The rage in Kiran's heart burned like a forge. Seeing Liam, his brother, reduced to a hollow vessel, fueled a fire he hadn't known he possessed. He wouldn't let Dr. Koval get away with this. He watched her every move, the guards, the silent machinery. His body still ached, but the "seed" within him pulsed with a newfound strength, almost a readiness. He felt the cold touch of its power, but now, he tried to mold it, to guide it, rather than simply unleash it.
During Koval's rounds, he noticed a tiny, almost invisible crack in the reinforced glass of his cell. It was small, but it was a weakness. He began to subtly focus the seed's energy, not on the glass directly, but on the air particles right next to it, making them vibrate at an incredibly high frequency, slowly weakening the glass from the inside. It was a painstaking, silent process, a testament to his growing control. He thought of Elena, hoping she was safe, hoping she was somewhere far away with the Eclipse Codex book. He couldn't hear her thoughts anymore, but a flicker of hope came from a deeper place.
Later that day, Koval returned, her face etched with a rare hint of frustration. She studied the screen showing Liam, then looked at Kiran, a strange mix of triumph and doubt in her eyes. "He resists," she murmured, almost to herself. "The anchor point. It wavers." Kiran's heart hammered. Liam was fighting, even from within his prison. This was his brother's spirit, refusing to be fully broken. It gave Kiran a fierce surge of determination. If Liam could resist, so could he.
That night, under the cold, watchful eyes of the cameras, Kiran focused the "seed's" power one last time. He poured everything into that tiny crack, feeling the energy flow, guiding it with a precision he hadn't thought possible. With a soft ping, the crack spider-webbed further, a faint line stretching across the glass. It wasn't enough to break it, not yet, but it was a start. He smiled grimly. He was fighting back, one invisible tremor at a time. Miles away, Elena, hunched over the Eclipse Codex book with Liam's name glowing faintly on its page, felt a sudden, electric jolt, a flash of pure, defiant resolve echoing in her own mind. It was Kiran. He was alive. He was fighting. And together, even separated, they had a chance. The next phase of their long, dangerous journey had truly begun.