Two months became three.
Then four.
Kaine kept delaying. Kept insisting she needed more preparation. Kept claiming boundaries weren't strong enough yet. Kept postponing ninth kill.
"You're afraid," Flint said on month five. "You're afraid of fragmenting again. Afraid of being broken again. Afraid ninth kill will shatter you beyond reconstruction. That's why you keep delaying. Not because boundaries are weak. Because fear is strong."
He was right. Kaine was afraid.
Terrified, actually. Terrified that ninth kill would do what eighth kill had done. Would destroy compartmentalization. Would fragment her into pieces. Would break her beyond repair this time.
Eighth kill had taken forty-seven days to recover from. Had required complete reconstruction. Had been survivable but barely.
Ninth kill might be unsurvivable. Might fragment her beyond anyone's ability to reconstruct. Might break her permanently.
