Aurelia saw Rangers three times that week.
Once on a public screen above the transit station. Once in person, sealing off a collapsed roadway. And once in her dreams—standing perfectly still, armor gleaming, faces hidden behind identical visors.
They were always calm. Always synchronized. Always approved.
At school, her teacher called them heroes. Children argued over favorite colors and symbols, reenacting battles with toy figures that snapped together cleanly, predictably.
Aurelia didn't play.
She watched.
System, she thought during recess, her gaze following a Ranger patrol drone drifting overhead. Why are they allowed to act openly while others aren't?
[QUERY ACCEPTED]
Rangers are sanctioned defenders operating within regulated parameters. Their power usage aligns with Custodian-approved stability thresholds.
Her fingers tightened around the fence she leaned against.
And if they're wrong?
The system hesitated—barely, but enough for her to feel it.
Deviation rates are statistically minimal.
That wasn't an answer.
Later that day, she saw Eli again.
He sat alone on the school steps, knees pulled to his chest, staring at the sky like it owed him something. Aurelia approached quietly and sat beside him without asking.
"You ever notice," he said suddenly, "how they always show up after things break?"
She blinked. "You don't like Rangers."
"I don't dislike them," Eli replied. "I just don't trust anyone who needs permission to save people."
Her golden eyes widened.
That night, the city experienced a minor blackout.
Nothing dramatic. No alarms. No evacuation. Just a rolling darkness that shut down streetlights block by block. Aurelia stood at her window, unease crawling up her spine.
System, she whispered. Scan for threats.
[SCAN LIMITED — GRID INTERFERENCE DETECTED]
That had never happened before.
Below, emergency drones hovered uncertainly. Ranger units mobilized—but slowly, awaiting authorization. Protocols delayed response by seconds.
Seconds mattered.
Aurelia's attention snapped to the street corner.
Eli was there.
She didn't know why she recognized him immediately—but she did. He stood frozen, eyes darting, posture tense. Then he moved—away from the nearest shelter.
Straight into danger.
Aurelia felt the Grid stir.
[INTERVENTION RECOMMENDED — USER RISK ACCEPTABLE]
No, she thought sharply. Not yet.
Eli tripped as the pavement cracked beneath him. A sinkhole—small, sudden, deadly. Aurelia ran.
She didn't call power.
She reached.
The world bent—not visibly, not dramatically—but enough. She grabbed Eli's arm just as the ground gave way, hauling him backward. They hit the pavement hard, breathless, unharmed.
The sinkhole swallowed the space where he had stood.
Sirens wailed. Rangers arrived seconds later, sealing the area.
Too late.
Eli stared at the crater, shaking. "That wasn't an accident."
Aurelia didn't answer.
Because she felt it now—cold, precise, distant.
Not the Grid.
Something watching.
Far beyond the city, the Custodian updated its assessment.
Non-powered anomaly exhibits destabilizing survival behavior.
Indirect correction authorized.
The blackout ended. Lights returned. Rangers declared the situation resolved.
No one noticed the pattern.
Except Aurelia.
That night, she sat on her bed, fists clenched.
System, she asked quietly. Did you know that would happen?
Outcome probabilities included elevated risk for Subject: Eli Calder.
Her chest tightened. "You didn't warn me."
Intervention thresholds were not exceeded.
She looked at her hands—small, trembling.
"They waited," she whispered. "Didn't they?"
The system did not deny it.
For the first time since her rebirth, anger flared—hot and sharp and human.
"They would have let him die," she said. "Because it fit."
Silence.
Aurelia made a decision she did not log, did not ask permission for, did not explain.
"If they only protect what's approved," she said softly, "then someone has to protect what isn't."
Far away, something ancient marked her trajectory as dangerous.
At six years old, Aurelia Voss stopped believing that sanctioned heroes were enough.
And the Custodian began preparing for escalation.