The darker branch bought them less time than they needed and more attention than they could afford. They navigated two further service cuts and one solid stair for sealed maintenance before the search pattern on their tail gained cohesion. Scattered horn soundings began to reply in tighter intervals. Barrier light bloomed along side doors dark a breath before. The outer ring's pursuit no longer reacted to a gate breach in the way that it hunted.
Rhel found them an unsealed alcove for transit above a lesser deck and forced them to hold still long enough to draw air. The alcove was cramped, lined with inactive boards for routes and a static wall of mapping. From the open side they heard disciplined groups of boots pass below.
Sera sat with her back to the wall and both hands on her binding, still pale despite the effort. 'Tell me this isn't another box.'
' It is a pause,' Istra said. 'Boxes do not have exits.'
