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"Butterfly," Vex says softly, crouching beside me with unusual gentleness. "A Blue Morpho. They were nearly extinct before the collapse. Now they thrive here."

The butterfly—Blue Morpho—drifts closer, then delicately settles on my shoulder. I hold perfectly still, afraid even my breathing might damage it.

"I've never seen anything like this in Unity," I admit, watching as the wings slowly open and close, revealing iridescent blue that seems to shift with the light. "Nothing so..."

"Wild? Beautiful? Unnecessary?" Vex suggests, his voice unusually soft.

"Free," I decide.

Something in Vex's expression changes, the usual hardness giving way to a warmth I've rarely glimpsed. "They're perfect examples of adaptation. Complete transformation from one form to another, entirely different life stages. Caterpillar to chrysalis to this."

"Transformation," I echo, thinking of my own metamorphosis from loyal Sentinel to whatever I'm becoming.

"The ancients had many names for them," Vex continues, his voice taking on a storytelling quality I haven't heard before. "My grandmother used to call them 'flutterbys' when she told me stories. Said they carried souls between worlds."

"Flutterbys," I repeat, smiling at the childlike reversal of the syllables.

The butterfly's wings pulse once more, then it lifts into the air, circling us before drifting toward a patch of flowers.

"You remind me of them," Vex says, his amber eyes holding mine with unexpected intensity. "Transformation. Adaptation. Beauty emerging from change."

The compliment catches me off guard, so different from his usual challenging remarks or practical instructions. Something warm unfurls in my chest, dangerous and compelling.

"I was in a chrysalis my whole life," I say quietly. "Never knowing what I really was."

Vex reaches out, his calloused fingers gently brushing a strand of hair from my face. "And now you're emerging, Flutterby."

The nickname should sound ridiculous, especially coming from Vex’s mouth. Instead, it sends a shiver through me that has nothing to do with the breeze and everything to do with the man before me, wild, uncontained, modified…everything Unity taught me to fear.

"Is that what I am to you? A curiosity? A pretty insect?" I mean it to sound challenging, but my voice betrays me, emerging softer than intended.

"No." His hand drops away, but his gaze remains, intense and unreadable. "You're the most dangerous kind of beautiful—the kind that makes people question everything they believe."

Before I can respond, he stands in one fluid movement. "Break's over. Let's see if those reflexes are as quick as your wit."

As we resume training, the butterfly remains nearby, drifting between flowers with delicate purpose. I find my eyes drawn to it repeatedly, this creature that transformed completely from one life to another, emerging stronger and more beautiful than before.

Just like me.

The rest of the training session takes on a different quality after the butterfly moment, less instructor and student, more equals exploring the limits of what our modified bodies can accomplish. Vex pushes me harder than usual, testing my speed, strength, and adaptability in ways that leave me breathless but exhilarated.

"Your reflexes are improving," he comments as I dodge a lightning-fast strike. "But you're still thinking like a Sentinel, all regulation movements. Your responses are too calculated."

"And how should I think instead?" I ask, circling him warily.

"Like a predator," he says, then demonstrates with a series of movements so fluid they seem almost impossible, leaping, twisting, changing direction mid-air with feline grace. "Stop following rules that were designed to limit you."

I try to mimic his movements, and to my surprise, my body responds more readily than expected, as if it's been waiting for permission to move this way, to fully embrace what the modifications make possible.

"There you go, Flutterby," Vex says, approval evident in his voice. "Let your body lead. It knows what to do."

The nickname sends another ripple of warmth through me, creating a strange intimacy between us, something I haven't felt with anyone since leaving Unity. Not even with Trent, despite our years of partnership and the lingering connection that refuses to die completely.

By the time we head back toward Haven's Edge, the sunhas begun its descent toward the horizon, casting long shadows through the trees. We walk rather than run, both of us pleasantly fatigued from the intense training session.

"There's going to be a settlement council meeting tonight," Vex says as the outbuildings come into view. "About the Haven children situation."

"No one mentioned that to me," I note, surprised.