For a second, no one understood.
Not fully.
Not until Dante's posture changed.
It wasn't sudden.
It wasn't violent.
It was subtle too subtle and that made it worse.
His shoulders went still.
Not tense.
Not relaxed.
Just… aligned.
Like something had found the exact position it wanted him in.
Victor saw it instantly.
"Dante."
No response.
The girl stepped back instinctively. "No no, we just fixed this we literally just fixed this"
Camille's signal flared, unstable but urgent. "Dante, if it's routing through you, you need to block it now don't let it centralize"
"I can't," Dante said.
His voice was calm.
Too calm.
Not layered like before.
Not conflicted.
Just… clear.
Victor's jaw tightened. "That's not an answer I accept."
Dante's gaze shifted to him slowly.
"It's not asking."
Silence.
Because that meant
It wasn't negotiating anymore.
The forms in the room stopped moving.
All of them.
At once.
Not frozen.
Idle.
Like they were no longer needed.
