Something moved outside.
Not sound.
Not sight.
Pressure.
It pressed against the cave entrance like the air itself was being pushed inward.
R2's stance shifted instantly.
Combat-ready.
Unstable wings flaring unevenly behind him.
"…Contact," he said.
Razilia didn't rush.
Didn't panic.
She just turned her head slightly toward the entrance.
"…Yeah."
A small pause.
"…that's not normal."
The moss curtain at the cave entrance—
twitched.
Then split open.
Something pushed through.
Not fully visible.
Not fully there.
A distortion.
Like a shape trying to exist where it wasn't allowed.
The temperature in the cave dropped.
Then spiked.
Then dropped again.
The spring behind R2 reacted violently.
The surface tightened—
like a muscle.
Then—
SNAP.
The water surged upward.
It wrapped around R2 before he could react.
"—!"
He was dragged back into the spring.
Hard.
This time—
there was no panic.
Only force.
The water engulfed him completely.
His armor didn't just melt—
it peeled.
Layer by layer.
Black residue burned away.
Not dissolved—
rejected.
The AI screamed.
[CRITICAL STRUCTURAL ALTERATION DETECTED—!!]
Then cut off.
R2's body convulsed—
then went still.
Razilia didn't move to help.
She watched.
"…Good," she murmured.
"…do it properly this time."
Outside—
the distortion pushed further in.
A limb—
or something like one—
forced its way through the entrance.
Reality bent around it.
Then—
BOOM.
Something slammed into the cave from above.
The ceiling trembled.
Nine figures dropped in.
They landed hard—
then froze.
Because nothing made sense.
R2 was gone.
Razilia was standing calmly near the spring.
And the air felt wrong.
"…Where—" one started.
The spring exploded upward again.
This time—
it didn't stop.
It surged toward them.
Too fast.
Too precise.
"MOVE—!"
Too late.
It hit them all.
Silence.
No screams.
No resistance.
Just—
containment.
Each of them was wrapped.
Encased.
Suspended.
Their bodies locked—
then trembled.
"…Oh," Razilia said softly.
"…you brought the whole batch."
She tilted her head slightly.
"…Guess we're fixing all of you."
Time passed.
No one could say how long.
The cave stabilized.
The distortion outside vanished.
The spring settled.
And one by one—
they dropped.
Different.
Cleaner.
R2 rose last.
His wings—
no longer dripping.
No longer heavy.
They spread smoothly behind him.
Controlled.
Stable.
He flexed slightly.
Then froze.
"…I…"
Razilia smirked.
"Yeah."
Silence settled over the cave.
Then—
like nothing had happened—
she clapped her hands once.
"Alright."
Everyone looked at her.
"We're leaving."
That got movement.
One of them pulled out a compact device—
small.
Flat.
Designed like a handheld storage unit.
He pointed it at the cave interior.
The bed.
The lounge.
The layered stone.
It hummed softly.
Razilia turned.
Watched.
At first—
nothing seemed off.
"…You're packing my stuff?" she asked.
"Standard retrieval procedure," one replied.
The device pulsed again.
This time—
the cave didn't react.
The air did.
Razilia's smile faded.
Slowly.
"…Wait."
The soldier paused.
She stepped closer.
Not looking at the cave anymore.
Looking at the device.
Really looking.
Her eyes sharpened.
"…That's not a storage unit."
Silence.
The device pulsed again.
And something—
deep in the cave—
responded.