The corridor became his meter.
Mark traced the same stretch of concrete again and again, counting steps, regulating breath, feeling for the edge where correction lagged and strain spiked. The emergency lights flickered overhead in a broken rhythm. He matched it.
Left.
Right.
Settle.
The heat stayed low—present, watchful.
[STABILIZATION PROGRESS: MINOR → CONSISTENT]
"Consistent," Mark said. "Not better."
[ACCURATE]
He stopped at the corridor's midpoint and rolled his shoulders. The tremor in his fingers faded after three breaths. Not gone. Managed.
"Tolerance window?" he asked.
[DEFINED]
A translucent overlay surfaced—not numbers. Bands. Ranges that narrowed and widened with posture, pace, and timing.
Mark stared. "You're showing me boundaries."
[CORRECTION: YOU ARE IDENTIFYING THEM]
He tested it.
A sudden lunge forward—too fast. The band constricted. Pressure flared behind his eyes. He eased off, slowed by a fraction, adjusted foot angle.
The band widened.
The heat dimmed.
[DEVIATION ACCEPTABLE]
Mark exhaled. "So I don't fight at the edge."
[NEGATIVE]
He frowned.
[YOU FIGHT INSIDE IT]
That clicked.
No chasing peak output. No gambling on overrides. Just controlled deviation—movement that stayed within tolerance while stealing inches, seconds, angles.
He tried again, this time imagining an opponent. Not strikes—positions. He stepped into the space where a strike would pass, rotated hips, set his weight, then stopped.
No spike.
"Do it again," he murmured.
[REPEATABILITY: HIGH]
The corridor answered with silence as Mark moved—slow, deliberate, unfinished. The correction followed like a shadow, not a leash.
Minutes passed.
Then—
Footsteps.
Soft. Distant.
Mark froze. He eased into a blind corner and killed his breathing, counting heartbeats until the ache steadied.
A shape crossed the far entrance—hooded, unhurried. Not hunting. Not hiding.
Observing.
[PASSIVE OBSERVATION: ACTIVE]
"Active?" Mark whispered.
[PARADOX ACKNOWLEDGED]
The figure paused, head tilting as if listening to the building itself, then continued past the entrance without looking in.
No pursuit.
No contact.
Mark waited until the heat settled again.
"Why not intervene?"
[INSUFFICIENT DATA]
He stood, careful not to rush. The bands widened as he aligned posture and pace. He moved to the entrance and peered out.
Empty.
Above, something thudded—metal on concrete. A maintenance hatch slammed. The station sighed.
Mark backed away.
"They're testing," he said.
[LIKELY]
"Testing what."
[YOUR RESPONSE PROFILE]
He almost smiled.
Mark returned to the corridor and changed the drill. He shortened steps, exaggerated pivots, then stripped them back to efficiency. Each time he flirted with excess, the band warned him before pain arrived.
Teaching, not saving.
"Controlled deviation," he said. "That's the rule."
[DESCRIPTOR ACCEPTED]
He leaned against the wall, feeling sweat cool on his skin. The heat pulsed once, then settled into a steady, manageable pressure.
A new line appeared—brief.
[DOCTRINE SEED: ESTABLISHED]
Mark closed his eyes.
"Seed," he repeated. "Not doctrine."
[ACCURATE]
He pushed off the wall and walked the corridor one last time. Clean. Quiet. No wasted motion.
At the far end, a maintenance locker hung ajar. Inside: old straps, a cracked helmet, and a weighted bar meant for lifting doors off rails. Mark hefted it.
Heavy. Simple.
Perfect.
[EXTERNAL VARIABLE: ACCEPTABLE]
He balanced the bar across his shoulders, tested a step, then another. The band narrowed, then widened as he adjusted grip and pace.
"Tools don't fix me," he said.
[AGREED]
"But they shape the load."
[CONFIRMED]
Somewhere above, a data stream flagged a change—not a spike, not an anomaly. A trend.
The observer paused.
Mark set the bar down and wiped his hands. His breathing was steady now. The ache behind his eyes had retreated to a dull reminder.
"Next," he said.
The system hesitated—just long enough to be noticed.
[RECOMMENDATION: CONTROLLED CONTACT]
[OBJECTIVE: DATA ACQUISITION WITHOUT OVERRIDE]
Mark nodded.
"On my terms."
The city waited.
And this time, he knew where the edges were.
End of Chapter 6