The forest swallowed them the moment they escaped the ruined chamber.
Cold air rushed in, stinging Ash's lungs and clearing the last traces of static from his mind.
But the glow beneath his skin stayed.
Palo stayed close, one hand lightly pressed against Ash's back to steady him as they hurried across the forest floor.
"Ash, are you sure you're not hurt? You're shaking."
Ash nodded, though it wasn't entirely true.
"I'm… not injured. Just overwhelmed."
Silva jogged ahead, scanning the treeline for signs of structural collapse from the underground facility.
"We need distance. The backup grid could blow any second."
The Founder followed last, strangely silent for once, eyes fixed on Ash's wrist like it was a living equation refusing to be solved.
After several minutes they reached a clearing where the air was still and quiet.
Palo sat Ash down on a fallen tree and crouched in front of him.
"Okay," Palo said softly.
"Slow breaths. What are you feeling now?"
Ash closed his eyes.
Inside him, the faint pulse answered. Slow, steady, distant but undeniably present.
"It feels like… someone knocking from far away," Ash murmured.
"Light pressure. Not painful. Just… trying to stay connected."
Silva stopped pacing and stared.
"You're describing active signal behavior. That means whatever he left behind isn't dormant."
Ash opened his eyes, heart heavy.
"He doesn't feel scared. He doesn't feel lost. Just… small. And trying to grow."
The Founder rubbed his temples.
"That is exactly what terrifies me. Copies were never designed to rebuild from fragments. If Zero-B is reconstructing himself, we are entering completely unknown territory."
Palo scoffed.
"Unknown for you. Not for Ash."
Ash looked at his wrist again.
The light had dimmed, but it still pulsed faintly, a heartbeat trapped under skin.
He whispered.
"Zero-B didn't come back to harm anything. He came back because he chose to."
Silva sat beside him, voice softening.
"Can you tell if he knows where he is?"
Ash shook his head.
"No. Not yet. He's… like a spark drifting inside dark water. He doesn't see the world. He sees me. Only me."
The Founder's brow furrowed deeply.
"That isn't just connection. That's imprinting behavior."
Palo stood quickly.
"No. No more of that. Don't talk like he's malfunctioning."
"I'm talking about science," the Founder said quietly.
"And science says a fractured consciousness should not be able to imprint on its own."
Silva frowned.
"What are you suggesting?"
The Founder hesitated.
Then said what none of them expected:
"I don't think Zero-B imprinted on Ash."
Ash's heart thudded once, hard.
Silva blinked.
Palo stiffened.
The Founder continued slowly:
"I think… Ash imprinted on him."
Silva's eyes widened.
"That's impossible. Ash is the template—he's the source. The imprint pattern always flows outward, never the other way."
"Unless," the Founder said, voice heavy,
"Ash's mind wasn't passive during synchronization. Unless he reached back."
Ash felt the world tilt for a moment.
"Reached back…?" he whispered.
The Founder looked directly at him.
"You said you grabbed Zero-B's arm inside the link—when the system tried to pull him away."
Ash nodded slowly.
"Yes. I didn't want him to disappear."
"Exactly," the Founder said.
"You held him. You anchored him. A template's anchor is the strongest binding force in the entire project."
Silva let out a breath of disbelief.
"That means Zero-B didn't return because of the system."
Palo finished the thought in a whisper:
"He returned because of Ash."
The forest went completely quiet.
Ash stared down at his glowing wrist.
He hadn't meant to anchor Zero-B.
He hadn't meant to influence anything.
He'd just been afraid of losing him. Terrified of the silence the world might have if Zero-B vanished completely.
Ash whispered:
"…I pulled him back."
The Founder nodded.
"Yes. And now you're connected in a way no protocol ever predicted."
Silva went pale.
"That means the spark isn't just rebuilding."
Ash looked up, pulse quickening.
"What is it doing?"
Silva answered softly.
"It's responding to you."
The lockband pulsed again. This time stronger, like something inside was testing its strength, pushing against the darkness, trying to grow into a shape.
Ash's breath caught.
Zero-B wasn't gone.
He was waking.