"You can't code chaos, Mira."
— Thorne Vex, former warlord of Earth-93
Part I: The Rift Grows
Setting: Atlas – Lower Engineering Bay
The air smells like heat and plasma. Blue sparks rain down from a torn conduit as Mira stands on a scaffold, scanning a damaged fragment of the Morphing Grid interface. She's surrounded by a web of holographic threads, each strand pulsing with multiversal strain.
Below her, Thorne leans on a pillar, arms crossed, eyes narrowed.
He's been watching for a while.
Thorne:
"You've been poking that thing for two hours. It hasn't screamed or exploded yet. That's a win, right?"
Mira (not looking up):
"It's decaying faster than we can reinforce. If we don't patch this breach, the Atlas will phase out of sync with realspace in six days. Maybe less."
Thorne (shrugging):
"So we move. Again."
Mira:
"We can't keep running. The Grid's corruption is spreading. You think you can fight entropy with a broadsword and sarcasm?"
Thorne:
"I've done worse."
Mira (coolly):
"I'm sure."
The tension crackles between them like the broken conduit above.
Thorne (pacing):
"You know, for someone so smart, you treat people like machines. Always calculating. Always three steps ahead—but gods forbid you stop and look at what's around you."
Mira (quiet, sharp):
"And you'd rather charge into every fight swinging, like pain makes you right."
Thorne's jaw clenches. He pushes off the pillar and walks toward her.
Thorne (low):
"You think I want to feel this way? You think I don't replay every world we didn't save? Every version of me I see on the battlefield, twisted and corrupted?"
Mira (facing him):
"Then use it. Strategically. Don't just feel, Thorne—think."
Their faces are inches apart now. Sparks hiss above them.
Thorne (quiet, bitter):
"And what happens when the thinking fails? When all your probabilities collapse and your code can't save anyone?"
Mira (voice cracking slightly):
"Then I grieve. Quietly. Like I always have."
A beat.
Neither speaks.
For once, the war outside pauses—and all that remains is the fracture between them.
Part II: Rooftop – Later That Night
The sky dome above the Atlas has dimmed to mimic late night. Artificial stars flicker behind thin clouds of data particles. The world feels distant. Fragile.
Thorne sits alone on the roof, legs hanging over the ledge. His gloves rest beside him. His knuckles are bruised from training too hard.
He doesn't flinch when Mira sits beside him.
No words for a while.
Just the silence.
Mira (soft):
"You were right."
Thorne:
"About what?"
Mira:
"I forget to look around."
He blinks, surprised. Doesn't gloat. Just listens.
Mira (still):
"I've spent so long trying to fix things, I stopped noticing what's already broken. Even in me."
Thorne (gently):
"You're not broken, Mira."
Mira:
"We all are. That's why Zara chose us."
Thorne chuckles bitterly.
Thorne:
"Guess that makes us the right kind of wrong."
A pause.
Mira:
"We need both. Logic. Instinct. Me and you."
She finally turns to face him. For once, her voice wavers—controlled, but human.
Mira:
"I'm sorry I act like I know everything. Truth is… I'm scared. All the time."
Thorne:
"Same."
Mira (small smile):
"You hide it better."
Thorne:
"Nah. I just yell louder."
They both laugh quietly.
A temporary peace between fire and mind.
Part III: Elsewhere — Collapsed Timeline Echo
Setting: Broken World Archive | Null Omega's Domain
Dark data flows like rivers of oil. Fragmented memories and corrupted morph echoes drift like ghosts through the ruins.
The Null Rangers stand before a grand vault—a reality echo of a timeline erased long ago.
Noxis (Null Rin):
"This one is ancient."
N-Kael:
"And locked. That means it's valuable."
Null Mira:
"Encoded. Complex. Even dead timelines still guard secrets."
Null Omega:
"Break it. Find the core. This timeline holds the Genesis Protocol."
The Null Rangers move forward.
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