Elyon woke up choking.
Dust filled his mouth and nose. His chest burned as he coughed, rolling onto his side. The ground beneath him was cold and hard. Broken concrete pressed into his back.
For a moment, he didn't know where he was.
Then the pain came.
His head throbbed. His ribs hurt when he breathed. His left arm felt numb, like it wasn't fully his.
He groaned and forced his eyes open.
The underground station was ruined.
Large pieces of the ceiling had collapsed. Bent metal beams hung at strange angles. One side of the platform had fallen into darkness, disappearing into a hole too deep to see the bottom.
The lights were gone.
Only a few emergency strips glowed weakly, casting long shadows that moved when he blinked.
Elyon tried to sit up.
Something pulled at his wrist.
He looked down.
A thin metal band circled his left arm, just above the wrist. It wasn't tight, but it was solid. A faint blue line ran along its surface, pulsing slowly, like a calm heartbeat.
"What… is this?" he whispered.
—VITAL STATUS: STABLE—
The words appeared inside his head.
Clearer than before.
Closer.
Elyon froze.
"No," he said. "No, you don't get to talk like that."
The band warmed slightly, as if reacting.
He yanked at it. It didn't move.
Panic rose in his chest. He pulled harder, ignoring the pain in his arm.
Nothing.
The band stayed exactly where it was.
"Get off me!" Elyon shouted, his voice echoing through the broken station.
No answer.
Only silence.
And then—footsteps.
Slow. Careful.
Elyon's heart jumped. He pushed himself up, ignoring the pain, and backed away until his shoulder hit a broken pillar.
A shape moved through the shadows.
The man from before stepped into the weak light.
His coat was torn now, dust-covered. A crack ran across his visor, but it still glowed faintly.
"You're awake," the man said.
Elyon clenched his fists. "You did this," he said. "You put this thing on me."
The man glanced at the band. "I stabilized you. If I hadn't, you'd be dead."
"I didn't ask for help."
"No," the man agreed. "You never do."
Elyon felt anger burn through the fear. "Then take it off."
The man shook his head. "I can't."
That answer hit harder than Elyon expected.
"You can't," Elyon repeated. "Or you won't?"
"Both," the man said calmly. "It's bonded now."
Elyon stared at him. "Bonded to what?"
The man hesitated.
That scared Elyon more than any answer.
"To the system that noticed you," the man finally said.
Elyon laughed, sharp and bitter. "You keep saying things like that. System. Disturbance. Event. You talk like I'm not a person."
The man stepped closer. "Right now, you're not just a person."
Elyon's stomach twisted.
"Who are you?" he asked quietly.
The man paused, then said, "You can call me Kael."
Elyon nodded slowly. "Then listen, Kael. I didn't want any of this. I didn't choose it."
Kael's visor turned slightly. "You chose to pick up the coin."
Elyon flinched. "You know about that?"
"I know more than you think," Kael said. "And less than I'd like."
The static stirred again, light but present.
—CHOICE CONFIRMATION: TRUE—
Elyon grabbed his head. "Stop. Please."
Kael watched him carefully. "It's talking to you more clearly now, isn't it?"
Elyon didn't answer.
That was answer enough.
They left the station through a service tunnel Kael opened with a device Elyon had never seen before. It scanned the door, paused, then unlocked it like the system had decided to allow it.
That bothered Elyon deeply.
They emerged into the streets hours later. Night had fallen again. The slums looked the same as always—dirty lights, tired people, noise that never stopped.
But Elyon felt exposed.
Every sound felt closer. Every movement felt important.
The city pressed in on him from all sides.
"People will feel it," Kael said as they walked. "Not clearly. Not yet. But something about you will feel wrong to them."
Elyon swallowed. "So what happens now?"
Kael looked ahead. "Now, you survive."
"That's it?" Elyon asked. "No answers? No fixing this?"
"There is no fixing," Kael replied. "Only control."
Elyon stopped walking. "I don't want control. I want my life back."
Kael turned to face him. "That life was already killing you."
The words hit too close.
Elyon looked away.
They walked in silence after that.
As they passed through a crowded street, someone bumped into Elyon's shoulder. A normal accident.
But Elyon felt it.
A sudden pull in his chest. A sense of imbalance.
The man who bumped him stumbled, almost falling.
Elyon grabbed him without thinking and pulled him upright.
The man stared at him, confused. "Uh… thanks."
Elyon let go quickly, heart racing.
I didn't push him, Elyon thought.
I adjusted him.
The thought terrified him.
Kael watched everything.
"You felt that," Kael said quietly.
Elyon nodded. "I didn't want to."
"Intent still doesn't matter," Kael replied.
They reached a safehouse hidden between two abandoned buildings. From the outside, it looked empty. Inside, it was reinforced, shielded, and silent.
Kael locked the door behind them.
"You stay here tonight," Kael said. "No noise. No wandering."
"And tomorrow?" Elyon asked.
Kael hesitated. "Tomorrow, we test."
Elyon's blood ran cold. "Test what?"
"How much damage you can do," Kael said honestly. "And how much you can stop."
Elyon backed away. "I'm not a weapon."
"No," Kael agreed. "You're worse."
Elyon clenched his jaw. "Why are you helping me?"
Kael looked at him for a long time.
"Because the last time this happened," Kael said slowly, "we chose wrong."
Elyon felt the weight of those words.
Before he could ask more, the band on his wrist pulsed sharply.
Pain shot up his arm.
—EXTERNAL SCAN DETECTED—
—OBSERVATION PROTOCOL ACTIVE—
Kael's head snapped up. "We've been found."
Elyon's heart pounded. "By who?"
Kael's hand went to his weapon. "By something that doesn't make mistakes."
The lights in the room flickered.
Outside, drones hummed closer.
And deep beneath the city, ARK-01 finished aligning its focus—
not on the city,
not on the past,
but on Elyon's next choice.
The door began to melt.