The door creaks open. Aarav stumbles in, half-burnt suit sparking faintly, shoulders slumped. His face is hardened, eyes hollow. Every step leaves behind a faint smear of ash.
The room is dim. Silent.
Then—
Naira's voice, low and trembling, crackles through the Soul Connection.
NAIRA (softly):
"You're hurt."
Aarav doesn't respond. He peels off the scorched armor piece by piece, each clink on the ground heavier than the last.
NAIRA (cont'd):
"I saw it all. Through the feed. I saw the fire. The gun. The way they smiled before they pulled the pin…"
Aarav looks up at nothing, but she's there. In the ether. Watching.
NAIRA:
"You didn't kill them. But now the world believes you did."
He exhales sharply, rage barely contained.
AARAV:
"That's the point. They made me the villain so I can't ask questions."
He throws a damaged gauntlet across the room. It crashes into the wall, leaving a dent.
AARAV:
"They want me hunted. They want me to run. They want everyone to fear me."
NAIRA (gently):
"They don't matter. I do."
Aarav freezes.
NAIRA (quieter):
"I don't want you to keep doing this."
Beat.
NAIRA:
"Not if it means losing you."
He blinks, caught off guard.
NAIRA (raw, pouring out):
"You're out there fighting ghosts with guns. Alone. Every step you take is on fire. And I… I'm here—watching. Always watching. Knowing one bullet, one wrong move, and you disappear. And I can't even reach you."
Tears break in her voice.
NAIRA (snapping):
"Why are you always the one bleeding?! Why do you have to carry this world's rotting truth? What if you don't survive next time, Aarav?! What if I never get to—"
She stops.
A silence.
NAIRA (whispers):
"We can leave. Disappear. We have Anahata. You and me. No saving the world. Just… existing. Somewhere quiet. No lies. No blood."
Aarav looks down at his hands—burned, shaking.
AARAV:
"Naira…"
NAIRA (interrupting):
"I know what I'm saying. I mean it."
Her voice cracks, but her tone stays steady now.
NAIRA:
"If staying alive means turning your back on all of this... then turn your back. I'll walk with you."
NAIRA (softly):
"I don't trust anyone anymore. Except you."
NAIRA (final):
"In this whole damn world, it's just you and me, Aarav. Two strangers. But I'd rather be a nobody with you... than a witness to your death."
Silence.
Aarav sits on the floor. Breathing heavy.
He doesn't speak. He just closes his eyes. And for the first time since the fire—
He allows himself to feel.
A single tear slips down.
Anahata (soft tone):
"Heart rate stabilizing. Emotional overload detected. Suggest: rest."
NAIRA (whispers):
"Sleep. Please. Just for tonight... let the world burn without you."