Inside the house, the atmosphere wasn't tense— but it wasn't relaxed either.
The military had left. The document they'd delivered had already been burned. But their presence still lingered in the air.
Zhao Yang sat by the window, eyes on the ruins outside.
"They're not just going to walk away."
Lin Lan flipped through her notebook, voice steady.
"They left a communication frequency. That means they're waiting—for our response."
He Xuan spoke quietly.
"They're not in a rush. And we shouldn't be either."
Chen Mo leaned against the wall, his gauntlets still on.
"I don't like their attitude." "Not enemies. Not allies. Just people with weapons, watching to see how we move."
Lu Ye said nothing. He stared at the blank sheet of paper on the table— the one he'd meant to use for planning. But the pen hadn't touched it.
Zhao Yang broke the silence.
"I think we should initiate contact." "Not to cooperate—just to find out what they're really doing." "We can't stay reactive forever."
Lin Lan nodded.
"Their espers aren't weak. Gu Qinglan's consciousness-folding ability… it's refined." "If we don't move first, they'll find other ways to get close."
He Xuan shook his head.
"Initiating contact means exposing more. Their protocol included a 'cleansing directive.' That means they're already preparing for the worst."
Chen Mo scoffed.
"If they wanted to purge us, they'd have done it already." "The fact they haven't means they're still unsure."
Lu Ye finally spoke.
"They're not a monolith." "There are fractures inside the military."
The others turned to him.
He continued:
"The seal on the last page of that document— it wasn't a standard military insignia." "'Central Command'—that name showed up in the early files of the Maker Initiative."
Lin Lan's voice dropped.
"You're saying… their leadership might be connected to the Makers?"
Lu Ye nodded.
"At the very least, there's overlap."
Zhao Yang stood.
"Then we should make contact." "We don't have to trust them. But we can choose who we engage." "Gu Qinglan is a potential entry point."
Lin Lan added,
"She observed me. But there was no hostility." "She might be an operative—not a decision-maker."
He Xuan thought for a moment.
"We can define a contact framework." "Strictly information exchange. No cooperation. No signatures."
Chen Mo nodded.
"If they try anything, we're not unprepared."
Lu Ye looked out the window.
"Then let's test it." "We reach out—see how they respond."
He picked up the blank sheet of paper. And began to write.
Not a surrender. Not a provocation. Just a probe— to test the boundary.