He waited for the storm.
Not the kind made of wind and water, but of pulses and threads — the system's rhythms. Surveillance sweeps. Data cycles. Enforcement routes. It was all… predictable.
If you listened long enough.
Elian crouched at the edge of a derelict zone node, high above the fractured ruins of a failed stabilization hub. Threads flickered like dying nerves below him. The area hadn't been purged — just abandoned.
And now?
It was going to be his stage.
He reached into his satchel and removed three anchor shards — Harmonizer remnants, still laced with system code. Then he placed the node core he stole back in the Blind Hollow at the center of the pattern.
Thread-glass lines connected each piece. He adjusted the angles. Each one aimed not at destruction — but disconnection.
A localized thread severance. Not like the one he stumbled into.
A controlled one.
The difference between being struck by lightning… and holding the rod.
His Threadsense buzzed — warning, excitement, fear. Lucid pushed through it. Clear. Cold.
Elian exhaled.
Then activated the array.
[Unauthorized Threadbreak Sequence Initiated]
[Target: Zone B-43 Fringe Layer]
[Thread Tether Severance: 4%… 19%… 67%…]
[Surveillance Net Status: OFFLINE]
[Result: Null Zone Created – 47 Minutes Remaining]
The ground shuddered. Not an explosion. A disconnect. The world around him blinked, like it had forgotten to exist for half a second.
Then silence.
Not peace.
But absence.
And in that void — power.
He stood slowly, staring out over the silent ruins.
The system wasn't watching.
For forty-seven minutes, this entire slice of the world was his.
And that wasn't all.
A wave of threadlight surged through his body.
Not pain. Not pleasure.
Acknowledgment.
He had touched something few ever dared — and survived.
[Trait Advanced: Threadbreaker II]
[Effect: You may now sever system-critical threads in collapsing or unstable zones.]
[Warning: High retaliation risk. You are now classified as a Persistent Anomaly.]
He smiled.
Not because it was safe.
But because it wasn't.
Because now the system had to notice him.
Not as a glitch.
Not as a mistake.
But as a choice.