The evacuation route did not feel like an escape.
It felt like a descent into a world the Academy had deliberately erased.
The passage sloped sharply downward, carved into raw stone rather than reinforced alloy. No sigils pulsed along the walls. No surveillance nodes hummed in the background. The further they moved, the quieter the world became—until even the distant chaos of collapsing stone and Council detonations faded into a dull, forgotten echo.
Sandra's breathing changed first.
Tristan noticed immediately.
Her pulse, once erratic, was stabilizing—but not weakening. It was deepening, settling into a rhythm that felt older, heavier. More rooted. The golden threads beneath her skin no longer flickered randomly. They flowed with purpose.
Sebastian kept pace on her other side, senses stretched to their limits. "We've crossed the threshold," he murmured. "The System's signal is breaking up."
Lyra nodded grimly. "This is the Border Zone. Pre-System territory. The Council never purged it completely—they couldn't."
Sandra brushed her fingers against the tunnel wall.
The stone was warm.
It responded.
Her breath caught. "It's reacting to me."
"Of course it is," Lyra said quietly. "The Primordial resonance predates the System. Out here, you're not an anomaly."
Tristan's jaw tightened. "You're a constant."
They emerged into open space.
Not a cavern—an entire subterranean valley, vast and uneven, illuminated by bioluminescent growths clinging to ancient roots that descended from somewhere far above. Ruins sprawled across the ground: fractured towers, broken bridges, remnants of a civilization that had once existed without the Council's permission.
Sandra stopped walking.
Her body trembled—not from fear, but recognition.
"I've seen this place," she whispered.
Lyra looked at her sharply. "In dreams?"
"No," Sandra said slowly. "In instincts."
The System pulsed weakly, struggling to assert relevance.
WARNING: ENVIRONMENTAL PARAMETERS OUTSIDE ACCEPTABLE RANGE
CONTROL INTERFACE DEGRADED
PRIMORDIAL SIGNAL: DOMINANT
Sebastian exhaled, almost a laugh. "It's losing its grip."
Tristan wasn't smiling. "So is the Council."
Lyra moved ahead, scanning the ruins. "We can't linger. Once they realize we didn't die in the collapse, they'll deploy Border Hunters."
Sandra stiffened. "Those are real?"
"They're not official," Lyra said. "Which makes them worse."
A tremor rippled through Sandra's core—sharp, sudden.
She staggered.
Both men reacted instantly.
Sebastian caught her shoulders. Tristan steadied her spine, grounding her weight.
"What is it?" Tristan demanded.
Sandra swallowed, eyes unfocused. "Something's… accelerating."
Lyra's expression darkened. "Stage Two is no longer pending."
The air around Sandra shifted.
Not explosively—organically.
Her senses expanded outward without effort. She could feel the ruins breathing. The underground river far below. Even distant movement—life responding to her presence.
Sebastian's voice lowered. "Sandra… your scent just changed."
Tristan clenched his jaw. "So did the pressure."
Lyra nodded once. "The Border Zone removes suppression. Her body is recalibrating to its natural state."
Sandra pressed a hand to her abdomen.
Warmth bloomed there—steady, insistent.
Not pain.
Potential.
Fear tightened her throat. "This wasn't supposed to happen this fast."
Lyra met her gaze. "The Core warned us. Once you left containment, progression would accelerate."
Tristan's voice was controlled but taut. "How much time do we have?"
Lyra didn't answer immediately.
Then: "Days. Not weeks."
Sebastian swore softly. "Then hiding is no longer an option."
A low vibration rolled through the valley.
Not seismic.
Mechanical.
Tristan's head snapped up. "Drones."
Lyra cursed. "Council scouts. Long-range, low-signal."
Sandra closed her eyes.
The vibration sharpened in her awareness—thin threads of presence slicing through the air above.
"I can feel them," she said.
Sebastian stared at her. "Can you mask us?"
She hesitated. "I don't know how."
Tristan stepped closer, voice firm. "Then don't think. Respond."
Sandra inhaled.
And let go.
The valley shifted.
Not visually—perceptually.
The ruins blurred, their outlines dissolving into layered echoes. The drones overhead stuttered mid-flight, their signals scrambling, orientation collapsing.
Lyra gasped. "She didn't cloak us."
Sebastian's eyes widened. "She rewrote the terrain."
The drones spun wildly before crashing into the stone far from their position.
Silence followed.
Sandra opened her eyes, breath shallow. "I didn't mean to—"
"You did exactly what you needed to," Tristan said. His voice was steady, but awe flickered beneath it.
Sebastian stared at her with something dangerously close to reverence. "You didn't hide. You redefined."
Lyra exhaled slowly. "The Council's worst fear."
Sandra felt the warmth in her core surge again—stronger this time.
She doubled over.
Tristan caught her instantly. "Sandra."
Her voice trembled. "It's not stopping."
Lyra approached, hands hovering but not touching. "Your body is entering biological prioritization. It's protecting the lineage."
Sebastian's jaw tightened. "Meaning?"
"Meaning stress, injury, suppression—none of it will slow this down anymore."
Sandra looked up, eyes wide. "So what do we do?"
Lyra's gaze hardened, resolve crystallizing. "We stop running."
Tristan straightened. "You want to confront them. Here."
"No," Lyra said. "We force the Council to act publicly."
Sebastian tilted his head. "Expose them."
Sandra's breath steadied as clarity cut through fear.
"The Border Clans," she said suddenly.
Lyra looked at her sharply. "You can feel them, can't you?"
"Yes," Sandra said. "They're not aligned with the Council. They live outside the System's hierarchy."
Tristan's eyes lit. "If they recognize her—"
"They'll rally," Sebastian finished. "Not out of loyalty."
"Out of instinct," Sandra said quietly.
The valley pulsed faintly beneath her feet.
As if agreeing.
Lyra nodded once. "Then that's our destination."
Another vibration rippled through the air—stronger this time.
Sebastian drew his blade. "They're escalating."
Sandra straightened despite the heat surging through her veins.
"Let them," she said.
Her voice no longer wavered.
"We're done reacting."
The ruins around them hummed—alive, awakened.
Behind them, the Academy burned.
Ahead—
The world prepared to remember what it had tried to erase.