Kayden's breathing was uneven.Fast.Too fast.
The battlefield vision had shattered around him,but its weight still crushed his chest—the echoes of resonance,the eyes of his future self,the destruction he felt in his bones.
Alex held him close, hands steady even as his own heartbeat pounded.
"It wasn't real," Alex whispered."It was a future. Not the future."
But Kayden didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because inside him—APEX was spiraling.
Glitching.Overheating.A low, frantic hum that shook his spine.
"Operator—emotional collapse imminent—resonance destabilizing—stabilize—STABILIZE—"
Kayden squeezed his eyes shut.
"I can't—Alex—I can't hold it—"
The elevator lights flickered.A faint blue halo shimmered around Kayden's arms.
Phineas backed into the corner.
"Oh no. No no no—NOT ANOTHER SURGE—MY HEART CAN'T TAKE THIS—"
APEX's warning blared across Kayden's mind:
"Operator resonance at 84%—LOSS OF CONTROL PREDICTED."
Kayden gasped.
"Alex—I'm scared—I'm scared I'll hurt you—"
"You won't," Alex said instantly.
"You don't know that—!"
"I do."
Kayden's pulse spiked so violently the elevator floor vibrated.
And then—
The lights went white.
Not bright.
White.
The kind of white that didn't belong in reality.
Phineas screamed.
"Oh COME ON—SHE'S BACK—AGAIN?!?"
The slit appeared at the edge of the elevator—small,sharp,precise.
The Agent stepped through it as if she had been standing inches away the entire time.
Kayden froze.
Alex moved in front of him without thinking.
"Stay away from him."
This was the first time Alex had ever spoken to her without trembling.
The Agent tilted her head slightly—not at Kayden.
At Alex.
Her gaze scanned him with surgical disinterest,like evaluating a structural weakness in a building.
Then she spoke.
Not to Kayden.
To him.
"Why do you protect him?"
Alex stiffened.
Phineas stopped breathing.
Even Kayden weakly lifted his head.
"A-Alex…?" he whispered.
Alex swallowed hard.
"He's my brother."
"That is a label," the Agent replied."Not a reason."
Alex gripped Kayden tighter.
"Because he's good," Alex said, voice shaking."He's scared, and hurting, and being used, and I won't let anyone—SRD or YOU—turn him into a weapon."
The Agent blinked once.
"You interfere with his alignment."
"That's the POINT!" Alex snapped.
Kayden whimpered softly against Alex's shoulder—the resonance in him rising like a tide.
APEX screamed inside him:
"Operator losing coherence—INTERVENTION REQUIRED—"
The Agent turned her gaze to Kayden.
"Your instability increases," she observed."His presence accelerates the divergence."
Alex's voice cracked with anger.
"Why do you care?Why do you need him?!"
The Agent answered without hesitation.
"Because the future you witnessed will occurif he does not become."
Kayden flinched like he was struck.
"I'm not—I'm not going to be that—I won't—"
His resonance surged.
Blue-white static crawled across the elevator walls.
Phineas dove under a handrail.
"THIS IS NOT A SAFE WORK ENVIRONMENT—"
Alex cupped Kayden's face.
"Look at me.Not her.ME."
Kayden tried.
But the vision.The destruction.The older version of himself…
It all clawed at him.
The resonance peaked.
80%.85%.89%.
APEX was panicking.
"OPERATOR—CEASE EMOTIONAL OVERLOAD—YOU ARE APPROACHING CRITICAL MASS—"
Kayden sobbed.
"I can't—I don't want to hurt anyone—I don't want to become that—I don't want—"
The Agent stepped closer.
Alex shoved her back—even though he shouldn't have been able to touch her.
But—
She actually stepped back.
Not from force.
From recognition of intent.
Her voice sharpened.
"You cannot outrun what you are."
Kayden screamed:
"I'M NOT HIM!"
A blast of resonance detonated outward—violent, uncontrolled—shaking the elevator cabin.
But—
Alex held him.
Held him through the static,through the fear,through the shaking floor.
"Kayden—Listen to me.You're not him."
Kayden sobbed.
"You don't know—what if that's what I become—what if I ruin everything—what if—"
Alex pressed his forehead against Kayden's.
"I know who you are right now.And that version of you hasn't happened.We can change it.Together."
Kayden's resonance flickered.
Not gone.But slowing.
81%.78%.73%.
APEX breathed a digital sigh:
"Stabilization… possible."
Kayden clung to Alex like a drowning boy clutching a rope.
The Agent watched in silence.
Then—
she spoke again.
But not to Kayden.
To Alex.
"You choose a pathwith a high probability of pain."
Alex wiped tears from Kayden's cheek.
"Yeah," he whispered."I choose him anyway."
The Agent regarded him for a long moment.
Not dismissively.
Not irritated.
Curious.
As if witnessing something rare.
Then the slit behind her pulsed once.
"Your interference creates unpredictable outcomes."
Alex didn't flinch.
"Good."
Something changed in her expression.
Small.Impossible to define.
Then she stepped back through the slit—
But paused at the threshold.
"Variable."
Kayden lifted his trembling head.
"W… what…?"
"Your divergence has begun."
The slit closed.
Kayden collapsed fully into Alex's arms, sobbing and shaking.
Alex held him through every tremor.
Phineas finally exhaled after twenty seconds without air.
"That was…that was…WHAT WAS THAT?!"
APEX hummed quietly.
"Trajectories shifting.Outcome unknown."
"Good," he whispered."We'll write the outcome ourselves."
The elevator continued rising.
Faster now.
Toward whatever came next.