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canon:ace2:chapter25 [12/03/2026 16:54] – luotu kkurzexcanon:ace2:chapter25 [18/03/2026 15:17] (current) – kkurzex
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 +{{ :ace-mai:ace2.jpg?400|}}
 +<nodisp>
 +===== Ace & Mai – The Shadow and The Spark =====
 +==== Ace 2: The Breach — Chapter 25 – The Big Attempt ====
 +**Story:** Ace & Mai – The Shadow and The Spark  
 +**Chapter:** 2.25  
 +**Wordcount:** ~264  
 +**Characters:** Ace, Mai, Halverson  
 +**Location:** Unknown  
 +**Arc:** Arc 1 – The Shadow and The Spark
 +----
 +</nodisp>
 +=== Chapter 25 — The Big Attempt ===
  
 +
 +
 +It happened on the move, of course.
 +
 +
 +It always did.
 +
 +
 +They left the interim compound in an older vehicle—nothing smart, nothing networked, no helpful little systems with polite beeps. A diesel box on wheels that looked like it had survived three different decades and resented all of them.
 +
 +
 +Mai drove. Halverson rode shotgun this time. Ace sat in back where the reflections were fewer.
 +
 +
 +For twenty minutes, it was almost boring.
 +
 +
 +Then the cabin did that tightening thing again—air compressing, space shrinking by a fraction you could feel in teeth.
 +
 +
 +Ace’s skull prickled.
 +
 +
 +A thought slid in behind her eyes, clean and confident:
 +
 +
 +LET HIM DRIVE.
 +
 +
 +Not a voice. Not a suggestion dressed as a question.
 +
 +
 +A command wearing a sensible coat.
 +
 +
 +Ace’s fingers curled, then relaxed. She did not look at Halverson. She did not look at Mai. She did not “consider.”
 +
 +
 +She made a short, ugly sound—half laugh, half scoff—cut off quickly.
 +
 +
 +Mai cleared her throat once and slowed the vehicle by five kilometers per hour, then sped up again, then slowed again. No rhythm. No permission.
 +
 +
 +The thought smeared. Lost crispness. Became a weak itch.
 +
 +
 +Halverson’s jaw tightened. “That was a direct push.”
 +
 +
 +Mai didn’t answer. She did something better: she took the next turn late, after passing the “ideal” point, forcing a second route.
 +
 +
 +The cabin pressure wavered.
 +
 +
 +Ace exhaled slowly. “It’s trying to make our choices feel… automatic.”
 +
 +
 +Mai’s voice stayed steady. “It doesn’t get automatic.”
 +
 +
 +For the first time in hours, the pressure backed off cleanly.
 +
 +
 +Not defeated.
 +
 +
 +Just… forced to regroup.
 +
 +<- :canon:ace2:chapter24 ^ :homepage  ^ :canon:ace2:chapter26 ->