The gymnasium was still. The echoes of their training had faded, but the air still carried the charge of what had happened. Ben's Sixth Law. The frozen moment. The chaos of their collapse.
Zoe stood near the wall, arms crossed, staring at the hole her threads had punched through the plaster. Like it had personally offended her. Like it was the wall's fault she'd been nailed to it.
"I'm leaving," she announced. "I want to have fun. We're ten minutes from the big city, and we're locked up in this academy like prisoners."
Zane leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, face unreadable. He was still processing. Still turning the training session over in his mind like a puzzle he couldn't solve.
"The academy has a strict lockdown for a reason," he said. "It wants us to grow strong, not waste our time."
Adin looked up from his datapad. "I need a new Xynix 12. The holographic projector on this one glitches during full-body transmissions. Last week I called my sister and her left arm kept phasing through her torso. Very unsettling."
Zoe blinked at him. "You want to buy a phone? Whatever. Two against one, Zane. You're coming with us."
"It's a communication device with integrated essence-trace capabilities and real-time holographic rendering," Adin corrected, holding up his current model. "Not a phone. This is basically a brick."
Ben walked in during the middle of this. He stood at the edge of the gymnasium floor, taking them in. Zoe's frustration. Zane's quiet brooding. Adin's tech obsession. He listened. Watched. Then nodded once.
"Fine."
Zoe's face lit up. "Fine? Just fine? No lecture?"
"You want a lecture?"
"No. I want out."
Ben's mouth curved slightly. "Then let's go."
That was it. Four students, one decision, and a shared understanding that some rules existed to be bent.
They snuck out. It wasn't complicated. It never was when you knew where the blind spots were.
And now—
The city breathed around them. Neon signs flickered. Mag-lev cars hummed overhead. Crowds flowed like water around obstacles. Four figures walked against the current, moving with the easy confidence of students playing hooky.
Zoe walked close to Zane, her shoulder almost brushing his. She was talking. Something about a teacher, a test, nothing important. But her eyes kept flicking to his face, reading his non-existent reactions.
"I'm just saying, if she's gonna grade us on practical application, maybe don't schedule the practical during the one hour the training grounds turn into a sauna. You know?"
Zane grunted.
"That's your response? A grunt?"
Another grunt.
She shoved him lightly. He didn't move.
"You're impossible."
But she was smiling.
Ahead, a neon sign flashed. ARCADE. Bright colors. Pounding music. The sharp sound of virtual gunfire spilling out onto the street. Zoe's eyes lit up.
"Oh. Oh, we're going in there."
Zane looked at the entrance. Then at her.
"We're supposed to be..."
"We're supposed to be doing whatever we want. That's the point." She grabbed his wrist. "Come on."
She pulled him toward the doors. He didn't resist. He never did with her. Just let himself be dragged, that same unreadable expression on his face.
Ben and Adin stopped at the edge of the crowd, watching them go.
Adin tilted his head. "She's been doing that all night."
"Doing what?"
"Finding excuses to touch him. Dragging him places. Making conversation he doesn't participate in." He glanced at Ben. "You've noticed."
Ben's mouth curved slightly. "I've noticed."
"And?"
"And nothing. She likes him. He likes her back, even if he doesn't know how to show it. They'll figure it out."
Adin frowned. "You sound sure."
"I pay attention."
They stood in comfortable silence for a moment, watching the crowd flow past. Then Adin spoke again, his voice tighter.
"Jex is talking a lot of shit about you."
Ben didn't react. Just kept watching the street.
Adin continued. "In class. Every day. About how you think you're better than everyone. How you only got where you are because Korin plays favorites. How he could beat you if he ever got the chance."
A pause.
"He's getting good grades too. I guess he's not as dumb as he acts."
Ben shook his head slowly. "He's not dumb at all."
"Then why's he running his mouth? Smart people know when to be quiet."
"He's building something. Reputation. A following." Ben's voice was calm, measured. "The kids who don't feel seen yet. They hear him talking and think he's one of us. That's how gangs start."
Adin studied him. "You're not worried?"
Ben finally looked at him. Steady. Certain.
"Worried about what? Words?"
"Words turn into action. You know that."
"Then he'll act. And I'll handle it when he does."
Adin held his gaze, then nodded slowly. "You're annoyingly confident."
Ben almost smiled. "Learned from the best."
"Korin?"
"Korin."
The arcade doors swung open. Zoe emerged first, triumphant, waving something small and plastic. Zane followed a step behind, hands in pockets, same face as always.
Zoe held up her prize. "Look at this. Look at it. I won it in three rounds. Three."
Ben squinted at it. "What is it?"
She turned it over in her hands.
"...I don't know. Some kind of creature. It's cute."
Adin leaned in. "It has six eyes and what appears to be a third mouth on its stomach."
Zoe hugged it closer. "I said what I said."
She bumped Zane's shoulder as they fell into step together. He didn't react. She didn't seem to mind.
They walked on. Four students against the current. The city roaring around them.
Then Zoe stopped.
"Wait."
Her head turned, tracking something. Zane felt it a second later. A brush against his pocket, too light to be accidental.
Zane's hand went to his pocket. Empty.
"My wallet."
Zoe's eyes were already locked on a figure in the crowd.
"I felt him. Three o'clock, gray jacket, moving fast."
Zane spotted him. Slim, quick, already weaving through pedestrians. His jaw tightened.
Zoe was already moving.
"I got him."
She sprinted forward, legs pumping, her essence flickering at her fingertips. Invisible threads trailed behind her. She'd laid them on herself earlier, on Zane too. A habit her sister taught her. Always know your surroundings. Always feel what's coming.
Zane ran after her, faster, his tattoo flaring crimson.
The thief glanced back. Saw them coming. Smiled.
He took a sharp turn. Two steps. Vanished into a back door alley.
Zoe didn't slow. Neither did Zane.
They plunged into the darkness after him.
Ben and Adin stood frozen for half a second, watching them go.
Adin blinked. "Should we..."
"Yeah. Follow them. But I don't run."
Ben walked toward the alley. Calm. Steady.
Adin stared after him for half a second. "You'll miss all the fun," Adin said with a chuckle. Then he sprinted into the alley after them. He wasn't about to miss whatever happened next.