The alarm cut off mid-wail, leaving only the hum of the Spire's vents and the thud of Kai's pulse in his ears. Vera Shen tapped her tablet once, face blank as fresh paper. "False positive. Security sweep complete. You'll be housed in monitored quarters until further evaluation."
Monitored quarters turned out to be a sleek apartment on the thirty-second floor—two bedrooms, shared living space, floor-to-ceiling windows looking down on Grayharbor's glittering lights. Luxury Kai had never touched. The kind of place Dockside kids saw in ads and laughed at.
An escort swiped them in, posted two guards outside the door, and left. The lock clicked with soft finality.
Aria went straight for the far bedroom. Three steps past the couch—four—five.
The Sync Strain hit like a hook in the ribs.
She stopped dead, hand braced on the wall. Kai felt it echo in his own chest, cold wire tightening. He didn't move closer; he didn't have to. The pain eased the second she backtracked into the neutral zone.
"Three meters," he muttered, reading the new red overlay floating in his vision. "Down from five klicks in like four hours. Efficient little curse, huh?"
Aria's jaw flexed. "Don't call it that."
"What should I call it? Soulmate vacation? Romantic kidnapping?"
She shot him a look sharp enough to cut glass, then dropped onto the opposite end of the couch. Far as the tether allowed. Silence stretched, thick and uncomfortable.
Kai rubbed his bandaged shoulder. Crown medics had patched him up—stitches, low-grade potion that burned going down—but the ache lingered. He glanced at the kitchenette. Real food in the fridge, not the instant slop he was used to. His stomach growled loud enough to echo.
Aria noticed. Of course she did. "Eat if you want. I'm not hungry."
He raided the fridge anyway—cold cuts, actual bread, fruit that didn't come wrapped in plastic. Made two sandwiches, slid one across the coffee table toward her. She ignored it.
On the wall screen, muted news played. Footage of tonight's Rogue Gate in Dockside—smoke, barriers, Registry vans. A crawler ticker: UNIDENTIFIED F-RANK AWAKENING DURING INCIDENT. POSSIBLE ANOMALY.
Kai's appetite soured. Mom would've seen that. She'd be losing her mind right now.
He pulled out his phone. No signal. Of course.
"Hey, Ice Queen," he said quietly. "Any chance your guild babysitters let me call home? Tell my mom I'm not wolf chow?"
Aria stared at the screen a beat longer. "They'll allow supervised contact tomorrow. Standard for new assets."
"Assets," he echoed. "You say that like it's normal."
"It is normal." Her voice was flat, but something underneath it cracked—just a hair. "For people like me."
Kai studied her profile. Perfect posture even slumped on a couch. Hair still tied back tight, not a strand loose. But her fingers worried at the cuff of her sleeve, small, repetitive. Nerves.
He leaned back, sandwich forgotten. "So what's the play here? They keep us in this gilded cage till we hit whatever 'phase two' is? Or till one of us snaps and tries to murder the other?"
"They'll test compatibility thresholds," she said. "Push the bond. See what breaks first."
"Cheery."
She finally looked at him—really looked. Gray eyes unreadable. "You shouldn't have grabbed my wrist back there."
"Yeah, well, ogre was about to turn you into paste. Instinct."
"It wasn't instinct." Quiet. Almost accusing. "It was the System using you."
Kai shrugged. "Worked, didn't it?"
Aria stood abruptly, paced the three steps the tether allowed, turned, paced back. Caged lightning. "I don't share power. I don't need—"
A sharp knock cut her off. Three raps, precise.
The door slid open before either could answer.
A guy stepped in—tall, broad-shouldered, black hair slicked back, Astral Crown leathers tailored like they cost more than Kai's yearly earnings. Early twenties, maybe. Face like a recruitment poster: sharp jaw, green eyes, the kind of confident smile that expected doors to open.
He took in the room—Aria tense by the couch, Kai halfway up from his seat, sandwich plate between them like a peace offering.
The smile faltered.
"Aria," he said, voice smooth but edged now. "Registry pinged an anomaly on your ID. I came as soon as—" His gaze slid to Kai, lingered on the blood-flecked jacket, the cheap boots. Dismissal turned to something colder. "This is him?"
Aria didn't answer right away.
The guy—badge read VALE, JUNO—stepped fully inside. Door hissed shut behind him. "Explain."
Kai felt the air charge, literal sparks dancing along Aria's fingertips.
Juno's eyes flicked to the faint golden overlay still ghosting at the edge of their vision—the Sync tether visible to any high-rank with the right scan.
Understanding hit him like a slap.
"No," he said softly. Then louder: "No. Tell me this is a glitch."
Aria lifted her chin. "It's not."
Juno's perfect composure cracked. He looked at Kai like he was something stuck to his shoe.
"You're telling me the Ice Queen of Astral Crown is soul-bound to some Dockside F-rank who awakened tonight?" Disbelief warped into disgust. "This is a joke."
Kai smiled, thin and sharp. "Hilarious, right? I'm still laughing."
Juno ignored him completely. Took a step toward Aria. "We can fix this. Higher-ups owe me favors. We sever it, bury the record—"
"You heard Shen," Aria cut in. "Severance means Collapse. For both."
"Then we find a workaround." Urgent now. "You don't belong tethered to garbage."
Kai's smile vanished.
Aria's sparks flared brighter. "Watch your mouth."
Juno blinked, surprised she'd defended—even that much.
Silence stretched again, heavier.
Then Juno's comm chimed. He glanced at it, face tightening.
"Executive board wants you both in Observation Theater One. Now." His eyes locked on Aria, something raw flashing there. "They're bringing in a specialist. Someone who's seen pair-bonds before."
He turned to leave, paused at the door.
"This isn't over, Aria."
The door sealed behind him.
Kai exhaled slowly. "Friend of yours?"
Aria didn't answer. She was staring at her hands, sparks slowly dying.
In the quiet, a new line of golden text scrolled across both their visions—slow, deliberate, impossible to dismiss.
[Pruning Phase initiated.
Survival threshold: 48 hours.]
(To be continued...)