The storm hadn't ended.
Snow still fell—silent, relentless—blanketing the ruined world in pale white.
The Seventh Division was nothing but a wasteland now, smoke curling skyward like the last breath of a dying god.
Nightfall's convoy rumbled into the outpost, its tires grinding over frost and ash.
Kane and Lane carried the wrapped figure of Suri, while Elena followed quietly beside them.
No one spoke.
The only sound was the faint hum of the wind against metal walls.
Lynne sat in the corner, the dying light casting his shadow long across the floor.
He didn't move until Suri was placed gently on the makeshift bed.
"You're awake?"
His voice was sharp—cold as a blade.
Suri's eyes fluttered open. Her bandaged arm was soaked with blood, but her gaze remained calm.
"Mm."
"Then you'd better explain."
Kane shifted as if to intervene, but Lynne's glance stopped him cold.
Suri was silent for a long moment before she spoke.
"I went back to E.DEN to find their final plan."
"You could've told me earlier."
"At that time… you weren't ready."
Lynne laughed—a hollow, cracked sound.
"Ready? You mean ready to be used? Or ready to watch you walk away?"
The air turned brittle.
Elena's hands trembled, but she didn't speak.
Suri's fingers clenched.
"If I hadn't gone back, they would've sent a purge squad after us. I had no choice."
"So you chose to leave me?"
"I chose to survive—so you could too."
Their eyes met.
Outside, the wind howled through the fuel station ruins, the flames painting their faces in twisted gold.
Kane finally spoke, voice low. "Lynne, that's enough. She was… on our side."
"I know," Lynne said softly—too softly.
"But knowing doesn't mean forgiving."
Suri closed her eyes. For a heartbeat, she looked years older.
"I don't need your forgiveness. I just need you to keep moving."
---
Nightfall Command · Transmission Briefing
"E.DEN forces have withdrawn from the southern front," Yuna reported, her fingers racing across the holographic console.
"But there's unusual activity in the north. They're mobilizing a new experimental unit."
Kane frowned. "A counterstrike."
Lane pointed at the tactical map. "Sector Thirteen. E.DEN's secondary research zone."
Elena exhaled, weary. "We just got out alive…"
Suri looked up, her tone steady.
"E.DEN never gives anyone time to breathe."
Her eyes turned toward Lynne.
"They're restarting Project Ash—a program meant to let the gifted replace humanity itself."
Silence fell over the room.
Yuna's voice dropped. "How do you know that?"
"Because I was part of it," Suri whispered.
"They wanted to rebuild consciousness using powered cores—to create the Perfect Human. And their final sample…" She paused. "…was Lynne."
Elena froze.
"They never stopped hunting him?"
"Never."
Lynne stood there for a long time, his expression unreadable.
Then he rose to his feet.
"Then we end it."
Kane's eyes lit up with static arcs.
"Target: E.DEN—Sector Thirteen."
Suri looked at him, her lips trembling slightly.
"That place is hell."
"Then we'll burn hell down," Lynne said quietly.
"Because we've already walked through the ashes."
---
The Cabin at Dusk
After the meeting, only Suri and Elena remained.
Outside, the night wind whispered; firelight flickered faintly through the cracked window.
"You know," Elena said softly, "he's changed."
"I know," Suri replied.
"He's calmer… and farther away."
Elena smiled faintly.
"I won't give up. Even if I know his heart belongs to you."
Suri turned her gaze toward her, calm as ever.
"You can't win his heart, Elena."
"Then I'll win it with time."
Elena turned and left.
Suri closed her eyes, leaning back against the cold wall.
Her fingers trembled slightly.
"Foolish girl…" she murmured. "Sometimes, winning means losing everything."
The wind carried her words away.
The station's lights flickered, casting everyone's shadow long against the walls—
and in the quiet air hung the scent of the storm that was coming.
---
Final Scene
Lynne stood alone on the roof.
The night sky was starless, painted in the faint red of distant fire.
A single flame burned in his palm—
the last spark of rage, and resolve.
"Sector Thirteen…" he whispered.
"Wait for me."