Night cycle descended.

  They slept—or tried to.

  Yuma y awake, his mind churning with pns and probabilities.

  Memory Corridor. Fourth test. Focus: emotional vulnerability.

  ARK will target our deepest fears. Our guilt. Our regrets.

  It will try to break us. To prove emotion is a defect.

  So we don’t break.

  We bend. We adapt.

  We turn our pain into power.

  Across the room, Ruri watched Tsukasa sleep—his face finally rexed, free of pain.

  I saved you, she thought. For now.

  But the war isn’t over.

  It’s just beginning.

  In the medical bay, Hikari’s monitor beeped steadily.

  NEURAL COHERENCE: 34% (Steady rise)

  Her finger twitched.

  Once.

  Twice.

  Thrice.

  A new message.

  Dot?dot?dot. Dash?dash?dash. Dot?dash?dot.

  S

  O

  R

  Sor…

  Sorry?

  Or… something else?

  The message repeated.

  Then faded.

  But the rise continued.

  NEURAL COHERENCE: 35%

  She was waking.

  And she had something to say.