Dante felt it before anyone else did.
A pull.
Not physical.
Not something he could brace against or break with force.
Something quieter.
Deeper.
Like a thread being drawn tight between two points that were never meant to touch.
His gaze snapped to her.
She felt it too.
He could see it in the way her breath hitched, in the way her fingers curled slightly at her sides like she was trying to grab something that wasn't there.
"…Dante," she said, softer now.
Victor stepped in immediately, eyes sharp. "What just happened?"
Dante didn't answer right away.
Because he was listening.
Not to the figure.
To the connection.
It wasn't stable.
It wasn't clean.
It was… alive.
And that was the problem.
The figure stood a few steps away, watching them both with that same unsettling focus.
Not as enemies.
Not even as obstacles.
As components.
"You will stabilize the system," it said.
Dante's jaw tightened. "We're not stabilizing anything."
"You already are."
