---
Chapter 31: Vaultborn
The tunnel stank of rust, copper, and something else—something old and rotten. The narrow path carved deep beneath the eastern wing of Bastion opened into a silent abyss that had been untouched for over a decade. The Vault Sector. Buried beneath security grids and forgotten schematics, it was a place erased from protocol, its existence denied by those who built it.
Dante flicked on his headlamp. The light cut a path through the darkness, reflecting off old steel and broken tiles. Lira trailed behind him with her silenced pistol drawn, her eyes scanning every corner. Aria walked between them—silent, pale, withdrawn.
Since the confrontation with Subject 09 and her flashbacks in the liminal space, something had shifted in her. Her eyes, once lively and curious, n
