[Empty Fleet Central Ship — Hold — Day 56 — 5:48 AM]
Dawn arrived with the ocean calm.
The seven Empty Fleet ships were in position — not attacking, waiting. The same silence they had maintained since the previous day, black hulls in the water.
Alex descended into the hold with Emily.
The captain was already there.
He had spent the night there, probably hadn't slept but also hadn't tried to fall asleep, sitting in front of the containment sphere, his attention fixed.
He looked at Alex when he came down.
He didn't say anything.
He didn't need to.
---
[F4 — pre‑activation — 5:52 AM]
Seraph on the ladder.
"Ready?" said Seraph.
"Yes," said Alex.
"Corruption?"
"F1 at ninety‑one. F4 at sixty. F5 at twenty‑five."
"The most stable threshold you've had in weeks." Seraph. "Use it."
Alex looked at Daren in the sphere.
At the channel that F4 in his chest maintained with the previous F4 — residual, faint.
He activated F4.
[F4 — 30% — active]
