The Spiral didn't wait.
It dragged.
Rheon woke choking on cold air, his palms pressed to smooth metal. Not his floor. Not his apartment. A metallic surface vibrated under him with the dull hum of engines.
A moving aircraft.
He jerked upright.
Dim lights.
Rows of sealed crates.
Steel walls lined with strange sigils.
And the badge on the far wall:
PROJECT: ZERO-POINT
UNAUTHORIZED ENTRY = TERMINATION
"Fantastic," Rheon muttered. "Kidnapped into a top-secret nightmare. Classic Tuesday."
His head throbbed.
His heartbeat wasn't alone.
Two rhythms pressed against his.
Two presences.
He wasn't imagining them.
"Hello?" he called cautiously. "Anyone else illegally abducted tonight?"
A cold voice answered from behind a crate.
"Shut up."
Rheon nearly jumped out of his skin.
A tall figure stepped out of the shadows—blood-streaked knuckles, bruised jaw, eyes sharp and dark.
Kael Aureli.
The same person Rheon had seen in the white void.
The Anchor.
Rheon's pulse synced immediately and painfully with his.
Rheon pointed. "You— I saw you. In that white—"
Kael's glare cut through him. "Don't touch me. Don't talk to me. I'm figuring out how to break out of here without killing whoever's piloting this thing."
Rheon blinked. "Killing? Dude—"
Kael strode closer.
Rheon stepped back.
Maybe… don't antagonize the bloody cage fighter with reality-linked rage.
The air shivered.
Both boys froze.
A soft whimper echoed from behind another storage crate.
Kael stiffened.
Rheon swallowed.
They moved toward the sound.
Slowly.
Together.
Behind the crate, curled on the metal floor, was a girl with trembling hands clasped over her ears.
Elara Mirelle.
The Resonance.
Her breathing was erratic, too fast, too thin. "Please—please stop—your hearts—your emotions—too loud—too much—"
Kael knelt instantly, expression shifting from hardened fighter to something gentler, like instinct overrode everything else.
Rheon wasn't sure why, but he felt the urge to protect her too.
The Spiral made sure of that.
"Elara," Kael said quietly, "breathe. You're overheating your resonance."
"I can't—" she gasped, "I can feel you both—like you're inside my bones—"
Rheon rubbed his temples. "Yeah, welcome to the club. We're all broken."
Elara flinched.
Kael shot Rheon a murderous look.
Rheon lifted both hands. "Hey, I'm panicking too!"
The aircraft suddenly lurched sideways.
All three tumbled.
Red lights flashed across the cabin.
A mechanical voice crackled overhead:
ATTENTION, CHAOSBORN NODES.
INITIAL MISSION PROTOCOL ACTIVATED.
NEAR-EARTH OBJECT APPROACHING. IMPACT IN 300SECONDS.
Rheon's jaw dropped. "A… what?!"
Elara's voice trembled. "They're making us stop a meteor?"
Kael stood, cracking his neck. "Then we stop it."
Rheon stared. "We?! Bro, we just met. I don't even know what node means!"
The metal floor vibrated harder. The craft angled downward fast enough to make their ears scream.
IMPACT ETA: 240 SECONDS.
Elara clutched Kael's sleeve, eyes wide. "We're going to die."
For a split second, the three of them breathed in sync—
Fear.
Panic.
Rage.
The Spiral reacted.
The air rippled.
Metal groaned.
Their heartbeats fused—one rhythm slamming through all three bodies at once.
Elara screamed as resonance surged from her chest—
a ringing frequency that made the entire aircraft shudder.
Kael grabbed Rheon before he fell.
Rheon grabbed Elara before she collapsed.
And the Spiral ignited around them.
A glowing white ring circled their feet.
Symbols rose from the floor.
The entire aircraft warped like it was bending around their very existence.
Rheon gasped. "What is happening?!"
Kael growled, voice strained. "We're syncing—"
Elara cried out as her pulse spiked. "I can't—hold—this—"
The aircraft plummeted.
The sirens wailed.
The world burned white.
And from the cockpit, a calm, emotionless voice whispered:
THE CASCADE BEGINS WITH YOU.
TRINITY RESPONSE: INITIALIZED.
The aircraft slammed into Earth's atmosphere.
All three screamed.
Then—
Black.