When the blinding light finally faded, silence crashed down like a falling tree.
The river had stilled.
The mist had vanished.
And the Hunter—
the one who had been seconds away from firing—
was gone.
Not dead.
Not wounded.
Just gone, as if the world had swallowed him whole.
Silva stumbled backward, boots skidding on the wet stones.
"What… what was that?"
The Founder lowered his arms slowly, eyes wide, face drained of color.
"Ash activated a second lock."
Palo, still holding Ash upright against him, looked terrified.
"Is he okay? Ash—Ash, talk to me."
Ash's body trembled violently, but he managed to lift his head.
The riverlight shimmer around his hands faded slowly.
"I—I didn't mean to," he whispered.
"It just reacted. Like something panicked for me."
Palo swallowed hard and pulled him closer, steadying him again.
"I felt it," he breathed.
"It hit me like an electric shock. My knees almost gave out."
Silva stared at them, stunned.
"That wasn't just a shock. The link amplified your emotions, and the lock responded by… displacing the Hunter."
The copy exhaled sharply.
"Displacing. You mean teleported him? Vaporized him? Pushed him into another coordinate?"
Silva glared at him.
"Don't say 'vaporized.' He's thirteen."
Ash flinched—
and Palo immediately tensed with him, the link dragging their emotions in sync.
"Hey," Palo whispered to Ash, lowering his voice.
"You didn't hurt anyone. He's just… somewhere else. Silva said so."
Ash nodded shakily.
But the Founder wasn't as calm.
He approached slowly, observing Ash with an expression halfway between fear and awe.
"That second lock should not have opened. Not with your state. Not with the link unstable. This is dangerous."
Palo's protective stance tightened instantly.
"Then fix it."
The Founder shook his head.
"I can't. Only Ash can control the locks. And right now, they're waking up on their own."
Ash exhaled shakily, clutching Palo's sleeve.
"Why? What triggers them?"
Silva stepped forward, voice gentle for once.
"Your emotions."
Ash froze.
"My—?"
"Your core," Silva said, kneeling to meet his eyes.
"Your locks weren't designed around logic or programming. They're tied to emotional thresholds. Panic, fear, stress, shock—anything strong can ignite them."
Ash felt his breath catch.
"That means… if I panic too much…"
The Founder finished the sentence quietly:
"…you might activate a lock neither of us can control."
Palo's grip tightened around Ash's shoulders.
"No. We're not letting that happen."
The copy rubbed his face, groaning.
"With the link, if Palo panics, Ash panics, which makes Palo panic harder—"
"A feedback loop," Silva whispered.
"One that could trigger another burst."
Ash swallowed hard.
"Then… we need to break the link."
Palo stiffened, hands on Ash's arms.
"What? No—Ash, if you break it wrong, it could hurt you. Or knock you unconscious. Or worse."
Ash lowered his head.
"But if we don't…"
Silva looked toward the forest.
"We'll have bigger problems than a link soon. That burst? It was bright. Too bright. Something else will come looking."
The Founder tensed.
"She's right. Every Node in the region will have detected it."
Ash's voice trembled.
"Then where do we go?"
Palo didn't hesitate.
"Somewhere safe."
The copy snorted.
"Safe doesn't exist for him anymore."
But the Founder stepped closer, lowering his voice.
"There is one place. The old facility—Sector Zero. The first lab. The one where you were born, Ash."
Ash's heart stopped.
"I don't… remember it."
"You weren't meant to," the Founder said quietly.
"But it's the only place with tools, backups, and systems old enough to stabilize your core without triggering more locks."
Palo turned Ash toward him gently.
"Can you walk?"
Ash nodded weakly.
"Yes… if you help."
Palo smiled a little, despite everything.
"Always."
Silva nodded once.
"Then we move. Now."
The forest around them creaked—
like something big shifting in the shadows.
The second lock's pulse had drawn attention.
Palo steadied Ash.
The link hummed faintly, but calmer now.
They stepped toward the riverbank.
Ash didn't look back.
But he felt it—
the air behind them growing colder,
the trees bending,
the system watching.
Counting.
Matching.
Preparing.
The locks inside him had awakened.
And the world had noticed.