The next trial began under stormlight.
Outside the dome, snow fell in heavy, silent sheets, muffling the world beyond Haven-9. Inside, the Crucible glowed with harsh white light and the metallic scent of ozone.
Briar stood among the team as Commander Rex paced before them, his boots echoing across the steel floor. "Today's objective: containment. You're facing a high-output energy entity derived from ion residue. Capture it alive. Kill it, and you fail."
He glanced at Briar, letting the words sink in.
Solis stood in the observation booth above, silent behind glass. Briar could feel his eyes on him.
Lyra nudged his arm gently. "You've got this."
"Sure," he muttered. "What could go wrong?"
Seren adjusted her gauntlets, her expression calm but distant. "Just follow my lead."
"I thought this was a team exercise," he said.
"It is," she replied. "That's why I lead."
The simulation field shimmered, transforming into a broken industrial complex under a crimson sky. Wind howled through steel beams. Somewhere in the distance, something screamed — high-pitched and mechanical.
"Contact east sector," Eira reported, her voice calm despite the dread curling around every word.
They moved in formation — Lyra and Seren at the front, Nova and Briar covering flanks, Eira maintaining psychic scan. The creature appeared moments later, crawling from the ruins — a mass of violet tendrils flickering with unstable energy. Its form shifted constantly, part machine, part living storm.
"It's absorbing the field energy," Seren warned. "We need to contain it before it overloads the simulation grid."
Briar raised his hand, instinct guiding him. The inhibitor pulsed in warning, the surge instantly stifled. He felt the familiar burn of suppression crawl across his chest. "I can't get a lock!"
"Then stay clear," Rex's voice snapped over comms. "Don't risk another meltdown."
Briar gritted his teeth. "We don't have time for restraint!"
"Restraint is the reason you're still breathing."
The creature lunged. Lyra's shield flared gold, deflecting the strike. Seren countered with a burst of ice that froze half its body mid-motion, while Nova blinked across the field to strike from behind.
For a moment, it worked — until the creature adapted. Its tendrils erupted outward, shattering the ice, throwing the squad off balance. One caught Eira's leg, dragging her toward the center.
"Eira!" Seren shouted.
Briar didn't think. He ran forward, ignoring Rex's command. The inhibitor screamed against his chest, electricity searing through him. He grabbed the tendril with both hands, forcing energy outward. Blue light flashed — for one heartbeat, his power broke through.
The tendril exploded.
So did the rest of the field.
A wave of pure energy tore through the dome, hurling everyone backward. Consoles shattered, alarms blared, the simulation collapsed in static and light.
When the world came back into focus, the dome was smoke and ruin. The creature was gone — vaporized. The team lay scattered across the wreckage.
Solis's voice cut through the static. "Emergency shutdown! All systems offline!"
Briar pushed himself up, chest burning, the inhibitor half-melted against his skin. "Everyone okay?"
Lyra groaned nearby. "Define okay."
Nova coughed from behind a fallen beam. "Next time, let's not explode the entire training field."
Eira sat up slowly, dazed but alive.
Then he saw Seren.
She stood in the center of the wreckage, face streaked with soot, eyes fixed on him. "You disobeyed orders," she said quietly.
"I saved her life."
"You risked all of ours!"
Her voice cracked like a whip. "You can't keep doing this, Briar! You don't listen, you don't trust anyone, and you nearly killed us!"
He stared at her, stunned. "I—"
She turned away. "You don't belong on this team."
Rex entered through the smoke, helmet under his arm, eyes cold. "She's right. Until you can control yourself, you're off the roster."
Briar stepped forward. "You can't—"
"Watch me," Rex said. "Report to Solis for evaluation. Effective immediately, you're grounded."
The others said nothing. Even Lyra looked away.
The silence hurt more than the burns.
Hours later, the base medbay hummed softly under dim lights. Briar sat on the edge of a bed, the charred remains of the inhibitor laid out beside him. Solis worked quietly, scanning the device.
"It overloaded," the doctor said finally. "You pushed past its threshold. You're lucky you didn't tear yourself apart."
"Lucky," Briar said bitterly. "Is that what we're calling this?"
Solis looked up. "You're not ready."
"I'll never be ready if you keep caging me."
"I'm not caging you, Briar. I'm keeping the world safe from you."
Briar stood, every word cutting deeper than the burns. "You think I'm a threat. Just like them."
"You're more than a threat," Solis said quietly. "You're an evolution neither side understands. And if you keep letting emotion drive you, you'll destroy everything you're trying to protect."
Briar turned away, fists clenched. "Maybe I already have."
That night, the mess hall buzzed with hushed conversation. Seren sat across from Rex, both of them reviewing tactical footage.
"He's unpredictable," she said. "If the ions return, one mistake like that in the field could cost us all."
Rex nodded slowly. "He's a danger to himself. But if Solis ever finds a way to stabilize him…" He smirked faintly. "We might not need to fight this war at all."
Seren's eyes flicked toward the dark window where snow swirled outside. "Power like his shouldn't belong to anyone."
Across the hall, unseen, Briar watched them from the shadows. The burn marks still crawled across his skin, glowing faintly beneath the bandages.
He turned away, walking into the cold night air, the sound of wind drowning out everything behind him.
Out beyond the walls, the sky flickered with faint violet light — not lightning, but something moving above the clouds.
The ions were watching.