But we didn't have decades. We had thirty days.
Zero didn't teach us to meditate. He used my hands to reach into Shouta and Yuna’s souls and forced the gears to turn. It was like jump-starting a dead engine with a lightning bolt. It was painful, it was messy, and it left us all changed.
We sat in a circle on the glassy floor of the bunker, our breathing synchronized.
-
Yuna had mastered the most fundamental defense: the Zoryn Shell. She didn't just stop attacks anymore; she learned how to thicken the air in front of her until it was harder than steel. It was basic, but in her hands, that blue barrier felt unbreakable.
-
Shouta was the wildcard. His "Reshape" had been the most violent. He couldn't do the fine work yet, but he could fire. He learned to channel his raw Zoryn into his palms and let it go in concussive blasts that could level a wall.
-
Kaito remained our shadow-teacher. He never used his "Illusions" in front of us, and he didn't need fire. He showed us how to use Zoryn Acceleration—pumping energy into our legs to move faster than the human eye could track. To the world, he just looked like a blur. To us, he was the reminder of how far we had to go.
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"The month is up," I said, standing. My own Zoryn hissed at my fingertips, a constant golden hum that never truly went quiet anymore. "The Kings’ Workers will be doing the 'Essential Count' today. If we aren't gone by noon, they'll smell the Zoryn on us like smoke."
"Then we don't wait for them to come to us," Kaito said, his voice cold and sharp. He stood up, flicking his silver lighter—click, clack—not for fire, but just to keep his hands moving.
We climbed the ladder, leaving our secret sanctuary behind. Stepping back into our house felt like walking into a museum. Everything was too clean, too static. On the kitchen table sat four boxes of "Essentials"—synthetic protein bars and grey tunics.
"They fed us so we wouldn't notice the cage," Yuna whispered, her hand hovering over a blue-glowing wrist. "But once you see the bars, you can't un-see them."
We walked out the front door.
Sector 4 was quiet. The sun was high, and the streets were pristine. But as soon as our feet hit the pavement, the atmosphere shifted. The street-corner sensors—the "Peace-Keepers"—immediately began to chirp. Red lights swiveled toward us, scanning our soul-signatures.
[ALERT: CITIZENS 4-09, 4-10, 4-11, 4-12] [IRREGULAR SPIRITUAL VIBRATION DETECTED. PLEASE REMAIN STATIONARY FOR RE-CALIBRATION.]
"Re-calibration," Shouta spat, his fists beginning to glow with a silver light. "They even make an arrest sound like a favor."
A black van screeched around the corner two blocks ahead. Another appeared behind us. The "Peace" was over. We weren't the quiet kids who didn't remember their parents anymore. We were the glitch in their perfect machine.
"Stay tight," I said, the golden Zoryn flaring around my arms. "Yuna, front. Shouta, cover the rear. Kaito... do what you do."
Kaito gave a dark, knowing smirk. "Just keep up, Raizen."
The van doors slid open, and the Workers stepped out, their metallic rods humming. They thought they were coming to collect four daydreaming students.
They had no idea they were walking into a firing squad.
To be continued...