“Family.”
Etzel stared at the moving marker.
All humor had disappeared from his face.
“Yeah.”
He grabbed his spear and started walking.
“Etzel.”
Renn’s voice followed him.
Etzel didn’t stop.
“Don’t.”
“You don’t know that candidate is targeting your family.”
“It’s heading toward my district.”
“A district containing thousands of people.”
Etzel stopped.
His hand tightened around the spear.
For half a second, he wanted to keep walking anyway.
Veydan.
Ismera.
Neris.
Home.
The marker was moving toward all of them.
But Renn was right.
His family wasn’t the only family there.
Etzel turned back toward the regional display.
“Show me the route.”
Renn expanded Candidate Seven.
The red line stretched across the eastern residential sector.
Etzel leaned closer.
Something was wrong.
The line wasn’t going toward his house.
Not exactly.
It was moving several blocks north.
“What’s there?”
Halven worked the terminal.
“Checking.”
A file appeared.
Old.
Nearly obsolete.
Renn read it first.
“Emergency Hunter shelter.”
Etzel looked at him.
“Active?”
“No. It was converted into a registration relay after the Rupture. Most of its functions were shut down two years ago.”
“Most?”
“Emergency identity infrastructure remains.”
Etzel stared at the route.
Then understood.
“Not my family.”
DK stood beside him.
“Identities.”
Etzel nodded.
“Yeah.”
Relief came.
Small.
Temporary.
The candidate wasn’t hunting Neris.
It wasn’t hunting Ismera or Veydan.
But it was moving into their neighborhood.
And if it succeeded—
Etzel had already seen what happened when an Anchor began opening.
He pulled out his communicator.
“I’m calling them.”
Renn nodded.
No argument.
Ismera answered on the third ring.
“Etzel?”
“Mom. I need you to listen.”
Silence.
His tone had done what explanations could not.
“All right.”
“Take Dad and Neris. Leave the house.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll explain later.”
“Etzel—”
“Authority is issuing evacuation routes. Go to the nearest designated shelter that isn’t in our district. Don’t use the old Hunter emergency site north of us.”
Another pause.
“Are we in danger?”
Etzel looked at the red marker.
“Yes.”
He hated saying it.
But lying would be worse.
“Immediate?”
“Not if you leave now.”
He heard movement.
A chair scraping.
Then Ismera calling Veydan’s name.
Good.
No panic.
No wasted questions.
She returned.
“Are you coming?”
Etzel didn’t answer immediately.
DK looked at him.
So did Renn.
“No.”
The word felt heavier than expected.
“I have to stop it.”
Ismera was silent.
Etzel waited for the argument.
It didn’t come.
Instead:
“Then come home afterward.”
Etzel closed his eyes for half a second.
“I will.”
A distant voice shouted through the communicator.
“Tell him not to do anything stupid!”
Etzel blinked.
Neris.
He almost smiled.
“Tell her that request is discriminatory.”
“I CAN HEAR YOU!”
There it was.
The smile came.
Small.
But real.
“Good. Then pack faster.”
“You—”
Etzel ended the call.
He looked at the communicator.
Halven raised an eyebrow.
“Discriminatory?”
“She has unrealistic expectations.”
DK spoke.
“She knows you well.”
Etzel pointed at him.
“This is not the time.”
Then he looked at Renn.
“My family is moving.”
“So are the other evacuation teams.”
Renn brought the regional map back up.
Seven markers.
Seven routes.
Seven possible disasters.
Etzel stared at them.
“What are you sending?”
“Everything.”
The Authority did not wait for Etzel to save the city.
That mattered.
Teams were already moving.
Candidate One was approaching the city center.
Two A-Rank Hunters and four B-Ranks were being redirected there.
Candidate Two was moving toward an active dungeon zone.
A containment team had been ordered to evacuate nearby Hunters and seal the dungeon perimeter.
Candidate Three was crossing the western forest.
Candidate Four was heading toward the industrial district.
Candidate Five toward the southern transit corridor.
Candidate Six had changed direction twice and was currently moving through an abandoned commercial sector.
Candidate Seven—
Etzel’s.
Renn began assigning personnel.
“Halven goes with you.”
Halven nodded.
“Two C-Rank response Hunters will meet you en route.”
Etzel looked at Renn.
“That’s it?”
“You have an A-Rank.”
If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.
Everyone looked at DK.
Etzel sighed.
“I’m officially D-Rank, you know.”
Halven started walking.
“Unfortunately.”
DK followed.
“Low.”
Etzel stopped.
He stared at DK.
“This joke has become workplace harassment.”
DK walked past him.
“I do not work here.”
“That somehow makes it worse.”
Renn tossed Etzel a compact Authority communicator.
“No regional authentication. Local encrypted channel only.”
Etzel caught it.
“You finally learned not to trust your own network.”
Renn looked at him.
“You’re still here.”
“Fair.”
They moved.
The transport vehicle was armored.
Fast.
And uncomfortable.
Etzel sat opposite DK while Halven coordinated with the two C-Ranks following in another vehicle.
Saeva sat on Etzel’s shoulder.
She had refused to return to Soul Space.
Etzel had tried twice.
She had ignored him twice.
Apparently summons could develop selective obedience.
Fantastic.
He opened his System.
Witness of the First Flaw responded.
But not how he wanted.
Etzel focused on the advantage he had used beneath the Authority facility: Authorization Severance.
Nothing.
He tried again.
A notification appeared.
System Alert
TAILORED ADVANTAGE EXPIRED.
A WITNESSED FLAW IS CONTEXTUAL.
REOBSERVATION REQUIRED IF STRUCTURE CHANGES.