The sky carried a dull weight that morning—a pressure Kayden felt in his bones before he even stepped out of his room. It wasn't the sharp distortion of a breach, nor the subtle tremor of the thin line.This one felt… focused.Directed.
And that was the problem.
By the time he reached the main courtyard, students were already moving in and out of classes, unaware of the invisible strain spreading through the air. Kayden kept his hood low, avoiding crowds. His senses were already stretched thin.
He didn't notice Phineas until he heard footsteps fall in sync with his.
"You keep disappearing," Phineas said, falling into step beside him.
Kayden forced a steady breath. "Didn't know you were following."
"I wasn't." Phineas's eyes narrowed. "You radiate… tension. It's hard to ignore."
Kayden almost answered with sarcasm—but the moment he opened his mouth, the world shifted.
A low pulse tore through the courtyard.
Not wind.Not sound.A spatial tremor, like the ground inhaled then held its breath.
Kayden froze.
Phineas froze too—hand instinctively brushing the wall beside them.
"You felt that?" Phineas asked, voice low.
Kayden nodded once.That alone terrified him.
Phineas shouldn't be able to sense anything.
The tremor returned—sharper this time—focused toward the old science fountain. Kayden's heartbeat quickened as the air above it blurred, bending at an angle that shouldn't exist.
He felt APEX awaken instantly.
"Commander… faultline forming. Highly unstable."
Faultline.
Not a breach.Not a full tear.But a localized fracture in the boundary—dangerous enough to cause real damage if ignored.
Kayden stepped forward.
"Stay behind me," he muttered.
"No," Phineas replied quietly. "Not today."
Kayden turned to protest, but then—
The pressure in the air shifted direction.
It wasn't pointing at Kayden.
It was pointing at—
Phineas.
Kayden's blood ran cold.
"Phineas—move back."
Phineas swallowed, trying to hide the uncertainty flickering through his eyes. "Why? What's happening?"
The distortion above the fountain twitched—like a ripple in glass reacting to Phineas's voice.
Kayden stepped between him and the faultline. "It's locking onto you."
Phineas blinked. "Me? Why—"
He didn't finish.
Because the faultline jumped.
A flash of silver tore through the air—thin, surgical, silent—striking directly toward Phineas's chest.
Kayden moved on instinct.
He shoved Phineas backward just as the faultline's light grazed the space he'd been standing in.
Phineas hit the ground, breath knocked out of him.
Kayden's voice cracked."Don't move!"
But the faultline didn't aim for Kayden this time.
It bent sharply…
and followed Phineas.
Phineas looked up, stunned. "Why is it—"
Kayden grabbed his arm. "It's reading your mind. Your attention. You saw too much during the breach. It thinks you're a threat."
Phineas tried to stand. "I don't understand—"
He didn't get to.
The world around him broke.
Only for a second, but it was enough.
A slit of distorted reality peeled open beside Phineas—
a vertical line of shimmering light, like a surgical blade cutting through existence itself.
Phineas gasped. His pupils locked onto the impossible sight.
He could see it.Not the full breach, but the outline.The shape.The distortion.
Visibly.Directly.
"How… how am I seeing this?" Phineas whispered, voice trembling with a mixture of awe and horror.
Kayden felt cold rush up his spine."He's crossing the threshold."
APEX confirmed it instantly:
"Commander… Phineas Rockfeller is entering Conduit State."
Conduit.
A human who becomes a temporary bridge for the anomaly layer—an accidental receiver.
Extremely rare.Extremely dangerous.
Kayden tightened his grip on Phineas's wrist.
"Don't focus on it," he warned. "Look at me."
Phineas didn't.
He couldn't.
His eyes were locked on the faultline as it expanded—slightly, but enough for Kayden to feel the pressure spike sharply.
Phineas whispered, "It's… watching."
Kayden's blood turned to ice.
He knelt in front of Phineas, grabbing both sides of his face.
"Phineas. Listen to me. Don't let it in. Look at me, not the slit."
But Phineas's breaths were fast and uneven, eyes reflecting the silver shimmer."I can feel something. Like it's trying to—"
The faultline pulsed.
A beam of pressure slammed into Phineas's mind.
He choked on air, arching forward like a jolt of electricity ripped through him.
Kayden's vision snapped into hyper-focus.
He pulled Phineas into his arms, grounding him. "Stay with me!"
Phineas clutched Kayden's hoodie, knuckles white. "Make it stop—Kayden, make it—"
Kayden didn't think.
He pressed his forehead to Phineas's and shouted:
"APEX! Cut the link!"
Static tore through his skull.
"Unable. The conduit has formed. Only he can break the connection."
Phineas's voice cracked, eyes wide with terror."Kayden… something's inside the light—"
Kayden shook him. "Don't look! LOOK AT ME!"
Phineas forced his gaze downward, trembling, beads of sweat sliding down his temple. His breath steadied—but only slightly.
Then—
For one horrifying second—
Kayden felt what Phineas felt.
Not a vision.Not a sound.
A presence.
Cold.Vast.Curious.
And directly aware of Phineas.
Kayden's stomach twisted violently.
"Phineas—push it out. Whatever you saw, force it away. Think of noise, chaos—anything but the light."
Phineas squeezed his eyes shut, teeth clenched."I'm trying—Kayden, I'm trying—"
The faultline shuddered violently.
Then—
It snapped shut.
Light vanished.Pressure dissolved.The courtyard returned to silence.
Phineas collapsed into Kayden's chest, breath shaking, body limp with exhaustion.
Kayden held him until the trembling slowed.
For a long moment, neither spoke.
Then Phineas lifted his head weakly.
His eyes—
had a faint silver ring.
Not as strong as Kayden's.But visible.
Real.
Phineas whispered, voice cracking:
"Kayden…what am I turning into?"
Kayden didn't answer.
He couldn't.
Because APEX whispered the terrifying truth:
"Commander… a new Divergent has emerged."
And the world was never meant to have two.