Kael didn't take me to a fortress.
He took me underground.
Beneath the city's broken streets lay a network of sealed chambers etched with fear-conducting runes. The air down here wasn't silent like the void it was dense, layered with restrained terror.
"This is a containment zone," Kael said as stone doors sealed behind us. "Where mistakes don't spread."
That didn't comfort me.
Other Spirit Warriors were already present six of them, each standing in isolated circles. Their expressions ranged from wary to openly hostile.
None of them felt weak.
"You'll train here," Kael continued. "Under observation."
"And if I refuse?" I asked.
Kael's eyes flicked to the floor.
"Then you become an incident."
That answer was clear enough.
A bell rang low, metallic, final.
The runes flared.
Suddenly, fear surged not wild, not chaotic, but precise. Targeted.
My circuit reacted automatically, drawing it in, stabilizing
Pain exploded through my chest.
I screamed and dropped to my knees.
The fear didn't circulate.
It jammed.
Kael's voice cut through the agony. "This is what happens when your circuit conflicts with an external regulator."
My vision blurred. "You're… suppressing it."
"Yes," he said calmly. "Because unrestricted circuits collapse."
One of the other Spirit Warriors laughed bitterly. "Or they get erased."
I looked up sharply. "Erased?"
Kael nodded. "Spirit Warriors don't usually die in battle. They die when their circuits destabilize."
He gestured to the chamber walls.
"When fear flows faster than the body can process, the circuit burns itself out. No explosion. No scream."
"Just disappearance," I whispered.
Exactly like the spirit I erased.
Cold realization set in.
"That's why you're afraid of voids," I said. "They mimic circuit burnout."
Kael studied me. "You learn fast."
The bell rang again.
The fear pressure eased.
"Your task," Kael said, "is to redesign your circuit under suppression. If you can't "
He didn't finish the sentence.
I stood slowly, sweat dripping, heart racing.
In my past life, broken systems were patched.
But this wasn't code.
This was my life.
And if I failed
I wouldn't even leave a body behind.