The air outside the white room was a shock to the system. It smelled of recycled oxygen, metal, and the faint, ever-present tang of ozone from the barrier generators. To Leo, it was the scent of freedom. He walked flanked by two silent Sweepers, their presence a reminder that this was not a promotion, but a supervised probation.
They moved through the sterile, grey corridors of the secure wing towards the motor pool. Every step was a deliberate exercise in his new control. The child-self wanted to stare in wonder at the world. The soldier-self cataloged exits and threats. The core self held the anchor, focusing on the plan.
Ready the Anchor.
He saw the signs for the ventilation maintenance access exactly where Kaelen's schematic had indicated. A heavy, locked door, off a side corridor. He committed its position to memory.
At the motor pool, Kaelen and Rourke were waiting by an armored transport. Kaelen's eyes met his for a fraction of a second. There was no smile, no nod. Just a microscopic flicker of acknowledgment before her gaze became all business.
"The substation is ten clicks out, in a green zone," she said, her voice clipped. "The Echo is a minor 'Weeping' type. Non-aggressive, but it's causing fluctuations in the water pH. Standard dispersal should take five minutes. O'Connor, you're here to observe and practice containment. No heroics."
"Understood, Sergeant," Leo said, his voice carefully neutral.
The ride was quiet, the tension thick enough to taste. Rourke kept glancing at Leo, his expression a mix of wariness and a grudging respect. Leo looked out the reinforced window, watching the crumbling cityscape blur past. He saw the Gloaming's touch everywhere—the twisted, unnatural colors staining old brickwork, the shimmering patches of distorted air. It was a dying world. But for the first time, he felt a spark of agency within it.
The substation was a small, squat building nestled beside a cracked concrete canal. The air around it hummed with a low, sorrowful energy. Inside, the air was cold and damp. In the center of the main filtration chamber, a faint, shimmering apparition of a woman endlessly wringing her hands hovered over a control panel—the Weeping Echo.
"See?" Kaelen said, her rifle held low. "Simple. Rourke, set up the disperser charges. O'Connor, scan it. Give me a resonance reading."
Leo nodded. He closed his eyes, falling into the now-familiar routine.
[Skill Recognized: Resonance Analysis - Basic Lv. 4]
[Sustained Application. Multiplier: x5.]
The world resolved into energy. The Echo was a simple, sad loop. But as his senses expanded, he felt something else. A faint, familiar, and utterly terrifying frequency. It was the same resonant "scent" as the Resonance Eater. It was distant, but it was there, watching, waiting in the psychic background.
His blood ran cold. It was another trap. Not for him this time, but for the team. The Gloaming was learning to use minor anomalies as lures.
He broke off the analysis, his eyes snapping open. "Kaelen. We need to leave. Now."
She frowned. "What? Why?"
"It's a lure. There's something else here. A Resonance Eater. It's close."
Rourke scoffed, hefting a disperser charge. "Your head still playing tricks on you, rookie? I don't see anything."
"I feel it," Leo insisted, his voice low and urgent. He looked directly at Kaelen, trying to communicate the truth without words. "It's an ambush. We abort the mission."
Kaelen held his gaze. She saw the absolute certainty in his eyes, the same clarity he'd shown in the white room. She made a split-second decision, trusting the asset over the textbook.
"Rourke, stand down. Mission abort. Back to the transport."
Rourke stared in disbelief. "On his say-so? He's unstable, Kaelen!"
"That's an order!" she barked.
As they turned to retreat, the air in the substation grew deathly cold. The sorrowful Weeping Echo flickered and was snuffed out, consumed. From the shadowy rafters above, the air tore open. The man-shaped void of the Resonance Eater dropped to the floor between them and the exit, its vortex-face drinking the light from the room.
Rourke froze, his bravado evaporating. "Oh, hell."
The creature raised its hand, and Rourke's disperser charge sparked and died, its energy drained to zero.
"Don't use your weapons!" Leo yelled. "Don't even think about fighting!"
The creature turned its attention to Kaelen. She stood her ground, but Leo could see her combat focus, her readiness to fight, being pulled from her like a ribbon of smoke. Her stance wavered.
This was it. The moment. Not to fight the creature, but to use the chaos.
Leo didn't look at the monster. He looked at Kaelen and gave a sharp, almost imperceptible nod towards the transport. Then he turned and ran.
Not away from the creature. Deeper into the substation.
The Resonance Eater, drawn to the most active, complex energy signature—his amplified, panicked flight—immediately shifted its attention and flowed after him.
"Leo!" Kaelen shouted, but he was already gone, leading the predator away.
He burst out a rear emergency exit into a narrow, weed-choked service alley, the creature gliding silently behind him. He was the bait, the key, and the escapee, all in one.