The quiet of the team's shared quarters was almost unbearable. Elaine sat at the corner table, flipping through the stolen journal for the fifth time, hoping to find something—anything—that could give her clarity. The weight of the day's events hung heavy over everyone, and no one seemed eager to break the silence.
Kael leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes scanning the room like a sentinel. Lira sat hunched over a small alchemical kit, fidgeting with vials and powders in a half-hearted attempt to distract herself. Ferran, of course, was sharpening his blade, the rhythmic scrape of steel on stone the only sound besides Elaine's shallow breathing.
"They'll come for us, you know," Ferran said finally, his voice cutting through the tension like a blade.
Elaine looked up from the journal, her brow furrowing. "Who?"
"Everyone," Ferran replied with a grim chuckle. "The overseers, Aria's loyalists, the Nexus… take your pick. We just put a target on our backs, and the bullseye's glowing."
He wasn't wrong. The guild might have turned against Aria, but the cracks her ambitions had left behind were far from mended.
Nexus Insight:
Oversight Constructs Monitoring Subject.
Priority Directive: Observe potential for high-divergence anomaly.
Internal Conflicts: Guild factions destabilizing.
Elaine leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples as the Nexus's warnings flickered across her vision. It wasn't just the guild's politics that worried her—it was the Nexus itself. It had marked her as something dangerous, something to watch. And she had no idea how to stop it.
Kael spoke up, his tone measured. "We need a plan. Sitting here waiting for someone to make the first move isn't an option."
"And what exactly do you suggest?" Lira asked, her voice sharper than usual. "We're not exactly in a position to negotiate."
"Maybe not," Kael admitted, "but we have information. Aria's journal is proof of what she's done—and what she was trying to do. If we use it wisely, we might be able to tip the balance in our favor."
Elaine frowned. "The journal's already served its purpose. The overseers have seen it—they've acted. What more can we do with it?"
Kael's gaze hardened. "The overseers acted because it suited them. That doesn't mean we're safe. They could still decide we're a threat. Or worse, a loose end."
A Warning from the Nexus
Before Elaine could respond, the Nexus flared to life in her vision, its text sharper and more urgent than before:
CRITICAL WARNING:
Oversight escalation detected. Construct reinforcement en route.
Guild factions splintering: Potential for external incursion.
Directive: Prepare for high-damage confrontation.
Elaine's stomach dropped. She glanced at her team, her mouth dry.
"We've got a problem," she said.
Ferran smirked, his blade still in hand. "Just one?"
Elaine ignored him. "The Nexus says there's an escalation coming. Constructs are on their way—and the guild is more divided than ever. If they come for us, no one will stand in their way."
Lira's face paled. "More constructs? Like the one from the courtyard?"
"Probably worse," Elaine said grimly.
Kael straightened. "Then we need to be ready. What do we know about these constructs?"
Elaine hesitated. The truth was, she knew almost nothing about them—only that they were tied to the Nexus, and their purpose was to enforce its will. But one thing was certain: they were relentless.
"The last one came to 'assess' me," she said slowly. "It called me a divergence-linked entity. If more are coming, it's because they see me as a threat—or an anomaly."
Ferran sheathed his blade with a sharp motion. "So, what? We make a stand here?"
Elaine shook her head. "No. If we fight here, we'll be cornered. We need to get ahead of them—find out why they're coming and stop it before they arrive."
The Next Move
Kael nodded. "If we're going to do that, we need information. The overseers might know more about the Nexus's constructs, or at least how to avoid them."
Lira frowned. "And you think they'll just hand over that information?"
"Not willingly," Elaine admitted. "But they don't have to. We just need access to the guild's archives."
Ferran groaned. "More sneaking around? Haven't we done enough of that for one lifetime?"
"This time, we'll be smarter about it," Elaine said. "No alarms, no confrontations—just in and out. If we can find anything on the Nexus or its constructs, it might give us an edge."
Lira sighed, rubbing her temples. "And if the overseers catch us?"
Elaine's expression hardened. "Then we convince them that helping us is their best chance of survival."
A Brewing Storm
The team spent the next few hours preparing, gathering what supplies they could scavenge without drawing attention. The tension in the air was palpable, the weight of the Nexus's warnings pressing down on all of them.
As Elaine double-checked the journal in her satchel, the Nexus flickered again, its tone sharper than before:
FINAL ALERT:
Oversight Constructs ETA: 8 hours.
Guild destabilization nearing threshold. Intervention imminent.
Eight hours. That was all the time they had.
Elaine turned to her team, her voice steady. "This is it. If we don't find answers in the archives, we're out of options."
Kael nodded, his bow slung over his shoulder. "Then let's move."
As they stepped out into the dimly lit halls of the guild, Elaine couldn't shake the feeling that they were walking into the eye of the storm.
The game was no longer about survival—it was about finding a way to rewrite the rules before they were crushed by them.