The rail yard emerged from the fog like the skeleton of a forgotten city, its towering supports and rusted tracks half-buried in scrap metal. Despite the late hour, dozens of children were scattered across the yard. They kicked broken drone casings, drew shapes in the dirt, and played among the derelict freight cars. One small boy spun slowly in circles, gazing up at the hanging cables as if they were stars.
None of them reacted when Squad Nine approached.
Zeri slowed her pace. "Okay, that's weird."
Darian stepped closer, scanning the yard. "Something's off. They're completely ignoring us."
Ravion watched the scattered groups with visible irritation. "Unsupervised. Untrained. Undisciplined."
"They're kids, Ravion," Zeri muttered.
Darian's gaze drifted across the sprawling depot. There were too many blind corners and derelict structures where something could hide. Then, he felt it again—the same faint pull of Essence winding through the yard. His eyes narrowed.
"It's the same trail from before," Darian said quietly. "It leads here. We need to split up."
Ravion frowned. "Unnecessary."
"Actually, very necessary," Zeri argued, gesturing across the yard. "Look at this place. Whatever is going on could be anywhere."
Ravion's expression hardened as he looked at Darian. "Fine. I will accompany him." The words sounded like a concession forced through clenched teeth. "Someone must ensure the mission remains efficient."
Zeri snorted, not bothering to hide her amusement. "Try not to murder each other while I'm gone." She turned her attention to a group of children kicking a metal plate across the dirt. "Hey," she called out, approaching them. "You guys shouldn't be here this late. It isn't safe."
The children didn't respond. One girl simply laughed at a private joke, and the group suddenly darted off, chasing the metal plate deeper between the freight cars.
"Hey, wait up!" Zeri followed, squeezing through a narrow gap between two rusted containers.
The space opened into a dark storage room inside a collapsed depot building. Zeri stopped, letting her eyes adjust to the gloom. The children were nowhere to be seen. Instead, the room had been converted into a makeshift shelter. Threadbare blankets and empty ration tins littered the floor.
A figure shifted weakly in the shadows.
Zeri froze, instinctively reaching for her weapon, but paused when the person looked up. It was an exhausted civilian, their clothes grimy and their eyes hollow with fatigue.
"You…" the figure rasped, shrinking back against the wall.
"Don't move," Zeri said, keeping her voice steady and her hands visible. "I'm not going to hurt you."
The figure let out a dry, broken sob. "I just came to get my child. They told us they would be safe here..."
Meanwhile, Ravion and Darian moved deeper into the rail yard. The fog thickened between the abandoned train cars, muting the groan of settling steel. Neither spoke for several minutes until Ravion broke the silence.
"You should not be leading missions," he stated abruptly.
Darian kept his eyes forward. "Noted."
"Do not pretend you misunderstand," Ravion pressed, his voice sharpening. "Silas was better suited."
Darian's expression didn't change. "We're not having this conversation."
"We already are. You think I cannot see it?" Ravion stepped closer, his grip tightening on his spear. "Zeri may not see it, but I see the cracks. You hide your trauma behind a performance, Darian. When that performance fails, people will die. I will not allow that."
A slow, rhythmic clapping echoed from somewhere above them.
Both men looked up instantly. A man stood atop a rusted freight car, looking down at them. He wore a coat stitched together from mismatched fabrics and trailing wires, his wild white hair framing a face dominated by a cracked cybernetic lens over one eye.
He smiled pleasantly. "Wonderful."
Ravion's spear snapped up. "Identify yourself."
The man tilted his head like a curious bird. "And who might you be to give orders here?" His mechanical eye flickered, scanning their uniforms. "Ah. POND." His smile widened into a smirk. "Now that's interesting."