No one touched the node again.
Not immediately.
Because now they understood something dangerous it wasn’t trying to win.
It was trying to decide.
Aria stood still, her breathing controlled, her boundary steady. The node remained in front of her silent, centered, waiting.
Lucian didn’t take his eyes off it.
“Step back,” he said quietly.
This time, she listened.
Not out of fear.
Out of awareness.
She took one step back.
The pressure eased instantly.
Not gone, but reduced.
Rune let out a breath. “Okay… so distance matters. That’s good. That’s something.”
But Aria was already shaking her head.
“…No.”
Lucian glanced at her.
“What?”
“It’s not distance,” she said.
Her gaze stayed on the node.
“It’s permission.”
Silence.
Rune blinked. “That’s… worse.”
Lucian’s jaw tightened.
