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I return to my lookout position, stretching my enhanced hearing to its limits. The Unity vehicle has changed course, engine sounds growing slightly louder as it turns toward our location.

"They're definitely coming this way," I report, my stomach flipping with nerves. "Estimate three minutes until visual range."

"Nearly there," Vex responds, his focus absolute as he works the controls.

I scan our surroundings, mapping potential escape routes. The terrain offers several options, but all require crossing open ground at some point, which is risky if the Unity patrol has enhanced scanning equipment.

A soft chime from inside the station breaks my concentration. Moments later, Vex emerges, satisfaction evident in his predatory smile.

"Beacon activated. Transmitting false environmental emergency signals." He joins me at the perimeter. "Should have Unity's full attention in thirty seconds."

"Vehicle approaching from the northwest," I warn. "They'll have direct line of sight in approximately two minutes."

"Time to disappear." Vex gestures to a rocky outcropping to the south. "We'll circle back through the ravine. Longer route but better concealment."

We move quickly, staying low as we navigate away from the station. I keep my hearing focused on the Unity vehicle, tracking its progress by engine sounds and occasional voice fragments .

"They've spotted the beacon," I report as we reach the ravine's edge. "Calling it in to base now."

"Perfect." Vex leads the way down a steep path that would be treacherous without enhanced reflexes. "They'll focus on the station long enough for us to clear the area."

The ravine provides excellent cover, its winding path invisible from above. As we move deeper, the sounds of the Unity vehicle fade slightly, though I still catch fragments of their communication.

"Your hearing range is impressive," Vex notes as we navigate the narrow passage. "Most modifications don't achieve that level of sensitivity without severe tradeoffs."

"What kind of tradeoffs?"

"Sensory overload. Inability to filter. Some early wasteland adaptations produced enhanced senses but left the recipients unable to function in normal environments.

" His eyes flick to me, assessing. "Your mother's work avoided those pitfalls.

Precision engineering rather than crude survival adaptations. "

The casual reference to Elara Thorne still jars me—this woman I barely remember who apparently designed me like some kind of science project.

"Lucky me," I mutter.

Vex stops suddenly, turning to face me fully.

"Do you have any idea how many have died from failed modifications?

How many suffer daily from adaptations that keep them alive but in constant pain?

" His amber eyes gleam in the dim light.

"What you have is a gift, Sentinel. A chance to experience the best of what modification offers without the costs most of us pay. "

The intensity in his voice catches me off guard. Before I can respond, my ears pick up a new sound—the whine of a drone engine, distinct from the patrol vehicle.

"Surveillance drone," I warn, automatically dropping into a defensive crouch. "Coming from the north."

Vex moves without hesitation, pulling me deeper into the ravine where an overhanging ledge provides cover. The space is tight, forcing us close together as we press against the rock wall. His body radiates heat against mine, our enhanced metabolisms running hotter than standard human norm.

"Hold position," he whispers, his breath warm against my ear. "These drones use movement detection more than visual scanning."

We freeze as the drone's whine grows louder, passing almost directly overhead. In the confined space, I'm acutely aware of Vex, the steady rhythm of his heartbeat, the coiled tension in his muscles, his distinctive smell that makes me want to breathe in deeply.

His eyes meet mine, amber irises reflecting what little light filters into our hiding place. Something electric passes between us, a recognition of shared experience, of bodies that operate beyond standard human parameters.

The drone passes, its engine sound receding gradually. Neither of us moves immediately, that strange charged moment stretching between us.

"They're returning to the monitoring station," I report, trying to focus on the mission rather than our proximity. "Sounds like they're buying the diversion."

Vex nods, but doesn't immediately retreat from our shared space. "Your control is impressive for someone newly awakened," he says, voice low. "Most struggle with the sensory integration for weeks."

"Feels like cheating," I admit. "Having designer modifications when everyone else had to adapt the hard way."

"Evolution doesn't care about fair," he says with a slight shrug. "Only what works." His eyes hold mine, something almost challenging in his gaze. "And your modifications work beautifully."

There's an undercurrent to his words that makes my pulse quicken. Before I can analyze it, he steps back, breaking the moment .

"We should circle back to the settlement," he says, all business again. "Different route in case they've deployed more drones."

We navigate the ravine in silence, eventually emerging into denser forest that provides good cover for our return journey. As we approach Haven's Edge from the southeast, I catch Trent's scent before I see him—waiting at the perimeter with barely concealed tension.

Relief crosses his face when he spots us, quickly masked by Sentinel control. "Mission successful?"

"Beacon activated," Vex confirms. "Unity patrol diverted to investigate. They've called in the anomalous readings as equipment malfunction."

"Good work," Trent says, his eyes finding mine. "Both of you."

Something in his tone makes me wonder exactly how much he observed of our mission. Did he watch our return route? See that moment in the ravine?

Nah. He couldn’t have. Still. The thought makes me unreasonably self-conscious. "Any changes here?"

"Settlement's maintained blackout protocols as a precaution," Trent reports. "Nora wants a full debrief once the patrol clears the area completely."

Vex nods. "I'll check perimeter security." He glances at me, that faint challenging smile returning briefly. "Good work, Thorne. We'll resume training tomorrow. Your enhancements have potential."

He walks away leaving Trent and me in awkward silence.

"You worked well together," Trent observes neutrally, though something flickers in his eyes.

"He knows the territory," I say with a casual shrug that feels anything but. " And he understands the modifications."

Trent nods, accepting this surface explanation even though we both know there's more beneath it. Our partnership taught us to read each other too well for comfortable deception.

"Your abilities integrated remarkably fast," he says instead. "Reid was impressed."

"Apparently that's how they were designed," I respond, unable to keep the edge from my voice. "Perfect integration, minimal disruption."

Trent studies me for a long moment. "They suit you," he says finally, echoing his earlier comment. "The enhancements. They don't seem foreign on you, like they do on some of the others."

It's the closest thing to a peace offering he's made since our fight—an acknowledgment that maybe, just maybe, these changes aren't simply contamination or deviation but something that belongs to me, something that completes rather than corrupts.

"Thanks," I say awkwardly, not sure how to respond to this tentative olive branch. After all, I’m the one holding the grudge here.

He nods once, professional distance reasserting itself. "Nora called a community meeting for tonight. Apparently they want to discuss longer-term arrangements for us."

"Us?" I raise an eyebrow. "You planning to stick around among the modified after all?"

Something complicated passes across his face. "I go where you go, Zara. That hasn't changed."

The simple declaration hits harder than it should. Before Unity, before Sentinels, before everything went sideways, that was our promise to each other in the field.

I don't know what to say, so I fall back on practicality. "I should report to Nora about the Unity patrol."

Trent accepts that with a small nod. "I'll join you."

As we walk toward the main building, I'm acutely aware of the strange new reality I inhabit, body enhanced beyond standard human parameters, caught between a man I trusted who betrayed me and another who represents everything Unity taught me to fear.

And the strangest part? For the first time since my symptoms began, I don't feel afraid of what I'm becoming. The modifications that terrified me in Unity feel right here, as if something that was always meant to be part of me has finally awakened.

My mother's design or not, these abilities are mine now. What I do with them? That's the choice that remains entirely my own.