The convoy moved at dawn.
Two transport trucks, four bikes, and a stolen drone scout unit.
Liam rode in the lead truck beside Maya and Caleb, their faces lit only by the soft green glow of the system's map projection.
The path to Sanctuary Thirteen was red.
Infected zones.
Bandit-held ruins.
And somewhere in between… an unknown signal marked B-17.
It pulsed black.
Liam tapped the display.
"Echo?"
Her voice came through the comms. "Unregistered signal. Tier 3 corruption. Can't override it. But I can track it."
"Do."
They rolled on.
Three hours in, the sky began to scream.
Not thunder.
Not rotstorms.
A shrill psychic wail that made everyone's systems flicker.
A warning.
> "She's here," Echo whispered.
"Who?" Maya asked.
"Someone I knew… before I was broken."
They stopped in the ruins of a burned-out supermarket.
Artemis and Ava scouted ahead.
Then came the crackle of gunfire.
And a scream.
Liam drew his weapon and ran forward—
To find Ava pinned under collapsed shelves, her shoulder bleeding.
And above her stood a woman.
Dressed in black.
Hair like frost.
Eyes glowing red.
"Liam," she said with a soft, echoing smile. "I missed you."
He froze.
He knew that voice.
"Elise?"
She laughed.
"Not anymore."
[System Alert – Hostile Bloomed Detected]
> Designation: Elise / Bloom Enforcer (Ω-Class)
Status: Former Host / Bonded
Bond History: Subject – Caleb Durand
Warning: Fully Bloomed. Immune to standard charm links.
Recommended Action: Flee or Sever
Caleb arrived just behind Liam.
He froze.
"Elise…?"
Her smile widened.
"You let me die, remember?"
"I tried—"
"You left me to change. And now I'm what you should've been."
She turned to Liam.
"Come with me. Sera's gone. The Root has new plans. You can lead beside me."
Liam stepped forward slowly.
"No."
Elise tilted her head.
"Then you die with them."
She moved like smoke.
Blade out.
Liam parried, barely, as Maya and Artemis opened fire.
She dodged every shot.
Then vanished into the shadows.
A whisper: "You can't kill what already bloomed."
A sudden scream behind them.
Junia collapsed—blood from her nose, her system flashing erratically.
"She's targeting the bonded," Echo shouted in Liam's comm.
"She's a psychic bloom type. She's pulling on the link net!"
"Can you block her?"
"Only one way."
A pause.
"I need to use you. As a firewall."
Liam clenched his fists.
"Do it."
[System Override – Firewall Mode Engaged]
> Host: Liam
Bond Link: Locked
Pain Multiplier: ×2
System Load: 89%
Temporary Effect: Bloomed Psychic Infiltration Blocked
Elise screamed.
Her eyes flickered.
She staggered back.
"You shielded them."
Liam stepped forward.
"I'm done losing people."
He raised his gun.
"Even you."
He fired.
Bullets slammed into her chest.
Blood sprayed.
She didn't fall.
She just laughed.
"You're not ready."
Then her body disintegrated into ash.
Gone.
[System Notice – Bloom Enforcer Dispersed]
> Vital Status: Unknown
Bond Net: Stable
Warning: Elise remains a persistent threat. Expect reappearance at Sanctuary Thirteen.
Liam dropped to his knees, gasping.
Pain tore through him from the firewall strain.
Junia crawled over and touched his face.
"You didn't let her take me," she whispered.
"No one takes any of you," Liam muttered.
They patched Ava's wound.
Artemis retrieved two damaged Bloom data cores from Elise's weapons.
Maya sat beside Liam as the truck rumbled back to motion.
"Still think we'll make it?" she asked.
"I know we will."
That night, Liam stood alone at the edge of a red forest outside the edge of Sanctuary Thirteen's range.
And the Root spoke.
A voice inside his skull.
> "You bloom faster than expected."
> "But you still bleed like the rest."
> "Let's see how many flowers your garden can grow before it withers."
[System Update – Final Countdown: 4 Days Remain]
> Bonded: 8
Engagements: 6/10
Objective: Infiltrate Sanctuary Thirteen
Optional: Bond two more before final Root Confrontation
Cure Fragment 6 Status: Unlocked
Ability: Rejection Pulse – Temporarily disrupt Bloomed in a 10m radius
Cooldown: 1 day