Kael didn't move for a while.
The cold floor beneath him felt better than the pain blooming through his side. His breathing was slow. Measured. Forced. The metallic taste in his mouth hadn't gone away.
He touched his ribs gently.
Bruised. Maybe cracked.
Worth it.
His jacket was torn, half-seared away where the Nullborn had struck him. Dried blood streaked the corner of his jaw, but he was still breathing.
That was new.
He sat up slowly. The world spun once—then steadied. His body was wrecked, but something deeper inside him felt… clearer.
Like a fog had lifted.
He reached into his bag and pulled out the frame core.
Still warm.
The device—now cracked along the edges—blinked once, then dimmed. The screen displayed fractured code across the surface. One line stood out:
SYNC LEVEL: 6%
MEMORY INTEGRITY: UNSTABLE
FRAME STATUS: COMPATIBLE… FOR NOW.
"For now," Kael muttered. "Sounds about right."
He tucked the core away, shakily rising to his feet.
He needed out of Zone Three. Fast. That fight had been loud, and if the Nullborn could track him by heat or movement… more would come.
He slung his bag over his shoulder, wincing.
Pain was good. It meant he was still in one piece.
Two Miles North – Surveillance Grid 12
The rain hadn't touched this part of the city yet. It hovered in clouds above the buildings, coiling like smoke trapped under glass.
Juno Virell sat on the edge of a rooftop, silent as the city below.
Her headset blinked green, picking up seismic distortions from the old zone.
"You felt that?" came a voice through the comm.
She didn't answer.
Of course she felt it.
The shockwave. The sync burst. The brief surge of Valiant code resonating through the dead grid.
It shouldn't have been possible. Not without a server.
And yet…
She watched a pulse-map on her arm display. One red dot glowed in Sector 3—still faint, still recent.
Juno narrowed her eyes.
Someone had reactivated a frame.
Someone reckless.
"I'm going to find him," she said flatly.
The voice on the comm hesitated. "You're not authorized to—"
"I wasn't asking."
She stood, cloak fluttering behind her.
Underground Transit Tunnel – Mira Kaen
Music played softly through the broken speaker on Mira's bike.
She didn't care what song it was. It just filled the silence between her thoughts.
The tunnel around her was dark, flickering with residual sparks from long-dead rails. The air stank of rust and old oil. But her bike—cobbled together from four different corp-models—glided smoothly down the tracks.
Then her earpiece clicked once.
Ping detected.
She slowed.
Her display showed a flash of red resonance. Not Nullborn. Something cleaner.
She leaned forward, curious.
"Another Valiant woke up," she whispered. "You poor bastard."
Her fingers slid into her coat, brushing the soft lines of her own dormant frame core.
It hadn't responded yet.
But it would.
And she'd be ready.
Back in Sector Three
Kael limped down the cracked stairwell of an old tech center, using the railing for support. His bag was heavier now. Every step sent a jolt through his side, but he forced himself down another level.
There was a maintenance access point below.
A way out.
A way to vanish.
He paused on the third landing when he heard footsteps above.
Fast. Heavy.
Shit.
Kael yanked open the side access door and ducked into a narrow service hall. The lights buzzed above, flickering in rhythm with his pulse.
He wasn't alone anymore.
He could feel it in his skin.
His armor might've faded—but the connection was still there.
And so was the danger.
Something was tracking him.
Something that didn't sound like a Nullborn.
This was different.
Juno stopped at the top of the stairwell, eyes scanning the scuffed floor.
There. Prints. Fresh blood. Partial data smear.
"Found you," she said under her breath.
She unhooked her rifle and descended, every movement clean. Controlled. Like she'd done this before.
Because she had.
Her own frame hadn't synced yet.
But that didn't mean she was unarmed.
Kael turned the corner and froze.
A figure stood at the end of the hallway, weapon lowered, eyes hidden behind a reflective visor.
"Stop right there," the figure said.
"Not happening," Kael replied, tightening his grip on his bag.
"I'm not your enemy," the voice added—female, sharp, deliberate.
"Then maybe stop aiming at my chest?"
A pause.
The barrel lowered slightly.
"I felt your frame wake up. You're new."
"No shit."
She stepped forward.
"I need to examine your sync status. You could be unstable."
Kael narrowed his eyes.
"You think I'm gonna just hand over the only thing that kept me alive back there?"
Juno didn't flinch.
"If you stay unmonitored, your mind could corrupt within days. That armor changes people."
Kael raised his voice, teeth clenched.
"Yeah? Good. Let it change me."
They stood there, ten feet apart.
Neither ready to trust.
Both unwilling to back down.
Then the wall behind Kael exploded.
A second Nullborn burst through the side corridor.
Bigger. Smarter. It didn't glitch—it roared.
Kael dropped, instinct kicking in. His core flared to life in his pocket, but he was too slow.
Then a single shot rang out.
The Nullborn's head snapped back, sparks bursting from the entry wound. It stumbled.
Juno was already reloading.
"Move," she said.
Kael ran.
Together, they fell back down the stairwell, the Nullborn screeching after them.
Kael's heart pounded. His armor wasn't ready. He was bruised, bleeding, limping.
And this wasn't over.
It was just the second sync.