The sedan rumbled along the quiet highway out of Tarlac, cloaked in the veil of dusk. The air outside was humid, but inside, tension made it heavier. Geneva sat behind the wheel, her eyes focused, but her grip tight. Beside her, Eloisa stared silently at the passing fields, clutching Dana's carrier on her lap. The black tabby purred, as if unaware of the storm they were heading into.
Kayoko's voice echoed faintly in Geneva's head, like a whispering tide. "He's not far. Pampanga, near the old canning factory. They're holding him in a makeshift lab. Quiet place. Dangerous staff."
Geneva didn't need convincing. She had felt it—an anomaly in time around Marco Agustin, someone precious to their web. Someone that needed extraction.
"Are we… really going to find Marco?" Eloisa asked quietly.
"Yes," Geneva replied, though her chest ached from the effort it took to use her chronokinesis earlier that day. The toll was increasing. Not from injury, but from something deeper, something she couldn't name. But she had no time to explain. Not now.
They approached the outskirts of San Fernando, where the old industrial zones lay, overgrown with grass and rusted dreams. They parked a block away from the coordinates Kayoko provided.
Geneva reached for the communicator Kayoko had given her—nothing fancy, just a modified two-way linked with Kayoko's mind through clairvoyant signals. A whisper was enough to activate it.
"Are we clear?" Geneva asked.
Kayoko's reply arrived through the static. "Not entirely. The staff in charge of Marco… they're not regular agents. One in particular—he's sharp. You must hurry. I can't suppress all of them for long."
Geneva turned to Eloisa. "I need you to stay low. No unnecessary risks."
Eloisa didn't respond immediately. Then, with quiet resolve, she asked, "What if I can help?"
"You will. Tactically. You've always had good instincts. Use them."
They crossed into the derelict compound through a broken fence, Dana still in her carrier and kept out of sight. The building ahead looked empty, but a thin trail of smoke curled out of a vent.
Inside, harsh fluorescent lights buzzed. The hallway reeked of burnt metal and chemicals. Geneva froze as she sensed a temporal distortion—a pocket of time forced still. Her own power pulsed in resistance, like a second heartbeat.
"Marco," she murmured. "He's losing control."
Suddenly, Eloisa stopped her. "Look."
A pigeon sat atop an exposed pipe overhead. Its head tilted in eerie stillness, eyes following their every move.
"That's not just a bird," Geneva muttered.
"It's watching us."
"I think it's his familiar."
The pigeon cooed once, then flew ahead—guiding them.
They reached the chamber, but before they could enter, a calm voice stopped them.
"I figured someone would come eventually."
A man stood before them. Not in combat gear, not armed, but in a clean white coat. His eyes held no malice—just curiosity.
"I'm Dr. Vireo Calderón. I assume you're here for Marco."
Geneva remained silent. The air around the doctor shimmered faintly. A defense field? A suppressed Esper aura?
"I'm not here to harm him," Calderón said. "In fact, I've been trying to keep him alive. His powers… they're volatile. Untrained."
"We'll take our chances," Geneva replied.
Calderón raised a brow. "You'll need a way through the firewall I created. Pyrokinesis like his can feed on his own pain. You let him burn freely, and you might not bring back anything."
Eloisa stepped forward, eyes narrowing. "What do you want?"
"I want to understand him," Calderón said gently.
Geneva felt a sharp pulse in her temples. Kayoko's suppression was faltering.
Without warning, alarms sounded. Lights turned red. The facility's backup protocol had activated. Somehow, Calderón wasn't surprised.
"I suppose that's my cue," he said with a sigh. "He's in the chamber down the hall. It's locked. But not for long, I suspect."
He stepped aside, not in defeat but in choice.
They ran.
The door was thick and reinforced. Geneva didn't hesitate. She pressed her hand to the control panel and focused. Time stilled briefly—the mechanisms slowed, crunched, and broke. The door creaked open.
Inside, Marco sat bound to a chair surrounded by heat-proof glass. His eyes burned with an orange glow, and faint tendrils of flame snaked from his wrists.
He looked up. "It's you?"
Eloisa rushed in. "We're here. It's okay now."
"No," he said through clenched teeth. "It's not. I can't control it. I'll hurt you—!"
The pigeon swooped in, perching on Marco's shoulder.
The flames dulled. Marco exhaled, chest heaving.
Geneva stepped in, despite the heat. "We're getting you out."
"But—"
She didn't let him finish. She reached for him, and the moment their hands touched, she activated her ability.
Time fractured. The heat, the alarms, even the screaming metal—all froze.
Her nose bled instantly. She faltered.
Eloisa grabbed Marco's other arm and helped him up. "Let's go!"
They ran, half-carrying him through the corridor. Dr. Calderón was nowhere in sight. Kayoko's presence flickered in their minds—whispers guiding them past the guards whose senses were now dulled.
They exited through the side entrance, past a collapsed staircase and out to the car.
Once inside, Geneva collapsed onto the seat. Her pulse was weak.
Eloisa looked at her, terrified. "She's not okay."
"I've seen this before," Marco said hoarsely. "My dad... he had the same look when he used his power too much."
"Your dad?" Eloisa asked.
But Marco didn't answer. He was already slipping into sleep.
Geneva stirred. "We… need to lay low. Hideout. Not home. Not yet."
They drove for another hour, away from the roads and into the trees of a forgotten barangay. The hut there had been unused for years—except by those who needed to disappear.
That night, as Marco slept, his pigeon resting on the rafters, and Geneva recovered with Dana curled beside her, Eloisa sat outside, looking up at the stars.
She didn't understand why all this was happening. Why the world changed after the lightning. Why she, of all people, had no power yet.
But as Kayoko's whisper returned again—"You'll awaken when it's time"—she simply nodded.
Some things, she was beginning to learn, could not be rushed.