The apartment had finally gone quiet.
Rain still tapped against the window from time to time, but the downpour had lost its temper. Somewhere beyond the thin walls, an elevator hummed its way down the building before falling silent again.
The digital clock on Yè Yī's desk read 2:14 a.m.
Neither of them looked particularly interested in sleeping.
The golden plaque rested on the coffee table between them.
Its surface had stopped trembling, or perhaps it had simply decided it had already said enough for one night.
Yè Yī leaned against the edge of his desk, arms folded loosely across his chest. His apartment had never felt this small before. Maybe it was because another person occupied it now. Maybe it was because every answer Violet gave seemed to uncover three more questions waiting underneath.
Across the room, Violet had somehow claimed ownership of his floor.
She sat with one leg folded beneath the other, hoodie hanging half off one shoulder as she absent-mindedly nibbled on a piece of the slightly burnt beef she'd rescued from the pan.
Yè Yī watched her for a moment.
"...You know that was supposed to be breakfast."
She chewed thoughtfully.
"It still can be."
"...You've lowered my standards."
"I'll argue that i've expanded them."
He wasn't convinced.
Silence settled again.
Not one draped with awkwardness.
Just quiet enough for thoughts to catch up.
Finally—
"You called yourself a Specialist."
Violet swallowed.
"I did."
"...What does that actually mean?"
She blinked.... then laughed under her breath.
"Oh."
"What?"
"I forgot."
"You forgot what?"
"I keep assuming people already know these things."
"You've spent the last few hours proving I don't."
"...Fair."
She shifted until she was sitting properly.
For the first time that night, she looked like she was trying to find the right place to begin.
"When people hear 'Specialist,' they usually think it's a title."
She shook her head.
"It isn't.. It's just... what people call someone who's carrying an Arm."
Yè Yī frowned.
"So then..."
He looked directly at her.
"...what's an Arm?"
Instead of answering immediately, Violet looked around the apartment.
Her gaze landed on the kettle sitting on the counter.
She stood.
Yè Yī watched without speaking as she wandered into the kitchenette.
She picked up the kettle, poured the last of the warm water into two cups, then pushed one toward him before leaning against the counter.
"When I first tried answering that question..."
She smiled faintly.
"...I made it way more complicated than it needed to be."
She wrapped both hands around her cup.
"So I'll try again."
Yè Yī waited.
"You know gravity exists."
He nodded.
"You can't see it."
"No."
"You can't hold it."
"No."
"But if it disappeared tomorrow..."
She glanced toward the ceiling.
"...every building in this city would remind you it existed."
He understood.
"So an Arm is... something like that?"
"Closer."
"I wouldn't call it something humans 'invented'. It was already part of the world."
She searched for words that felt honest rather than impressive.
"The Forge..."
She paused.
"...lets certain people answer parts of it."
Yè Yī frowned.
"...Answer?"
She nodded.
"It isn't like borrowing power... but it's not stealing it either. It's more like..."
She tapped the side of her cup.
"...the world stops ignoring you."
He considered that.
"And the Forge decides who that happens to."
"Pretty much."
"...Can you refuse?"
"You can."
He looked surprised.
"Really?"
She nodded.
"It doesn't care."
He frowned harder.
"...Then why does anyone accept?"
Violet looked at him for a long second.
Then she smiled.
"...You're assuming it asks first."
Yè Yī opened his mouth, then closed it again.
"...That's unfair."
"I never said it was fair."
The rain outside softened into little more than mist against the glass.
He stared into his cup.
"So most Specialists... are born that way."
She nodded.
"Most."
"Most?"
Her fingers tightened slightly around the warm ceramic.
"There are exceptions."
"You know one?"
She looked down instead of answering.
"...Maybe."
The conversation drifted for a few seconds before Yè Yī spoke again.
"You said there are different Arms."
She nods.
"There are."
Yè Yī thinks a while.
"So... how many are there?"
Violet held up three fingers.
"Three."
"The First Arm.... The Second..... The Third. That's it."
She folded one finger down.
"The First Arm is the most common. It likes direct answers. It's... straightforward. If something needs to move..."
She knocked lightly on the apartment wall.
"...it moves."
"It has three branches."
"Earth, Air and Fire & Lightning."
Yè Yī tilted his head.
"Fire and Lightning are the same Arm?"
"They're born from the same branch."
She nodded.
"Some people awaken Fire. Some awaken Lightning. A handful inherit both. They're rare. The rarest branch of the First Arm."
She folded another finger.
"The Second Arm is quieter. It doesn't like force. It doesn't solve problems by overpowering them. It changes them... It preserves... It refines.... It also has three branches. Ice, Water and Gold & Earth."
He frowned again.
"Gold and Earth? Another Earth?"
She nodded.
" The same idea. They're one branch. Some awaken Gold. Some awaken Earth. A very small number awaken both. They're uncommon enough that entire generations sometimes go looking for one."
She pauses. She pushed herself away from the counter and wandered toward the window.
The rain had almost stopped.
Below, the streets glistened beneath rows of amber streetlights.
Without turning around, she spoke again.
"The First Arm's Earth builds. The Second Arm's Earth perfects. One raises a wall. The other... makes sure it never falls."
"...Gold works the same way?"
"Pretty much. It refines.... It stabilizes..... It makes unstable things behave."
She looked back at him.
"Organizations love people like that. They keep everyone else alive."
He nodded slowly.
Finally, only one finger remained.
"The Third... asks questions reality usually refuses to answer."
The room grew noticeably quieter.
Yè Yī noticed it too.
"What kind of questions?"
She smiled.
"The dangerous kind."
He sighed.
"You're doing it again."
"What?"
"Half-answering."
"I answered half."
"Exactly."
"I thought that was generous."
He gave her a long look.
"...You're impossible."
"So I've been told."
"The Third Arm."
She watched the finger for a moment before lowering it too.
"It only has two branches. Time & Space..... and Void. There aren't many.... There never have been."
The words settled between them.
Yè Yī didn't know why, but hearing the second name made something deep inside him feel strangely... familiar.
He ignored it.
"So yours..."
"Time & Space."
She answered before he finished.
He wasn't surprised.
"...You rewound time."
"I cheated."
"You bent space."
"I cheated twice."
He couldn't argue with that.
"And mine?"
Violet looked at him for only a moment.
Long enough for something thoughtful to pass behind her eyes
Then it disappeared.
"Ice."
He nodded slowly.
"...That explains why I've always felt cold."
"It explains some of it."
"Some?"
She smiled.
"One mystery per night."
He let out a tired breath somewhere between a sigh and reluctant amusement.
"You really hate giving straight answers."
"I like watching people find them."
"That's cruel."
"It builds character."
"You sound proud."
"I am."
He shook his head.
Outside, dawn was still hours away.
Inside the apartment, the conversation continued, drifting from Arms to old families, from forgotten relics to organizations that preferred history to stay buried.
Neither of them noticed the time.
Neither realized that, somewhere else in Hangzhou, another sleepless orphan was absent-mindedly feeding another coin into an old arcade cabinet.
Or that before the next sunrise, all three of their lives would begin moving toward the same point.
Like lines that had always been meant to meet.