Silence crushed the chamber.
Everyone saw it.
The broken skyline.
The dark clouds.
And the boy standing across the portal.
Kai.
Not exactly.
His posture was different. Straighter. Colder. His clothes were darker, almost like a combat coat. One eye faintly glowing silver.
Renn swallowed. "Tell me I am hallucinating."
Theo whispered, "That is not reflection. That is spatial overlap."
Bouncy was mid air inside the portal light, frozen for half a second like time had paused.
The other Kai tilted his head slightly.
Then he smiled.
Not friendly.
Knowing.
The portal flickered violently.
Lucan stepped forward, blade half drawn. "Step back."
The silver haired man from the Bureau did not move. His eyes were locked on the image.
"Parallel harmonic imprint," he murmured.
Mira's fingers trembled. "It feels wrong."
Inside the portal, the other Kai lifted his hand slowly.
A Riftborn shape formed behind him.
Large.
Winged.
But controlled.
Not attacking.
Obedient.
Renn cursed. "That is not normal."
The chamber shook.
The portal began collapsing from the edges inward.
Kai instinctively reached forward.
"Bouncy!"
Time snapped back into motion.
Bouncy shot out of the portal and slammed into Kai's chest.
The opening slammed shut like glass shattering.
Darkness returned.
The glowing platform dimmed instantly.
Cracks stopped spreading.
Dust settled.
Everyone stood frozen.
Theo was the first to speak. "That was not a random event."
Lucan turned sharply toward the Bureau man. "You knew."
The silver haired man's calm expression had cracks in it now.
"We suspected harmonic reflection. We did not expect full manifestation."
"Reflection?" Renn snapped. "That thing looked solid."
Kai stood still, staring at the empty air where the portal had been.
He could still feel it.
Like a thread stretching somewhere far away.
The other him had not looked surprised.
He had looked… patient.
Suddenly the tunnel behind the Bureau agents exploded inward.
Stone shattered.
A massive shape crashed through.
Not Riftborn.
Not human.
A mechanized beast with plated armor and glowing red core.
Theo stared. "That is academy tech."
Lucan's eyes darkened. "No. That is private sector."
Behind the mechanical beast stepped a tall woman in a fitted black combat suit. Long braided hair. Confident grin.
"Well," she said cheerfully. "Looks like I arrived right on time."
Renn blinked. "Who is she now?"
The woman gave a lazy salute. "Name is Vexa. Independent retrieval specialist."
Lucan's jaw tightened. "You are trespassing."
Vexa shrugged. "Everyone here is."
The mechanical beast roared and charged forward.
Chaos erupted.
Lucan's hunters moved instantly.
Renn's bear slammed into the machine, claws scraping metal.
Sparks flew.
Aria's hawk darted for Vexa's face.
Vexa snapped her fingers and a small floating drone intercepted it mid air.
Theo grabbed Mira and pulled her behind a broken pillar.
"Stay low!"
The Bureau agents did not engage immediately.
They watched.
Observing.
Kai clenched the shard.
The machine turned toward him.
Its red core pulsed brighter.
"Target confirmed," it said in a metallic voice.
Kai did not remember machines speaking.
Great.
Renn's bear was knocked aside, skidding across stone.
The machine lunged.
Kai rolled barely in time.
The claw smashed into the floor where he had stood.
Stone shattered.
Bouncy bounced onto the machine's head and began slapping it rapidly.
The machine paused.
"Minor anomaly detected."
"Minor?" Renn shouted. "He is saving your life!"
Vexa laughed from the side while deflecting Lucan's blade with a wrist mounted shield. "I like the blob."
Lucan moved fast, slicing at the machine's leg joints.
Sparks burst again.
The machine adjusted, recalibrating.
Kai felt the shard heat up.
He focused.
Not forcing.
Listening.
The red core pulsed.
He felt a rhythm.
Not the machine's.
Something else.
A frequency inside it.
Theo yelled from behind cover, "It is powered by modified resonance crystal!"
Of course it was.
Kai stepped forward instead of back.
The machine swung again.
He raised the shard.
For one second, the red core flickered.
The machine froze.
Vexa's smile faded. "That is new."
The machine turned its head slowly toward Kai.
"Override detected."
Kai did not understand how.
But he held the shard steady.
The red light shifted to faint blue.
The machine stopped moving.
Completely.
Renn blinked. "Did you just tame a robot?"
"Temporary alignment," Theo shouted. "Do not celebrate yet!"
The Bureau agents finally moved.
One of them raised a slim device and scanned the frozen machine.
The silver haired man looked thoughtful.
"His harmonic range is expanding."
Vexa stepped back casually. "Well. That changes things."
Lucan turned sharply toward her. "Who sent you?"
She grinned. "Let us just say some people do not like the Bureau getting all the toys."
More footsteps echoed from the destroyed tunnel.
Not one.
Many.
Mercenaries again.
Different uniforms this time.
Heavier gear.
One of them shouted, "Secure the asset!"
Renn groaned. "How many factions are there?"
"Too many," Lucan answered.
The frozen machine suddenly reactivated.
But this time it did not attack Kai.
It turned toward the incoming mercenaries.
Its core now glowing blue.
Then it fired.
A concentrated blast knocked three mercenaries backward instantly.
Everyone paused.
Vexa blinked. "Well. That is inconvenient."
Kai did not command it consciously.
But it moved in sync with him.
The mercenaries spread out and returned fire.
Energy bolts ricocheted across the chamber.
Aria pulled Mira toward the side exit tunnel.
Theo followed.
Lucan barked orders to his hunters.
The Bureau agents stepped back, shielding themselves.
Vexa vaulted onto a pillar and fired compact energy shots into the mercenary line.
She was laughing again.
"This is fun!"
Renn joined Kai, breathing hard. "So what is the plan?"
"I do not have one," Kai replied honestly.
The machine stood beside him like a silent guard.
The mercenaries regrouped quickly.
One of them aimed something larger.
A launcher.
Lucan saw it first. "Down!"
The projectile flew.
It hit the ceiling above the platform.
The explosion was deafening.
The roof began collapsing.
Chunks of stone crashed down.
The blue core machine shielded Kai instinctively.
Debris slammed into its metal frame.
Dust filled the air.
"Retreat!" Lucan shouted.
Vexa jumped down beside Kai. "You are popular, kid."
Kai coughed, pulling Mira toward the side tunnel.
The machine followed.
Behind them, the chamber began to cave in fully.
Mercenaries scrambled.
The Bureau agents vanished into the dust without a word.
Lucan's hunters withdrew in formation.
As Kai reached the tunnel bend, he glanced back once.
Through the falling debris, he thought he saw the silver haired Bureau man watching him calmly.
Not worried.
Interested.
Then the ceiling collapsed completely.
The tunnel ahead was dark and narrow.
The machine's blue core provided faint light.
Renn panted. "Please tell me that thing is staying friendly."
Kai did not answer.
Because in the reflection of the machine's core, for a brief second, he saw it again.
The other him.
Standing behind him.
Watching.
Smiling.
And this time, the reflection did not disappear.