"The ground remembers even those who forgot themselves."
—Camp Codex
Morning. The Day After the Resonance Net Shifted.
Kazuto awoke before the others.
The clay marker he had placed last night was gone—swallowed by the grass. Another had rolled two inches north. No loud quake. Just slow, intentional pressure under the soil.
He noted it in the Codex. No emotion. Just data. The ruin wasn't rising. It was listening.
He stoked the campfire again, reheating some acorn meal for breakfast, then sharpened two more stakes and reset the line.
That's when the first call came from the forest edge.
"...Hey! Anyone out there?"
Kazuto didn't flinch.
He rose slowly, dusted off his palms, and approached the camp perimeter. Fia stirred from inside the cabin, already reaching for her shoes.
A lone traveler stood just beyond the trees.
Male. Maybe early twenties. Dust-coated boots. Tired, sun-scorched eyes. And behind those eyes… something fractured. Not unkind, but worn raw.
"I—I saw your smoke," the stranger said, hands raised in a gesture of peace. "Didn't mean to spook anyone."
Kazuto studied him. No panic in his own movements. Calm, slow breathing.
"You're safe here," Kazuto said. "If you follow the rules."
"Rules?"
Kazuto gestured toward the fire.
"Food is shared. Work is shared. And no one touches the soil near the garden without permission."
The man blinked. "...Weird rule."
Kazuto just nodded. "That's what keeps you alive."
Around the Campfire
The man's name was Nael. Claimed he was a former map-runner—used to mark off sections of the wildlands for bounty hunters and city scavengers. But when the job dried up, he'd gone wandering. Said he didn't like cities anymore.
"Too loud. Too fast. I needed out."
Kazuto listened without interrupting.
Nael mentioned no family. No trade skills. But he had survival sense—knew how to ration salt, how to watch the clouds, how to rig a fire in wind.
Fia wasn't convinced. She watched him like a hawk.
Kazuto didn't show distrust. But he didn't offer open arms either.
Eventually, he stood.
"We'll give you shelter. And a job. One trial day."
Nael looked surprised. "Just like that?"
"No. Not just like that," Kazuto said. "I'll walk you through your duties. Then I'll watch. Closely."
No threats. No anger. Just quiet control.
The Test
Kazuto had Nael help chop kindling and reinforce the western fencing. Tasks that required no access to the garden. Just wood, rope, and patience.
Nael did well. Quick hands. No complaints. But Kazuto noticed something strange.
The man would glance toward the garden every few minutes.
Not obviously. But enough that Kazuto caught it—too often, too long.
Later that evening, while Fia cooked, Kazuto called Nael to the side.
"You've been staring at the garden tiles."
Nael laughed nervously. "Didn't realize I was being weird."
Kazuto's voice didn't change. "You knew."
Silence.
Finally, Nael sighed. Sat on a log. Rubbed the side of his head.
"It's just… there's something under there, isn't there? I don't know why, but I felt it. Soon as I stepped near. Like a pull."
Kazuto's posture remained calm. But inwardly, he took the words seriously.
"Pull how?"
"Not like it's calling me. More like... it already knows me."
Codex Ping: Unstable Memory Residue Detected – Subject: Nael
▸ Trace Match: 12.4% overlap with Soulmark Fragment below surface.
▸ Status: Incomplete. Possible shared history.
▸ Recommendation: Contain individual during further analysis.
▸ Risk: Low—no active anomaly presence.
Kazuto didn't react outwardly. He simply sat beside Nael.
"Tell me something," he said. "Have you ever worked around ruins? Old ones?"
Nael hesitated.
"Maybe. There were places I… forgot. Not sure why. Ever since the Veil stuff started, some places just feel like they erase your thoughts."
Kazuto nodded slowly. That wasn't uncommon. But the match was too close.
That Night
Fia found Kazuto scribbling in his notebook by candlelight. Nael had gone to bed in the temporary lean-to.
"He's marked," she said.
"I know."
"Are you going to send him away?"
Kazuto didn't look up. "No."
She crossed her arms. "Why not?"
"Because if there's a link between him and the ruin, I want to learn it here—under our control. If we cast him out, whatever's watching under the garden may find him elsewhere. Alone."
"And if he's a threat?"
"Then we neutralize it. But not before we understand it."
Codex Log — Personal Note [Kazuto]
"The ruin breathes. And now, it's brought someone who matches its breath pattern. Coincidence doesn't live this far from the city.
If this world is testing us, then I'll pass calmly. I won't give in to fear. Not while this camp still holds warmth in its firepit.