The corridor leading to the dojo was already filled with morning light.
Clean. Quiet. Almost normal.
If you ignored where you were.
Three figures moved through it.
Ishtar walked in front, pace steady, shoulders loose but ready. The kind of body that didn't wait for permission to exist.
Aglaë followed a few steps behind.
Lighter.
Careful.
Her fingers brushed the wall as she walked, grounding herself in something real.
Octave brought up the rear.
Hands in his pockets.
Eyes half-lidded.
Seeing everything anyway.
They walked in silence for a while.
Then Ishtar spoke.
"There's someone new."
Aglaë looked up slightly.
"…You saw them?"
"No."
Aglaë frowned.
"Then how do you know?"
Ishtar shrugged.
"Place feels different."
Octave's voice came from behind them.
"That is not evidence."
Ishtar smirked.
"It's enough."
Aglaë hesitated.
"…I felt it too."
They both glanced at her.
She shifted slightly under their attention.
"Just… something off."
Octave stepped forward, now walking between them.
"Timing matches," he said.
"Night admission. No announcement."
Ishtar let out a quiet breath through her nose.
"Which means?"
"Not routine."
Aglaë's hands tightened slightly on her sleeves.
"…Do you think they're… like us?"
Ishtar laughed softly.
"Everyone here is 'like us'."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
They kept walking.
The dojo doors were still ahead, closed, waiting.
Aglaë spoke again, quieter.
"Do you think they're okay?"
Ishtar didn't answer this time.
Octave did.
"I doubt that is a relevant variable."
Aglaë looked at him.
"It is for me."
A brief pause.
Octave inclined his head slightly.
"Noted."
A voice filled the corridor.
Calm.
Neutral.
"Good morning."
Aglaë glanced upward.
"Odin…"
"Good morning, Aglaë."
She hesitated.
"…There's someone new, right?"
A pause.
"Yes."
Ishtar crossed her arms.
"Anything we should know?"
"Resident status: unstable."
Ishtar's smile sharpened slightly.
"Of course."
Octave stopped walking.
Just for a second.
"Origin?"
A longer pause this time.
"Restricted."
That got his attention.
"Interesting."
Ishtar grinned.
"Now I'm curious."
Aglaë didn't smile.
"…Unstable how?"
"Insufficient data."
They resumed walking.
The atmosphere had shifted.
Subtly.
But enough.
The dojo doors were now right in front of them.
Ishtar rolled her shoulders once.
"Guess we'll find out."
Octave placed a hand on the door.
"Eventually."
Aglaë took a small breath.
As if preparing for something she couldn't name.
The doors opened.
Ludwig stood inside.
Already watching them.
"Inside."
No greeting.
No explanation.
Ishtar stepped in first, energy forward.
Octave followed, expression unreadable.
Aglaë lingered half a second longer.
Then entered.
Behind them, the doors closed.
And somewhere else in the Sanctuary—
the unknown variable was learning how to stand.