knowledge leaves a mark. Maybe it had done more than that.
Then one of them spoke.
"Echo pattern detected," the voice said synthetic, genderless. "Residual imprint consistent with Class-3 cognitive exposure."
Kael didn't understand all of it, but he caught the tone.
They weren't looking for someone. They were looking for him.
He crept backward, breath slow, eyes scanning for an exit. He couldn't lead them to Ryn. Couldn't lead them to the vault.
A loose bit of concrete shifted beneath his foot.
The Enforcer nearest him turned instantly, weapon raised. Kael ran.
Gunfire erupted behind him silent bolts of plasma slicing into the walls. Kael sprinted down a narrow corridor of rusted beams, zig-zagging, leaping debris. The first drone darted low, scanning.
He hurled a rock at it. It missed but it bought him seconds.
He turned hard into a basement stairwell and ducked through a hatch he'd used once during a scav run. The tunnel beneath led through the old water systems twisting and half-flooded, but it came out near the old train lines. If he made it there, he had a chance.
Behind him, footsteps. Not running. Pacing.
They weren't in a rush. They were confident. Hunting.
Kael pushed harder.
He slipped once in the water, soaking his gloves, then pulled himself up onto a maintenance path. He could see the end of the tunnel now daylight creeping through the cracks. He surged forward
—and slammed into someone.
He hit the ground hard, teeth clacking. A shadow loomed over him, lean and cloaked in gray.
"Kael?" the voice whispered. "You idiot. What did you do?"
Ryn.
He grabbed her arm. "Enforcers. Close."
Her expression darkened. No more sarcasm.
"Come on."
They ran together, fast and silent, weaving through a maze of forgotten passageways. Ryn knew the city like a ghost, moving through spaces most people didn't know existed. Within minutes, they'd emerged into the back of a shattered building lined with black-market vendors. The air smelled like fried oil and rust.
Noise. Smoke. People.
It wasn't safe, but it was invisible. For now.
They slipped into a supply hut, breathless.
Kael sank to the floor. "They were waiting for me."
"No," Ryn said, shaking her head. "They were waiting for someone. You just happened to be the one dumb enough to go looking."
Kael laughed bitterly. "Thanks for the support."
She sat across from him, more serious now. "What did you find?"
He looked at her for a long time.
Then he told her everything.
The vault. The Keeper. The book. The visions. The pain. And the feeling—like something ancient had been unlocked in him.
When he finished, she was quiet.
Then: "You touched a living record," she said. "You survived. That means something."
"It means I'm a target."
"It means you're different now."
They sat in silence for a moment, the distant murmur of the market filtering in through the walls. Somewhere nearby, music played—an old melody, full of static.
"Ryn," Kael said, finally. "What do I do?"
She looked at him, and for once, her face was bare of irony. Just resolve.
"We fight back."
Kael blinked. "With what? Books?"
She smiled slightly. "With truth. With what they fear most. If they're hunting you, it's because you have something they can't control. That makes you dangerous."
A beat.
"Good," she added. "It's about time we were."
Outside, the Enforcers fanned out into the market, scanning every face.
Kael watched from the shadows, heart pounding. He was in it now whether he wanted to be or not.
And the truth, once known, could not be unwritten.