The room was sealed.
Again.
Director Hale sat at the head of the table, fingers laced tightly enough to blanch. Elias Harrow stood by the projection wall, refusing to sit.
Blake Rogers was back.
His injuries had healed.
His pride hadn't.
Eli sat across from him, arms crossed, jaw tight.
The topic was singular.
Neo Zane Cole.
"If he joins Justice," an analyst said carefully, "we lose leverage entirely."
"That's optimistic," another replied. "If he joins Justice, we lose relevance."
Silence followed.
Hale exhaled. "We still have contingencies."
Eli's head snapped up. "No. You don't."
They looked at him.
"You don't have a single living plan that survives Neo deciding you're in his way," Eli continued. "Let's stop pretending."
Blake's fist tightened on the table.
"There is one avenue," Harrow said slowly.
Eli already knew what was coming.
"No," he said immediately. "Absolutely not."
Hale hesitated. That alone said too much.
"The project was banned," Eli went on, standing now. "Not postponed. Not shelved. Buried. You swore—"
"Because it was incomplete," Harrow cut in. "And because the ethics committee panicked."
"They didn't panic," Eli snapped. "They had souls. And it wasn't banned because it was incomplete, it was banned because that was the deal we had before agreeing to work with you."
The projection shifted.
Old files.
Redacted layers.
Black marks over human silhouettes.
Saint Replication Initiative.
Not imitation.
Synthesis.
Every Saint's output. Except one.
Every alignment. Except one.
Forced into a single artificial convergence.
A god made of corpses.
Eli felt sick.
"You will not do this," he said quietly. "Not for Neo. Not for anyone. We had a deal, and trust me, you cannot afford to lose two saints."
Hale raised his hands placatingly. "We're not there. We won't go that far."
"You've already thought about it," Eli shot back. "Which means you will."
Blake finally spoke.
"What if I fight him again?"
Every eye turned.
"I wasn't ready," Blake said, voice flat. "I know that now. I underestimated him. I won't make that mistake twice."
Eli stared at him.
"You lost," he said. "Easily."
Blake's jaw clenched. "I know."
"And you still want a rematch?"
Blake didn't look away. "I need one."
Not to win.
To prove something still existed where his certainty used to be.
Hale exchanged a glance with Harrow.
Eli saw it.
Fear.
Not of Justice.
Not of war.
Of Neo choosing anyone but them.
"If Neo returns," Hale said carefully, "we need him compliant."
Eli shook his head.
"You don't get him compliant," he said. "You get him voluntarily."
"And if he doesn't?" Harrow asked.
Eli's voice hardened.
"Then pray he still remembers who he refuses to abandon."
Blake said nothing.
But somewhere behind his eyes, the earth still shook.
Far away, in a city that dared to function without permission,
Neo Zane Cole walked forward—
—and the future waited to see which side would blink next.
⸻
Seraphine found me on a terrace overlooking the city.
Not the polished districts—the real parts. Streets layered with motion, light, voices. Bio-marked walking openly among civilians. No sirens. No fear. No one pretending power didn't exist.
"This place never sleeps," she said softly, coming to stand beside me.
"It doesn't need to," I replied. "It believes in tomorrow."
She smiled at that. The same smile.
Somehow, across lifetimes, she still smiled the same way.
For a moment, we just stood there. Wind moving her hair. The world pretending we were normal people catching up after too long apart.
Then she spoke.
"So, what is the story between you an this Lina person," she asked, with just a hint of a jealous tone. "I don't remember you being this passionate or defensive over anyone— I guess you really have changed."
I smiled, "she is my partner, and I always look out for those close to me, that's all you need to know."
She nods as everywhere went silent again… then with a sigh she spoke.
"I woke up first," she said. "Out of all of us."
I didn't interrupt.
"I didn't even know what I was at first. Just… pain. Too much awareness. Too much feeling." She laughed quietly, without humor. "Mercy is a cruel Saint to awaken as."
I glanced at her. She wasn't looking at me—she was looking inward.
"They found me before I found myself," she continued. "Aurelian's people. Back when he was still just… Justice. Not a ruler. Not a symbol."
She paused. "He saved me. In his own way."
That tracked. Justice always did his worst things believing they were kindness.
"I didn't join him because I believed in his vision," she said. "I joined him because I had nowhere else to stand. And because—" She hesitated, then met my eyes. "—because I was afraid you wouldn't come back."
My chest tightened. Just a little.
"But you did," she said, and there it was. That look. Unguarded. Warm. Real.
"I'm really happy, Neo. I don't care what you are now. Seeing you again… it feels like something broken finally stopped bleeding."
I looked away before she could see too much.
She noticed anyway.
"So," she said gently. "Tell me about you."
I thought about lying.
Instead, I edited.
"I have a mother," I said. "She's… everything."
Seraphine's expression softened immediately.
"The government figured out what I was," I continued. "Or close enough. So they used my mother to get to me— They didn't threaten her. They're smarter than that."
She raised an eyebrow. "Then how did they convince you?"
"They showed me futures," I said. "Scenarios. Situations where her life would be… inconvenient. Where my absence would make things worse."
Seraphine laughed—sharp, sudden. "Oh, Neo," she said, shaking her head. "You've really changed."
I looked at her. "that's the second time you've said that."
"If that had been you in our past life," she said lightly, "those people would've stopped existing before they finished the sentence."
I snorted. "I couldn't even if I wanted to."
She blinked. "Why not?"
"Because I didn't unlock everything," I said. "Didn't open up all my abilities. On purpose."
That made her go still.
"I didn't want to come back as a godlike human," I said quietly. "I wanted a normal life. School. Dumb problems. Time that wasn't measured in casualties."
I exhaled. "I wanted to feel human. Real human."
Something in her eyes melted.
Not pity.
Affection.
"…That's very like you," she whispered. "And very unlike the Saint of Wisdom."
I gave a small smile. "Turns out there's no escaping a life like ours. You can only delay it."
She sighed, the sound heavy with centuries. "Neo… about what happened. About your death—"
I shook my head immediately. "Don't."
She froze.
"That was my choice," I said calmly. "Every step of it. I'm not carrying that weight, and I'm not letting you carry it either."
Her lips parted, searching for words.
"If I were angry," I continued, voice even, "you'd already know."
I glanced back toward the city. "Aurelian wouldn't be ruling anything right now."
She laughed—soft, reflexive.
Then the chill hit her.
Because she knew I wasn't joking.
She knew what that would have looked like.
"…You're terrifying," she said under her breath.
"Only when people forget what lines not to cross," I replied.
She studied me for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"I'm glad you're still you," she said.
I didn't answer.
But for the first time since arriving in this country, I felt something close to rest.
Even if I knew it wouldn't last.
⸻
Lina poked at her drink like it had personally offended her.
They were sitting on the low wall near the riverwalk—far enough from crowds to breathe, close enough that the city noise softened into something almost comforting. Almost.
Eli watched her for a while before speaking.
"…So," he said carefully, "have you heard from Neo yet?"
The air temperature dropped five degrees.
Lina's head snapped toward him. "Wow," she said flatly. "You're an insensitive jerk."
Eli winced. "Ouch. Okay, deserved. But in my defense—"
She folded her arms, cheeks puffing slightly. "In your defense, you're friends with him. That already says a lot."
He smiled anyway. "You know, when someone reacts like that, it usually means—"
"Don't," she said quickly. Too quickly. "Absolutely don't."
Eli leaned back, hands behind his head. "You like him."
"I do not," Lina shot back, words tripping over themselves. "Who would even like someone like Neo? He's cold. He's rude. He disappears without warning. He has the emotional range of a rock."
She paused.
"…An insensitive stone-faced emotional-void rock."
Eli raised an eyebrow. "Wow. You've thought about this."
Her face heated instantly. "I— I'm just saying. And he moved. Didn't even care when we parted on bad terms. He Just— left."
That one came out quieter.
Angrier.
Hurt.
Eli's smile faded. He exhaled slowly.
He wanted to say so many things.
About pressure. About threats disguised as cooperation. About how Neo always carried more weight than he ever let anyone see.
But he didn't know how much she knew.
So he settled for honesty, the safest version.
"…Neo's bad at explaining himself," Eli said. "Always has been. Doesn't mean he doesn't care."
Lina didn't answer.
She was staring at the water now, jaw tight.
"I just hate how easy it is for him to leave," she murmured. "Like none of this mattered."
Eli opened his mouth—
—and froze.
Something shifted.
Not around them.
Through them.
Lina gasped, fingers digging into the stone as her breath hitched. "Eli…?"
The world tilted.
Neo's protocol fractured.
Not failed—overrun.
Truth didn't surge.
It corrected violently.
An invisible wave rolled outward from Lina, flattening probability like tall grass. The air shimmered. Sound lagged. Distant lights flickered as if reality itself had blinked.
Eli felt it slam into his chest.
Gravity answered Will instinctively—his power flared, anchoring him in place as his eyes widened.
"Oh no," he breathed.
Lina doubled over, clutching her head. "I—I didn't mean to— I just—"
Her aura ignited.
Not bright.
Absolute.
No color. No distortion. Just clarity so sharp it hurt to perceive.
Across the city—across the country—sensors spiked, alarms hesitated, then screamed.
And in Axis State—
Damon stopped mid-step.
His phone slipped from his hand as he turned toward the source, eyes narrowing, breath shallow.
"…That's not an ordinary anomaly," he whispered.
He felt it in his bones.
In the way causality bent around her instead of responding to her.
Saint-level.
Undeniable.
"Justice," he murmured. "You need to know this."
Back by the river, Eli was already moving, kneeling in front of Lina, hands hovering helplessly.
"Lina," he said urgently. "Listen to me. You need to calm down. Now."
"I can't," she choked. "Everything feels—wrong. Like the world keeps lying and I can't stop hearing it."
Eli's heart sank.
Because he knew.
The government felt it.
He stood, scanning the skyline.
"They're going to come," he said quietly. "And this time… they won't pretend."
Lina looked up at him, fear finally breaking through the confusion.
"…Neo," she whispered. "Where are you."
Eli clenched his fists.
"Yeah," he said grimly. "I know."
And somewhere far away—
Neo Zane Cole felt a familiar, dreaded sensation crawl up his spine.
Not danger.
Exposure.
And this time—
He hadn't been there to stop it.