The night before the heist, Velith hummed like a machine that thought it was alive.
Steam rose from the pipes along the outer walls, and the sky glowed faintly red from relic dust drifting through the air.
It was almost peaceful — the kind of peace that happens when every cog spins exactly where it should.
No one noticed the missing beat.
No one ever does until it's gone.
---
The Hideout — One Night Before
The ruined warehouse near the Hollow Quarter was quiet except for the sound of a soft, steady hum.
It wasn't from the relics this time.
It was from Mael.
He sat cross-legged again, eyes closed, humming under his breath while the others worked around him.
Blueprints, relic parts, and broken comm-crystals covered the floor.
The rest of the Ninefold moved in silent rhythm — no one speaking louder than the hum.
---
Assignments
The silver-haired woman leaned over a mechanical board full of rotating disks.
Sparks jumped as she adjusted the conduits.
> "We can short out the guard towers for forty seconds at most," she muttered. "After that, the backflow resets."
> "Forty seconds," one of the twins echoed. "That's forever if you're good."
The glyph-covered man stretched his arms, his tattoos glowing faintly with each motion.
> "The main corridor has relic sensors that react to heartbeat frequency," he said. "I'll handle them. They'll read silence."
> "You sure you can suppress that long?"
> "Long enough to make them forget they exist."
The boy, the youngest, sat nearby assembling small metal spheres, each about the size of a fist.
Tiny runes flickered on their surfaces before dimming.
He smiled faintly.
> "Distractions," he said. "No explosions this time. Just sound."
Mael opened one eye, amused.
> "Progress."
The feather-cloak girl perched on a beam, sharpening her blade.
> "And me?"
> "Same as always," Mael said. "Make sure the ones chasing us never stop running."
She grinned, satisfied.
---
The Question
As the hum faded, the silver-haired woman finally broke the silence.
> "Mael… why the Kernel? We could steal relics, credits, anything easier. What's one old engine going to do for us?"
Mael didn't answer immediately.
He watched the faint blue pulse from his relic dial under his sleeve — ticking, then stuttering, then ticking again.
> "Because," he said finally, "Velith's heart doesn't beat anymore. It's wound up and repeating itself.
The Kernel is the part that remembers the first beat — the one the world forgot."
The boy frowned, confused.
> "You mean, you want to make it… alive again?"
> "Alive things make mistakes," Mael said, smiling faintly. "That's the point."
---
A Small Demonstration
The twins were arguing softly about entry timing when the door to the hideout creaked open.
A thin beam of light cut through the dark.
A Guild scout — alone, trembling slightly, relic pistol raised.
> "Stay where you are!" he barked, voice shaking. "By Guild law, you—"
The words stopped.
The light bent.
Dust froze midair.
Even the flicker of the lantern hesitated.
Mael hadn't moved.
He just tapped his finger once against the floor, the faint tick echoing too slowly.
The pistol trembled, then lowered itself as if the man's own hand refused to listen.
The scout's eyes darted, wide with confusion, not fear.
His breath hitched — off-rhythm — and he collapsed to his knees.
Mael stood, walked over, and gently caught the man before he fell face-first.
> "Wrong place, wrong time," he murmured, almost kindly. "We all get caught in the wrong song sometimes."
He set the man against the wall, still breathing but unconscious.
The others said nothing.
No one asked what he'd done.
---
Preparation
The group continued their work — no one spoke louder than a whisper.
Outside, the distant hum of Velith's machines echoed like the slow ticking of a clock.
The silver-haired woman packed her tools.
The twins sealed their communication links.
The boy pocketed his small devices.
Mael adjusted his sleeve, covering the faint glimmer of the relic dial beneath.
> "Tomorrow," he said, "we'll start the song."
> "And if it ends early?" the feather-cloak girl asked.
He smiled.
> "Then we improvise."
---
Meanwhile, In Velith
Up above, the Guild prepared for a festival — the Pulse Renewal, celebrating another flawless year of the Chronoloom's function.
Children wore brass masks shaped like clock faces.
The streets glowed gold.
Relic lanterns floated like stars.
Velith sang its same perfect song.
And far below, in a ruin no one remembered, nine people tuned the silence.
---
End of Chapter 22 – The Ninefold's Plan
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