Ash felt the spark shift inside him. Not painfully, not violently , but with a strange, deliberate pressure that made the hairs on his arms rise.
Silva's voice was tight.
"He's dividing a portion of the remnant's signal from the main core. That's the first step toward externalizing."
Palo looked horrified.
"Externalizing? You mean… leaving Ash's body?!"
"No," Silva said quickly.
"Not yet. He's just testing the boundary. Seeing what he can push through."
Ash swallowed.
"So he's learning where I end… and where he might begin."
The Founder stepped closer, eyes fixed on Ash's arm.
"Tell me what it feels like."
Ash closed his eyes.
Inside, the spark wasn't warm this time.
It was focused.
Condensed.
Like a thought trying to break shape.
"It feels like pressure," Ash whispered.
"Like someone pushing a hand against a glass wall."
Palo stiffened.
"And if the glass breaks?"
Silva shot him a look.
"It won't. Not at this stage."
But the Founder wasn't as certain.
"Depends on how strong his instinct is."
Ash opened his eyes.
"What do you mean by instinct?"
The Founder answered calmly, too calmly.
"A remnant that gains identity will act on its first instinctive goal: survival. If Zero-B believes separation is necessary to survive, he'll attempt it no matter the boundary."
The spark pulsed again, harder.
Ash inhaled sharply.
Palo stepped forward.
"Ash? Are you okay?"
Ash nodded, but his hand trembled slightly.
"It's not painful… just intense. Concentrated."
Silva checked her tablet.
"The partition is growing. He's isolating a very small piece , a fragment of his awareness."
The Founder's voice deepened.
"He's testing the possibility of existing independently."
Ash felt the new fragment forming like a second presence, small but bright, pressing forward.
"He's trying again," Ash whispered.
The pressure rose, then..
A sudden spark of cold air swept across the clearing.
Palo jumped.
"What was that?!"
Silva's head snapped up.
"That wasn't environmental. That was reactive."
The Founder went still.
"He interacted with the surroundings."
Ash's pulse quickened.
"With the environment? How?"
Silva stared around them, disbelief spreading across her face.
"He brushed against the external magnetic field. That tiny fragment of signal… it reached outside you."
Ash's breath caught.
"You mean he touched the world."
Palo looked around nervously.
"Is that dangerous?"
Silva pressed her lips together.
"Not directly. But it means he's gaining reach."
The Founder's tone was low.
"And reach is the first step to manifestation."
Ash felt another pulse but this time, the fragment pulled away from the main spark.
Like a hand slipping out of another's grip.
Ash gasped softly.
"He's separating again."
But the fragment hit an invisible barrier, Ash felt it clearly, like something refusing to let it go.
A soft recoil.
A quiet tremor.
Almost like a discouraged sigh.
Silva lowered her tablet.
"He tried… and failed."
Palo leaned over Ash's arm.
"He okay?"
Ash nodded slowly, though his heart hammered.
"Yes. But he's frustrated."
Silva looked startled.
"You felt that?"
Ash nodded.
"It wasn't emotion exactly… but the intention behind it. A desire to succeed. And the disappointment when he didn't."
Silva whispered,
"He's developing internal motivation."
Palo blinked.
"He wants things now?"
"Yes," Silva said.
"And that's extremely significant."
Ash felt the fragment rejoin the main spark.
Softly, gently, like returning home.
The warmth spread again.
Then...
A new pulse.
Not probing.
Not testing.
Choosing.
Ash stiffened.
Silva stared at the reading.
"Oh no."
Palo panicked.
"WHAT?! What now?!"
Silva looked at Ash in shock.
"Ash… he's not trying to separate anymore."
Ash swallowed.
"Then what is he doing?"
Silva lifted her gaze, voice trembling.
"He's linking more deeply instead."
Ash's blood ran cold.
"He's… binding?"
"Yes," she breathed.
"He's forming a secondary anchor inside you."
The Founder's face darkened.
"That means he's made a decision."
Palo stared.
"What decision?!"
The Founder looked Ash in the eye.
"Zero-B has chosen to develop… attached to you."
Ash froze.
"Attached meaning…?"
Silva answered softly.
"Meaning he doesn't want distance. Not yet.
He wants closeness. Stability. You."
The forest wind stilled.
The spark inside Ash pulsed, ..slow, sure, confident.
Palo whispered:
"He chose his identity path."
Ash's voice dropped to a whisper.
"What path is that?"
The Founder answered:
"One built around you as his center."