Eleven-forty PM.The seventh gave Jake the gift.Sixth floor. Card down. Channel open. Full team and nobody making a sound.What came through the Whisperer wasn't language. Wasn't frequency the way frequency usually worked. It hit different from everything before it. The Solar Heart went gold at Sora's collar. Both pendants lit up at once. Nobody breathed too loud.Jake tried to explain it after."It felt like the Hearts understanding what they're actually for," he said. "Not what they've been used for. What they're actually for."Elijah looked at him. "That's it?""That's the best I've got," Jake said."I'll take it," Elijah said.Rael read the Dragon's Ring. Read it again."It's not the same artifact it was twenty minutes ago," she said."The seventh gave me an upgrade," Jake said."That's a very simple way to describe what just happened," Rael said."But accurate," Jake said."But accurate," Rael said.Most of them went home.Jake sat in the training space alone. Card on the floor.

{She was right to be certain.}Jake put his phone down.Five people. One day. No coordination. And a Dragon's Ring warmer than it had been this morning sitting on his finger like it was waiting for him to catch up.'Jake,' the Whisperer said.'Give me a minute,' Jake thought.'Take two,' the Whisperer said.He called Rael after the second minute."Tomorrow," Jake said. "Full team. The seventh.""I was going to call you," Rael said."I know," Jake said."Test the ceiling before we're in the room," Rael said. "I want the number first.""Yes," Jake said.He went home and slept better than he had in weeks. Which said everything.***Five-thirty AM.Jake opened the four Hearts and counted in his head. Not because he had to. Because he wanted to know the number himself before he gave it to anyone else.Sixty-one minutes.The ceiling came