⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣
SYLVANNA — SPECIALIZED RESEARCH FACILITY, HOLDING SHELTER
COMMON THEATER — NIGHT
Dinner followed the evening meeting.
This time it came in courses.
Horn soup first. Deep and aromatic, steam curling from polished bowls.
Then spotted elk steaks, seared clean and served with roasted roots and herb oil.
Dessert arrived last. Nuteberry upside-down cake, still warm, syrup dark and glossy along the plate.
There were more guards present than before.
They stood along the walls in even spacing, armor muted, posture relaxed in a way that read rehearsed.
Smiles came easier from the staff. Beverages were refilled before anyone asked.
The survivor group ate.
Conversation stayed light.
Colt commented on the elk, asked what cut it was.
Aria mentioned the soup reminded her of a field kitchen she’d worked near the Rails.
Mae’s chair remained empty, her absence anchoring the tone in the room without needing attention.
When the last plates were cleared, Colt leaned back and folded his hands over his stomach.
“So,” he said, casual. “Any chance we can watch a movie or something?”
A few guards exchanged glances. One attendant tapped a slate.
“Of course,” she replied. “We can accommodate that.”
The survivors were led down a hall into a small cozy theatre.
Lights dimmed. Seats arranged themselves into a shallow arc facing the projection wall.
The guards remained.
A film queued up without ceremony. Something old. Action-heavy. Loud enough to cover conversation.
The survivors settled in.
Lisa took the seat beside Aria. Their shoulders touched. Neither spoke.
The film rolled.
Minutes passed.
Then Lisa closed her eyes.
Aria followed her lead, breath syncing without effort. Hands rested against the armrests, fingers relaxed, palms open.
Their summoning came quiet and internal, tuned to pressure and depth rather than force.
Aether was in motion.
Downward.
A pulse traveled through the stone beneath the facility, gentle at first.
A geological whisper.
The kind of shift Sylvanna’s natives knew well.
A single tremor, barely enough to register.
They waited.
Another followed, slightly offset. Then a third, spaced with intention.
In the soil beyond the shelter walls, the rhythm carried.
Mae must have felt it.
A reply tremor returned through the lattice, subtle but unmistakable to those listening for it. A pattern that matched theirs with imperfect timing. Human. Present.
Lisa opened her eyes.
Aria exhaled.
The movie continued. Explosions filled the room. Laughter from the screen washed over the quiet exchange that had already happened.
Footsteps approached.
The projection dimmed.
The lights rose halfway.
Director Halbert entered with three officials in tow. His hands were empty. His pace unhurried. The guards straightened.
“Enjoying the film?” he asked.
Colt glanced back. “It’s a classic.”
Halbert smiled thinly. “I’m sure.”
He stepped closer to the group, stopping short of the front row. “I’m aware of your… experiment.”
Lisa didn’t move. Aria’s gaze stayed forward.
“The tremors,” Halbert continued. “Creative. Impressive. And unnecessary.”
He folded his hands. “I admire persistence. Truly. But I’m going to ask you to stop.”
Colt was annoyed now. He readjusted his weight on the sofa, bad ankle propped up under a few pillows.
“Look man, can you blame us?” Colt tried to reason. “That’s our friend.”
Halbert didn’t miss a beat.
“I fully understand. Trust me I do.”
His words spoken like they were already in queue. ”Explorer Mae is being held–”
And before he could finish, a correction was made.
“You seem to not understand,” Kit said.
The room shifted.
Air thickened. Suffocating.
Where he sat warmth pressed outward in a slow wave.
Every breath in the room came shorter.
“We’re done asking.”
Kit stood.
The sofa creaked as his weight left it.
That was enough.
Halbert felt it before he understood it.
A pressure that made his vision go foggy, like staring straight into the twin Suns.
His thoughts scattered.
His breath hitched.
The room felt smaller.
His eyes flicked to the guards. None of them moved.
He tried to speak and found his mouth dry.
Stories surfaced without invitation.
Names spoken in briefings. Fires reduced to aftermath reports.
He had prepared himself for men like Kofi.
For legends like Kyro.
But this was worse.
Halbert couldn’t find words. His mind searched for protocol, for authority, for anything to anchor to.
There was nothing.
Colt was already leaning forward.
His ankle screamed when he shifted, but he didn’t care.
His eyes stayed on Kit.
If the kid moved, Colt would move with him.
Finally a guard reacted on instinct.
His hand went to his baton.
Halfway through the motion, Kit saw it.
His weight shifted.
Just enough.
The floor beneath his foot creaked. The sound snapped sharp in the quiet.
The guard froze and swallowed hard.
In that fraction of a second, Kit’s focus locked.
The distance. The angle. The order.
Guard first.
Then Halbert.
The thought carried weight.
Halbert understood then.
This wasn’t a threat.
The weight of the Kit’s decision pressed into the room, into the people watching.
A fifteen-year-old standing calmly inside a choice that would end two lives.
The doors slid open.
X’Omnera’s very own Dr. Vale Thorn, entered.
Mae stepped in beside him.
She crossed the room, but she didn’t run.
Hands reached her. She was real. Here.
Mae glanced at Kit. A small nod. Gratitude.
The air released.
Warmth drained away.
Kit’s shoulders dropped.
The pressure vanished.
Vale watched him with open fascination.
He was fifteen again.
Halbert found his voice now. “Doctor Thorn—”
Vale raised a hand. “We’re finished here.”
Vale smiled faintly. “I’d bet you all have a lot to catch up on. No more interruptions from us.”
He turned toward the exit. Halbert and the guards followed, shaken, relief and fear tangled in Halbert’s steps.
The doors closed.
The movie resumed but no one watched.
Vale paused in the corridor beyond, expression calculated.
He thought of Kit.
Age. Posture. Control.
The way the room had bent without him moving an inch.
Interesting.
He couldn’t help but to feel rewarded.
The Ashers were everything the stories said they were.
And the younger ones would be even easier to reach.
⟢───── Ashes × Aether ─────⟣