They left at dawn.
No goodbyes, only silent stares as the village faded into smoke and frost. Aria carried the orb in a protective wrap, the chip hidden against her spine. The weight of both settled like gravity on her shoulders.
The journey south would take them through the dead zone—once a lush forest, now an electromagnetic wasteland. The air stung. The sky pulsed unnaturally.
Rhea spoke first. "So what's the plan if we get to the node and it's nothing?"
Aria looked ahead. "Then we keep going."
"You always say that," Kael said.
"Because stopping means we die."
She paused, then added, "And I'm not ready for that. Not yet."
That night, as they camped under flickering stars, Aria dreamt of fire and snow colliding. Of her body breaking apart into light.
She woke with tears frozen on her cheeks—and the orb humming faintly in her hand.
Something had changed.
And they weren't alone anymore.