She made a small, frustrated sound and looked away.
"I hate you."

"No, you don’t."

She tossed the relic toward him—gentle, but pointed.
He caught it with one hand.

"You want protection?"

"Obviously."

"Then stop yelling at your shield."

They sat on the edge of a frozen cargo platform.
Quiet.
The wind howled low between the broken racks.

"You really think they’ll keep chasing me?" she asked eventually.

"They never stopped."

"He never stopped," she corrected. "My father."

She took a slow breath.
Voice dropped.

"This wasn’t supposed to mean anything.
I was just going to run. Hide. Let the storm pass."

"Then you brought a relic into it."

"Yeah."
(Beat.)
"And maybe someone who makes it harder to run."

[C.O.R.E.] – Signal anomaly detected
Invasive glyph signature: Jacket lining. Velethorne-class cloaking confirmed.

Jahil stood up.
"Hold still."

"What now?"

He reached behind her shoulder and cut a hidden seam.
A thin shard fell into his glove—crystalline and laced with faint red glyphs.

"Tracking glyph. Noble grade."

Velira stared at it.
"...He tagged me."

"Probably before you even left."

She didn’t say anything for a long moment.

[Scene Shift – Sector 3 Surveillance Hive]

The screen buzzed faintly as two grainy figures hovered on the edge of visual clarity.

One sat. One caught a relic mid-air.

Varron Kline stood at the edge of the holotank.
His jaw ticked softly as the synth supports adjusted.

"Can you clear it up?"

"That’s the best you’ll get without a beacon," his assistant said.

"Tank stance confirmed," another voice added.
"Movement matches advanced defensive patterning."

Varron grinned slowly.
"He’s shielding her."

He turned to another screen.
Velira’s dossier flickered to life:

HEIRESS – VAULT ACCESS – CORE THEFT – BLACKLISTED

"She’s the package," he murmured. "Not the courier."

"Do we ID the protector?"

"No."

"Tag the relic?"

"No."

He leaned in, voice colder.
"Watch what happens when no one’s pushing them."

(Beat.)

"If this turns into something..."
He smiled thinly.
"...Then I’ll break it properly."

Varron’s not chasing them.
He’s letting them run.
The question is: how long before he tightens the leash?