Malcolm kept his strong arms locked tightly around the Enigma's trembling shoulders, his broad chest acting as a solid shield between Dahmer and the fragile woman standing across the room. He could feel the rapid, chaotic hammering of Dahmer's heart against his ribs—the raw, physical manifestation of a brilliant mind entirely short-circuiting under the weight of years of accumulated neglect, isolation, and silent grief.
Joveline stood completely frozen by the window, her hands trembling slightly against the fabric of her knit gown. Seeing her youngest son—the man the entire global district feared as the heartless, untouchable Architect of GEM—completely fall apart in the arms of a Ford was a sight that shattered something within her maternal core. The venom and arrogance that had defined her for over a decade evaporated, leaving behind only the hollow ache of a mother who had fundamentally failed her own flesh and blood.
