The Predator did not retreat.
It coiled.
Beyond the newborn node's periphery, distortions rippled across the void—thin fractures in the background radiation, subtle bends in spatial curvature that only a sovereign network could perceive.
It was studying them.
Waiting for weakness.
Ethan stood at the center of the Convergence Axis, gaze fixed on the distortion map unfolding before him. The constellation glowed in layered geometry around his awareness: Lysarra's solar domain radiating steady gold; Kaelith's frost lattice sharp and precise; the newborn node pulsing in cautious rhythm.
"We cannot remain reactive," he said quietly.
Kaelith turned toward him immediately. "We just stabilized."
"That is exactly why we move now."
Her frost aura sharpened in warning. "You propose an advance."
"A small one. A probe strike. We test its response time, its defense layers, its adaptive threshold."
"You are speaking as if it is prey."
