The territorial situation in the Rust District stopped being theoretical on a Thursday night.Kal wasn't there when it started—he was at home, working through combat theory reading for Yuen's class, when Petra's message came through at nine forty-seven PM.PETRA: Incident at the eastern marker. Two Remnants down, non-critical. We need eyes at the boundary tonight. Can you be at the Mercer warehouse by eleven.He was there by ten forty.The eastern boundary of the Remnants' territory was a line running roughly north-south through the Rust District, marked in the guild registry and understood by anyone operating in the area. On the other side was ground claimed by a guild called the Ironclad Compact—older, larger, with a B-Rank average and a reputation for taking what they wanted and then filing the paperwork afterward.Petra walked him and Felix through it on a physical map spread on the common room table. Two Remnants members—Cass and Rhee, the pair who'd been on the tablet when Kal f

He found her on the Academy roof.Not the rooftop where Marcus's crew had summoned him—different roof, the east wing's maintenance access, which required either a key or a system that could manage locks. Kal's Absolute Comprehension had the lock open in four seconds. He suspected Sable's route had been faster.She was sitting on the low parapet, legs hanging over the edge, looking out at the district. Her back was to him when he came through the door. She didn't turn around."Grey talked to you," she said."Sunday." He crossed the roof and sat on the parapet a few feet away. Below them the Academy's east courtyard, beyond it the Rust District doing its morning thing, the elevated transit track cutting through it all. "He said you've been to the same territory Regis came from.""He said that.""Is it true."She was quiet for a moment. Not the calculated stillness she used in classrooms—something more unguarded than that, or at least a different texture of guard. "Yes.""How.""The same