---
She drank tea she was absolutely not supposed to drink. She muttered commentary about Kess's handwriting when Kess was not present to defend himself. She complained once that older people always acted as if midnight belonged only to serious people.
And through all of it, she waited.
Then, sometime after midnight, when the house had gone fully still and even the last hallway lamps had softened, the system stirred inside Sekhmet's mind.
[Ding! SYSTEM Notification: Mira's Crimson Gorgon transformation has reached completion threshold.
The host candidate is ready to hatch.]
Sekhmet's gaze lifted from the page in front of him.
Right on time.
Bat Bat saw the change in his face immediately.
"You are going now."
It was not a question.
Sekhmet stood.
Bat Bat stood with him so fast that the chair behind her scraped lightly across the floor.
He looked at her.
She held herself very straight this time. No theatrics. No speech about history. No fake scholarly duty.
