After the Hive was repelled, Kael sat with Nightwing in the med bay.
"They called me Omega Host," Kael said quietly. "What does that mean?"
Nightwing's eyes were unreadable. "It means someone out there built you for more than survival. They built you to conquer."
Kael's hand clenched. "Then why do I want to protect people?"
"Because you're human, too," Nightwing said. "Raised by someone who cared. You're not your code. You're your choices."
That night, Kael wrote the word "Omega" across his training gloves.