The pounding of boots was too coordinated to be anything but trouble
Zeon ducked into a rusted crawl pipe beneath an old bridge, his breath coming short and fast. Through a slit in the wall, he watched them...the Bond Mates. Aurelion's loyal pets, in crimson overcoats and steel plates, their faces grim as they stalked toward his caravan like bloodhounds who'd caught a whiff of rot.
"Wonderful," he muttered. "Right on time."
No alarms, no warnings. Just a slow-rolling tide of rage and vengeance heading straight for the place he'd once called home.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
›Tier Leech: +2%
›Emotion Absorbed: Collective fury / Betrayal
›Note: Strong emotions directed at host detected. System fed.
He didn't wait to see them reach it. He cut through a collapsed building, and emerged into the back end of the caravan yard.
By the time he slid open the door to the caravan, Lilith was already halfway to a curse.
"Zeon? What the hell...?"
"No time." He was already yanking open cabinets, ignoring the organized chaos of wires, worn jackets, and half-charged plasma cells. "Get your boots, now. We're leaving."
Zeon grabbed what little food he could, but there was no time for packs or weapons. Not even a knife.
"To where...?" she started, voice rising, but Zeon was already grabbing her by the wrist, dragging her out the back door just as the mob rounded the bend.
She saw them then, faces she knew. Faces that had laughed with her around barrel fires, sparred with her on cracked cement. Now twisted by fury.
Lilith didn't ask any more questions. She just followed.
---
The woods on the edge of Zone 12 weren't woods so much as a tangle of sickly trees and rust stained ground. The remnants of a forgotten project to "restore nature." It hadn't worked.
Nothing did, not here.
Zeon lit a small flame in an old can, huddled near it with Lilith. The flickering light illuminated her expression. Tired, tense, but not afraid.
She stirred the air with a stick. "So," she said, "You wanna tell me why we're fugitives?"
He sighed. "Aurelion is dead. And I was the last person to see her...the last person to enter the Ascension Center. Before the beasts arrived, that is."
Lilith nodded slowly. "They think you lured the beasts."
"Yeah. Because obviously I keep a collection of Desire Beasts under my bed. Right next to my nonexistent dignity."
She didn't laugh.
He glanced at her. "You didn't even ask if I killed her."
"Didn't need to," she replied, matter-of-fact.
He blinked, thrown off. "How are you so sure?"
She shrugged. "You don't look like someone who kills High Anchors. You look like someone who gets blamed for things he can't control."
That landed harder than he liked.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
›Tier Leech: +3%
›Emotion Absorbed: Sympathy / Compassion
›Source: Lilith
›Note: Direct empathy detected. High emotional impact.
Lilith's lips parted, then curled into something like a smirk. "If you did kill her, she probably deserved it. I never liked how she looked at us. Like she owned us."
Whoever 'us' was, Zeon didn't know. He wasn't sure he even wanted to know what went on in the Ascension center.
"Cool," he muttered. "Thanks for the vote of semi-confidence."
The fire cracked. Lilith leaned in.
"If they think you had anything to do with her death… there's nowhere in Zone 12 they won't look."
"So what now?" she asked. "We can't live out here forever.
Zeon was quiet for a beat. "Haven't thought that far. I'm more of a 'survive the next hour' kind of guy."
"You're Tier One now. You've got a system. You don't need to hide in this trash heap of a zone." Lilith pointed out.
Zeon stared at the sky, right now, it looked like a dirty curtain. He hated how her voice could sound both condescending and concerned.
"You really think it's that easy?" he asked. "Just walk out of the only place I've ever known? Everything I liked...hell, tolerated...was here."
"Everything that wants to kill you is here too," Lilith said. "So pick one."
Zeon hesitated.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
›Current Location: Unsuitable to Host
›Objective: Relocate or die.
›Suggestion: Leave Zone 12.
Zeon looked around, the broken zone, the dying trees, the faint hum of failing city lights in the distance.
"Yeah. Maybe it's time."
Lilith's eyes lit up, just a flicker. "You'll need ID tags. The kind that won't burn up the second they hit a border scanner."
"You know a guy?"
"I know a guy who knows a guy," she said, smiling. "And I know how to make him talk."
He watched her, trying to gauge the angle. There was something too poised in how she spoke, too eager in how her shoulder leaned just slightly closer than necessary.
System pinged in his head:
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Subject: Lilith
— Attempting to get closer.
— Ulterior Motive Detected: Level-up potential tied to your desire.
— Loyalty status: unclear.
Recommendation: Keep some distance until trust is confirmed.
Zeon narrowed his eyes. "You trying to be useful or indispensable?"
"Both," Lilith said, not missing a beat. "I figure, if I stick close, something good might rub off."
"Like a power-up by osmosis?" He guessed.
"Something like that."
The system buzzed again:
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
Subject: Lilith
— Getting closer.
— Desire level: 3%
— Power link possible if feelings hit 10%
Recommendation: Caution Advised.
Lilith leaned back, fingers laced behind her head. "You might not trust me yet. That's fine. But if you're heading out of this dump, you'll need someone watching your back."
He looked at her. "And you want that to be you."
"I'm not strong yet. But I'm adaptable. And I learn fast. All I need is a little… push." She replied with a shrug.
Zeon didn't answer. But he didn't say no, either.
---
The black market dealer was holed up beneath an abandoned pharmacy, his face lit by flickering neon that read "Dr. Heal's."
Unsurprisingly, Zeon knew him from around the crate loading yards. His name was Tarn and he looked like he hadn't bathed since the fall of civilization.
He squinted at Zeon. "Didn't think you had it in you. Heard some folks say you're a murderer now."
He knew him... and he didn't like him.
"And yet you're still talking to me," Zeon said coolly, stepping inside the damp bunker.. "Means you're either stupid or greedy."
Lilith followed, her eyes scanning the cramped space. Boxes of outdated meds, crates labeled with fake syndicate stamps, and a single cot draped in what looked like someone's old curtain.
"Greedy," Tarn said with a grin. "And morbidly curious. What's your poison? IDs? Transit papers? Cross-zone clearance?"
"Two basic IDs. Nothing fancy. Just enough to slip out of this dump without getting flagged." Lilith stepped in.
Tarn scratched his stomach, revealing too much skin. "That'll cost you."
Zeon tossed a chipped currency disc on the table. "This gets me and her past the outer scanners?"
Tarn weighed it. "Gets you through the lower-tier rings. Anything higher, and you'll fry. But..." He leaned forward, eyes gleaming, "I've got a favor you could do. For premium clearance."
Zeon frowned. "Not interested."
"You haven't even heard it yet."
"I don't need to. Anyone asking for favors in this zone is about to sell your lungs to a heart doc." Zeon replied.
Tarn snorted. "Suit yourself." He pulled out two slim tags and ran them through an old calibration device. A shrill beep echoed, then died. "They'll hold for a while."
Tarn licked his teeth. "Pleasure doing business, fugitive."
Lilith took hers, inspecting it under the dim light. Zeon pocketed his without looking.
[SYSTEM ALERT]
Quest Updated: Abandon Home Zone.
Status: In Progress.
Objective: Evade pursuit. Leave Zone 12. Try not to die.
Reward: ?
Zeon muttered under his breath. "Let's see if we can do that without dying in the next twelve hours."
Lilith smiled softly. "Odds?"
"Bad," he said. "Which means we might just make it."
Outside, the sky had begun to weep a thin drizzle, misting the rusted alleys and cracked synth-stone roads. They walked in silence until they reached the border checkpoint, a rusted watchtower half-manned by bored guards and half-automated by glitchy surveillance drones.
Zeon tightened his coat.
Lilith leaned in. "You sure this'll work?"
"No," he said honestly. "But if it doesn't, I'll blame you."
She smirked. "Fair."
They stepped into the scanning tunnel, heartbeats loud in their ears.
The scanner beeped. Yellow light. Pause.
Zeon's pulse jumped.
Then...green. Access granted.
They stepped through.
Zone 12, with all its ash and betrayal and broken dreams, faded behind them.
[SYSTEM NOTIFICATION]
›New Territory: Outlands – Tier Borderlands
›Map expanding…
›Desire Core Progress: +3%
›Emotion Absorbed: Hope / Uncertainty
›System Note: Core integrity stable. Resonance increasing.