The crushed fragment had left behind trace distortion.
Microscopic.
But alive.
Kaito sensed it days later — like static at the edge of hearing.
Not growing.
Waiting.
Silver Eyes traced it to deep mantle layers beneath the Pacific convergence zone.
"It embedded itself when you forced compression," she said.
"I destroyed it."
"You silenced it."
The difference mattered.
Above them, the misaligned Boundary Star corrected slightly — but not fully.
Kaito felt the strain accumulating in unseen decimals.