12″Cyn's boots clicked softly against the metal floor as she walked ahead, scanning the wreckage with her wrist display. Her expression was neutral, but her movements were focused. Behind her, N followed in silence, footsteps steady, eyes dim orange as they flickered softly in the low red light.
He didn't say anything. He hadn't for a while.
Cyn didn't look back at first. The corridor groaned under the weight of old damage and creeping Solver corruption. Sparks occasionally danced from broken wires. She stopped at a melted doorway and sighed.
Cyn: "That had to be from the early Solver surge..."
No response. Just the quiet hum of N’s systems behind her.
She glanced over her shoulder.
Cyn: "You okay back there?"
N lifted his head just slightly. A quiet nod. Nothing more.
Cyn: "You've been quieter than usual."
Still, he said nothing. His eyes wandered, scanning invisible patterns in the wall, occasionally pausing like he was listening to something else entirely.
They kept walking.
Cyn (after a pause): "You don’t have to follow me, you know. Not unless you want to."
N blinked slowly. The glow in his eyes shimmered—briefly softer. His voice, when it came, was quiet. Almost... gentle.
N: "I do."
From the shadows, hidden behind a cracked wall panel, Uzi watched. Her claws dug into the edge of the opening, holding her breath. She hadn't meant to spy. But she couldn't look away.
N looked calm. Still. Solver-tainted... but still him.
She didn't know what hurt more: the silence, or the way he looked at Cyn like she was the only thing anchoring him.
As they passed, N’s gaze flicked—just slightly—toward the wall near her. Not quite at her. But almost.
Then he kept walking.
And Uzi stayed hidden. Alone in the hum of the red hallway.
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