Aerodyne never forgot the day the bells rang free.
The Guild was broken, its machines scattered to rust. The people rebuilt their homes, their streets, their lives. But in the heart of the city, one workshop remained shuttered, its windows gathering dust.
Inside lay a single object: a clockwork heart sealed within a glass case, its gears forever still.
Each year, on the anniversary of the battle, the bells tolled not for victory but for memory. For the girl who gave her breath, her light, her laughter, so that the city might live.
And for the man who loved her—who never again left that workshop, save to wind the bells in her name.
Time moved forward, as it always does. But for Adrian Locke, the world had stopped at the last tick of her heart.
And in that silence, love endured.