LOCATION: Vault-0 – Outer Gate

TIME: 6:06 a.m.

The earth split open for her.

Not metaphorically.

The old asylum’s courtyard sank into itself with a mechanical hiss, steel petals retracting, stone shifting. A circular stairwell revealed itself, lit by a pulse-red light.

Ember stood at the edge of the descent, boots already dusted in ash and frost. Her hand rested on her sidearm, but not for comfort.

For clarity.

She whispered to herself:

“I am not the ghost.

She is.”

Then ...