Kane was calm.
Art directed him into the conference room.
Jean was already seated.
Her eyes paused on him.
"New look?"
Kane looked at her.
She held his stare for a moment.
She then looked away.
"Sit."
Kane took a seat next to Art.
His hand gently resting on his core.
Elaina arrived shortly after.
The room was still.
Breathing was faint.
Kane observed the seriousness on each member.
The air tightened.
Footsteps approached --- measured, unhurried.
The door opened.
A leader entered.
The others rose without hesitation.
"Sit."
The four sat down.
Kane was still.
His eyes settled on Kane.
"05. You're an anomaly."
Kane fingers twitched.
He continued.
"But, anomalies are needed for disruption."
He took his seat at the table.
He sat tall and placed closed hands on the table in front of him.
"You were saved. You were healed. Now you will contribute."
He leaned slightly forward.
Kane stared blankly into his eyes.
A shattered memory flooded Kane's thoughts.
It was different.
Not cold.
Not painful.
Gentle.
A voice--- distant, humming.
"... repay ...kindness ... Kane."
The fragment broke.
Kane's mind became empty.
"You were kind."
His eyes did not waver
"I'll repay that."
The man leaned back.
"Good."
He pressed a button on his chair arm.
Multiple green screens appeared in the center of the room.
"You will enter Maker's City Lab district and board the civilian train headed for Maker's City."
A yawn broke the silence.
His jaw tightened.
"Quiet."
The room stilled.
"This train carries void cells sued to sustain Maker's City. We need three of them."
He let out a short breath.
"Any questions?"
Art raised her hand. He signaled her to speak.
"Why exactly do we need these cells?"
The man sipped the coffee that Jean hap prepared for him before he entered.
"Research. Any other questions?"
Jean raised her hand
"Are all of us present going?"
He put his mug down.
"Yes. Elaina, Art and Kane will board the train in disguise. Grimm and Jean will act as support from the rendezvous point. Anything else?"
His fingers tapped once against the mug.
Elaina threw her hand up.
He exhaled through his nose.
"So what is Kane's purpose for going exactly?"
He was taken aback because she asked a good question for once.
"A test. And to that end, we need to know what he offers."
He turned his attention towards Kane.
"So what can you do?"
Everyone looked at Kane.
Kane's attention drifted inwards.
Towards something quiet.
Something distant.
"Nothing."
Art was the first to interject.
"Arthur, with all due respect, sending Kane is wrong."
Arthur sipped his coffee.
"And?"
Art's eyebrows frilled.
"We don't know what his desire is. Even he might not know it either."
Kane snapped his attention on Art
Desire.
That word moved his stillness.
"What is desire?"
Art was surprised at his question.
Arthur put his mug down.
"Desire is the heart's longing made visible.
When longing becomes alignment, it manifests."
Kane centered his eyes on Arthur.
"What do you long for?"
Kane looked down at his hands.
His empty sight had been directed to them.
"I don't know."
Arthur thought to himself.
There is more to him.
Because of Her.
Time stopped.
No one moved.
Each member recalled the feeling of his power.
Arthur finished his coffee.
"This meeting is over. Jean take them to Tremor."
Jean stood up.
"Yes Sir."
Jean directed them towards Tremor's workshop.
Her stride softened as they approached the mechanical door.
She turned the knob.
The door opened.
Scrap metal and dismantled machinery filled the space.
Unfinished devices.
Spare components.
Tools suspended mid-project.
"Tremor? Are you Here?"
Clink.
Clank.
The sounds of tinkering lingered deep within.
The sounds intensified with each step.
Jean lead them to Tremor's desk.
Tremor was focused.
Immersed in his work.
Jean stopped them from going any closer.
His veins lit with a faint blue glow.
Blueprints unfolded in the air before him.
Kane was not watching Tremor.
He was watching something within himself.
Tremor wiped his forehead.
The blue hue faded.
There.
It was complete.
His vision, realized.
Grimm smiled.
Art pondered.
Elaina looked amazed.
Kane's eye lids opened slightly.
Jean softly tapped Tremor on the shoulder.
"You have visitors."
Tremor turned his chair around.
"Your masks are done."
He reached behind him and handed Art and Elaina their masks.
"Test them over there."
He pointed them away.
Grimm followed.
Tremor turned towards Kane.
His eyes ignited again.
But he wasn't looking at Kane.
He was looking through him.
Past flesh.
Past Bone.
Into something hollow.
Cold.
There was nothing there.
No pulse.
No current.
Only depth.
Tremor drifted closer.
Something stirred.
Not hostile.
Not startled.
Aware.
A fissure.
It did not rush him.
It did not lunge.
It opened.
And in that opening—
Judgment.
A pressure pushed against his consciousness.
Leave.
The fissure sealed.
Tremor stumbled back.
Rejected.
Cold sweat gathered at his brow.
His breath was shallow and quick.
His hands trembled.
No one moved.
Grimm's expression darkened.
Elaina stood frozen.
Art expression hardened.
Jean's fingers curled at her sides.
Kane stood apart.
Alone.
There was no movement, just stillness.
Tremor forced his breathing steady.
"I'll have your gear ready tomorrow."
He turned back to his workbench.
Jean gently rested her hand on his back.
"You can go."
Kane's eyes moved towards the floor.
he did not understand why the room felt heavier.
Art touched his arm lightly.
"Lets go."
They left the workshop in silence.
They entered the courtyard.
Grimm and Elaina headed towards the food.
Art followed.
Kane felt isolated.
Alone.
Art glance back.
"Come on."
He followed.
They sat down near the fountain.
Grimm and Elaina ate without restraint.
Art paced herself.
Kane ate slow.
The tension thinned beneath ordinary conversation.
"Does Kane have his own room?" Grimm asked.
Elaina shrugged, still chewing.
Art put her drink down.
"There is a empty one." Art replied. "I'll show him after dinner."
When they finished, Art led him down the hall.
"This one."
She opened the door.
"Good night."
Kane nodded.
The door closed.
Kane was alone.
He laid down.
The room was unfamiliar.
The quiet pressed against him.
His thoughts drifted inward.
There was no warmth.
No echo.
Stagnant.
He floated within it.
Unmoving.
...
Arthur was alone in his office.
The moonlight shining on Kane's file.
He pressed his fingers against his temple, then opened it.
Prisoner 005: Kane Bolt.
A quiet relief settled in his chest
Still Bolt.
He turned the page.
When----detained
----corpses--- near
The next page.
The boy ----have----
Arthur closed the file.
He leaned back in his chair, gaze shifting toward the moon beyond the glass.
A faint smile touched his lips.
Rest easy, Rose.