Chapter 13| Spark and Steel

Chapter 13: Chapter 13| Spark and Steel

The cafeteria at 12:30 PM was a different ecosystem from the rest of the academy.

Outside these walls everyone was performing something . Competence, confidence, social alignment, threat assessment. In here people just wanted food and somewhere to sit and five minutes where nobody was clocking their Sigil classification.

Zane collected his tray and scanned the room.

Most of the intake year clustered by section. His section occupied the middle tables. Ryan’s circle had colonised the far end near the windows. Prime real estate, naturally, because of course. A few scattered individuals sat alone by choice or circumstance.

He found a spot at the end of a half empty table and sat down.

He was three bites into his meal when someone sat directly across from him.

Not beside him. Not at the empty end of the table. Directly across. Like they’d specifically chosen that seat out of every available option in the room.

He looked up.

A girl. First year by the uniform or what he assumed was the uniform underneath. She was wearing an oversized hoodie that swallowed her frame entirely, blonde hair pulled back loosely, bright eyes and a warm face that somehow made the oversized look deliberate rather than accidental. She had her tray balanced in one hand and a communicator in the other that she was apparently trying to read and sit down simultaneously.

’Can’t really tell much with that hoodie,’ Zane thought. ’Could be anything under there.’

She looked up from the communicator and found him already looking at her.

"Oh good you’re real," she said. "I was starting to think the Sigilless first year was a rumour."

Zane blinked. "Sorry?"

"Sera." She set her tray down and extended a hand across the table like they’d been introduced already and this was just confirming it. "Sera Dunne. I’ve been meaning to find you since day one but the intake sections don’t overlap enough."

Zane shook her hand. "Zane Calloway."

"I know." She picked up her fork. "Everyone knows. That’s kind of the point." She said it without any edge at all. Just fact, delivered warmly. "How are you finding it so far?"

’That’s the first time anyone has asked me that,’ Zane thought.

"Manageable," he said.

"Manageable." She repeated the word like she was tasting it. "That’s either very good or very concerning depending on what you consider unmanageable."

"Both probably," Zane said.

She laughed. Short, genuine, the kind that didn’t perform itself.

Then something happened.

She reached across the table to grab the salt and her Thermal Sight activated passively .A brief flicker as it scanned the immediate area the way it apparently always did without her consciously triggering it.

And then it flickered off.

Two seconds. Right on schedule.

Sera blinked. Looked at nothing for a moment. Then looked at Zane with sudden curiosity.

"That’s weird," she said.

"What is...?" Zane asked.

"My Thermal Sight... I meant sigil just dropped out." She looked at her hand. "It does that sometimes but usually only when there’s electromagnetic interference nearby." She looked back at him. "Do you have some kind of interference Sigil? Even a passive one?"

"I’m Sigilless," Zane said.

"Right." She frowned slightly. Not suspicious. Just genuinely puzzled. "Hm."

『 DRAIN EFFECT DETECTED 』

『 Bearer: SERA DUNNE 』

『 Sigil: THERMAL SIGHT — A-RANK PASSIVE 』

『 Output reduced by 3% for 2.0 seconds. 』

『 System Note: A-rank passive Sigil. Acquisition would require host approval and a significantly higher absorption rate than current baseline. File for future reference. 』

’A-rank,’ Zane thought. ’Of course she’s A-rank.’

"Probably just a calibration thing," Zane said.

"Probably," Sera said, still looking mildly thoughtful. Then she visibly decided to let it go and went back to her food. "So. Rank trials.In less than three weeks. How are you preparing?"

"Carefully," Zane said.

"Also concerning," she said. "What does carefully mean for someone without a Sigil?"

"It means I think a lot," Zane replied.

She laughed again. "I like that answer actually." She pointed her fork at him. "Most people in your position would either be panicking or pretending everything was fine. You’re doing neither."

"I’m doing both," Zane said. "Just quietly."

She smiled at that. Wide, genuine, the kind that reached the eyes without effort.

『 PROMINENT TARGET DETECTED: SERA DUNNE 』

『 Sigil: THERMAL SIGHT + HEAT EMISSION — A-RANK 』

『 Potential Bond candidate. 』

『 Familiarity : 3% 』

『 System Note: She approached you. That is worth noting. Most people in this building have been moving away. 』

’I noticed,’ Zane thought.

They ate in surprisingly comfortable silence for a few minutes. Sera didn’t fill the quiet space with noise the way most people did. She just existed in it without apparent discomfort.

"You should sit here tomorrow," she said when she stood up to leave. "I’m here every day at 12:30 PM. The section overlap is terrible but lunch is universal."

"I’ll think about it," Zane said.

"That means yes," she said, already moving. "See you tomorrow Zane Calloway."

She walked away with the easy confidence of someone who had never once doubted whether a room wanted her in it.

Zane watched her go.

’Do I just naturally attract them now..I meant them baddies?’ he thought. ’And the worst part . She’s A-rank. An actual A-rank just sat across from me at lunch like it was nothing.’

『 Potential Bond candidate . Familiarity : 3%. 』

’I know,’ he thought. ’I noticed your first notification.’

『 You also noticed the hoodie situation. 』

’That’s not relevant system information,’ Zane thought.

『 Everything is relevant system information. 』

’A-rank,’ he thought again. ’Thermal Sight and Heat Emission. She approached me on her own. First person to do that without an agenda since I got here.’

『 Familiarity : 3%. Modest but genuine. She might return tomorrow as stated. Consistency compounds. 』

’I hope so,’ he thought.

He finished his meal. Sat there for a few minutes letting the cafeteria noise run in the background while he turned the morning over in his head. Sera Dunne. He couldn’t stop thinking about her. Approached him without an agenda and was hella nice.

Then he checked his schedule, picked up his tray, and headed to his presumed location .