====== CHAPTER 3 — Talking Too Late ====== He didn’t re-enter. ---- He was there. ---- ---- The hallway outside the room— ---- empty. ---- ---- Then— ---- occupied. ---- ---- Ace didn’t turn. ---- ---- She moved. ---- ---- Because turning— ---- was already too late. ---- ---- The strike came— ---- before the intent. ---- ---- She shifted— ---- not reacting— ---- intercepting. ---- ---- Contact— ---- glanced. ---- ---- Not clean. ---- ---- Not enough. ---- ---- The figure stood behind her now. ---- ---- Not moved. ---- ---- Repositioned. ---- ---- “Still behind,” he said. ---- ---- Calm. ---- ---- Almost conversational. ---- ---- Mai stepped into the space between them. ---- ---- Not blocking— ---- breaking sequence. ---- ---- “You are not operating in time,” she said. ---- ---- Flat. ---- ---- The figure looked at her— ---- interested. ---- ---- “Time’s fine,” he said. ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “You’re just using it wrong.” ---- ---- Shammy inhaled— ---- slow. ---- ---- The air— ---- didn’t follow. ---- ---- Lagged. ---- ---- Then— ---- surged. ---- ---- “He’s out of rhythm,” she said. ---- ---- The figure laughed— ---- quiet. ---- ---- “Rhythm implies waiting,” he said. ---- ---- “I don’t.” ---- ---- V stayed near the wall— ---- eyes tracking— ---- failing. ---- ---- “…Okay,” they muttered. ---- “…so how do you fight something that already happened?” ---- ---- Ace didn’t answer. ---- ---- She stepped forward again. ---- ---- Deliberate. ---- ---- No hesitation. ---- ---- The figure watched— ---- not reacting— ---- already finished. ---- ---- He spoke— ---- and the movement cut through it. ---- ---- “You’re—” ---- ---- The strike landed— ---- before the word ended. ---- ---- Ace absorbed it— ---- shifted— ---- recovered— ---- but not cleanly. ---- ---- Not fast enough. ---- ---- Mai moved— ---- too precise. ---- ---- Too correct. ---- ---- The figure wasn’t there anymore. ---- ---- Not gone. ---- ---- Elsewhere. ---- ---- “You think in lines,” he said from behind them. ---- ---- “You wait for things to happen.” ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “That’s adorable.” ---- ---- Shammy stepped sideways— ---- not toward him— ---- away from alignment. ---- ---- The air— ---- spiked. ---- ---- Then fractured. ---- ---- The figure paused— ---- again— ---- just a fraction. ---- ---- Ace saw it. ---- ---- “Again,” she said. ---- ---- Mai adjusted— ---- less precise this time. ---- ---- Less optimal. ---- ---- The space— ---- shifted. ---- ---- Uncertain. ---- ---- The figure moved— ---- but not cleanly. ---- ---- Not perfectly. ---- ---- His hand— ---- missed— ---- by nothing. ---- ---- He frowned. ---- ---- Slightly. ---- ---- “Messy,” he said. ---- ---- Not annoyed. ---- ---- Interested. ---- ---- Mai’s voice didn’t change. ---- ---- “You require sequence.” ---- ---- The figure smiled again. ---- ---- “No,” he said. ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “I remove it.” ---- ---- Ace stepped in— ---- closer than before. ---- ---- No distance. ---- ---- No delay. ---- ---- The figure didn’t strike. ---- ---- Didn’t move. ---- ---- For a moment— ---- nothing happened. ---- ---- That was new. ---- ---- Then— ---- he leaned slightly. ---- ---- Not back. ---- ---- Sideways. ---- ---- And the next action— ---- failed. ---- ---- Not cleanly. ---- ---- Not completely. ---- ---- But enough. ---- ---- Shammy pushed— ---- not force— ---- pressure. ---- ---- The air— ---- collapsed inward— ---- then expanded wrong. ---- ---- Timing broke. ---- ---- Not for him— ---- for everything. ---- ---- V blinked. ---- ---- “…Okay,” they said. ---- “…that’s doing something.” ---- ---- Mai stepped again— ---- less precise— ---- more variable. ---- ---- The system— ---- no longer linear. ---- ---- The figure tilted his head. ---- ---- Curious now. ---- ---- “Interesting,” he said. ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “You’re getting worse.” ---- ---- Mai didn’t respond. ---- ---- Because worse— ---- was the point. ---- ---- Ace moved again— ---- not faster— ---- not earlier— ---- just— ---- unpredictable. ---- ---- The strike— ---- didn’t align. ---- ---- Didn’t connect. ---- ---- The figure stepped back— ---- not retreat— ---- re-evaluation. ---- ---- “You can’t keep that up,” he said. ---- ---- Calm. ---- ---- Certain. ---- ---- “Neither can you,” Ace said. ---- ---- Flat. ---- ---- That was the first real answer. ---- ---- Silence— ---- brief— ---- held. ---- ---- Then— ---- he laughed. ---- ---- Not loud. ---- ---- Not broken. ---- ---- Just— ---- genuine. ---- ---- “Maybe,” he said. ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “But I don’t have to.” ---- ---- And then— ---- he wasn’t there. ---- ---- Not movement. ---- ---- Completion. ---- ---- Gone— ---- before absence registered. ---- ---- The space— ---- settled. ---- ---- Wrong. ---- ---- Incomplete. ---- ---- Shammy exhaled slowly. ---- ---- The air— ---- stabilized. ---- ---- Barely. ---- ---- Mai didn’t move. ---- ---- Her gaze fixed— ---- on nothing. ---- ---- “He is not leaving,” she said. ---- ---- Ace nodded once. ---- ---- “No.” ---- ---- A beat. ---- ---- “He’s waiting.” ---- ---- V swallowed. ---- ---- “…For what.” ---- ---- Ace didn’t answer. ---- ---- Because the answer— ---- had already happened. ---- ---- And they were still— ---- trying to catch up.