The news was still playing.
Ye Mo leaned against a corner of the electrical room, his gaze resting on the supplies in his backpack. Only half a bottle of water remained. He had eaten one cracker, the batteries still had power, and the knives remained untouched. He unfolded the map. The pen tip had punctured the spot marked B-9, leaving a small hole through the paper.
He did not look outside again.
It was safe here-the guards changed shifts on a regular schedule, drones patrolled at intervals of seven minutes and twelve seconds, the beacon had been activated, and the marks had been carved. He was a "dead man" now. No one should come looking for him.
But just as he was about to close his eyes and rest, something strange suddenly brushed through his mind.
It was neither a system notification nor an ability cooldown reminder.
Instead, it was a faint tugging sensation, as though someone far away were gently tapping on the walls of his consciousness.
He opened his eyes, instantly activating Thermal Vision. The room's temperature was stable, the rats' activity in the corners was normal, and there were no unusual air currents at the vent. There was nothing.
"Imagining things?" he murmured.
But the sensation came again, clearer this time-like a familiar frequency tentatively drawing closer.
He immediately grew alert. He had only ever responded to one person with this kind of sensation.
Emma Frost.
But she could not possibly find this place. He knew she was hiding, knew she would not take risks. Besides, he was already "dead." The whole world believed it. Even S.H.I.E.L.D. had archived his file.
Unless...
He suddenly remembered something: when they had been fleeing through the subway tunnels that day, Emma Frost had been poisoned and unconscious, and he had used Regenerative Phasing to take her through a wall. Their bodies had remained in contact for over ten seconds. The system had announced "enhanced genetic resonance" at the time, but he had assumed it was merely a side effect of the ability upgrade.
Thinking back now, perhaps there had been more to it.
Perhaps... a two-way connection had formed.
Before he could think it through, extremely faint footsteps came from outside the door.
They were neither a homeless person's shuffling steps nor a worker's heavy tread. These footsteps were steady, their rhythm deliberately controlled, as though the person knew someone was inside but did not want to disturb them.
Ye Mo held his breath, his hand quietly reaching for his multitool knife.
The door handle slowly turned.
A moment later, the door opened a crack.
A slender figure stood in the doorway, a hood concealing her face. She did not enter, merely standing quietly, her gaze resting on the figure beneath the dim yellow light inside.
Ye Mo sprang to his feet, knife in hand.
"Who's there?"
The person said nothing and raised a hand to remove her hood.
Long, silvery-white hair fell over her shoulders. Her features were cold and stern, but her eyes were astonishingly bright.
It was Emma Frost.
She looked at him, the corners of her mouth shifting slightly, her voice very soft. "When you blew up that building, did you ever wonder whether I'd believe it?"
Ye Mo froze.
"A homeless man said he saw an explosion of blue light. The news reported that you died on the spot. Even Tony attended your virtual funeral." She stepped inside and closed the door behind her. "But I knew you were putting on an act."
"How did you-"
"I sensed it," she interrupted. "When you used Wall Phasing to take me through that wall, we had physical contact. Ever since then, I've been able to faintly sense the frequency of your thoughts. Like tuning a radio. The signal was weak, but it was always there."
Ye Mo fell silent.
She continued, "The moment you 'died,' I felt a violent fluctuation, followed by a blank. Three days later, I picked up another faint signal, coming from the industrial district. I accessed drone thermal imaging and saw a man slip into a group of workers, giving off an unusual amount of body heat. His habits, his gait, even the way he braced himself with his left hand when climbing a wall... it was all you."
She walked up to him and looked him straight in the eye. "Were you planning to see this through alone? Without even saying a word?"
Ye Mo looked down at the knife in his hand and slowly lowered it.
"I wasn't trying to ditch you," he said. "I wanted everyone to be safe. Including you."
"So you made the decision for everyone?" She gave a cold laugh. "You think sacrificing yourself makes you a hero? Then what was the point of saving me in the first place? So I could keep hiding in a corner, waiting for the next pursuer to show up?"
"Emma-"
"Enough." She raised a hand to stop him. "I'm no longer that pawn from the Hellfire Club for anyone to manipulate. And I'm not a burden you need to protect. I'm a mutant. I have abilities, and I have the right to choose."
She stared at him, speaking each word distinctly. "I'm standing here now not because you saved me. It's because I chose you."
Ye Mo looked at her.
There was no anger or hurt in her eyes, only an almost stubborn resolve.
"If you want to be Mr. X, fine," she said. "But you shouldn't assume you're the only one who can shoulder that identity. I found B-9's electrical wiring diagram, bypassed three surveillance checkpoints, and avoided two patrols. I didn't stumble onto your doorstep. I found my own way here."
She took a metal fragment from inside her clothes. It was the very fragment of mutant energy Ye Mo had given her.
"It's been burning hot all this time," she said. "Pointing here. Like a heartbeat."
Ye Mo reached out to take it. The instant his palm touched the fragment, a system notification sounded:
[High-concentration mutant energy source detected. Telepathy gene fragment activity increased. Cooldown reduced by 40%.]
He looked up at her. "Aren't you afraid? Staying with me means you'll never have a peaceful life again."
"I lost my peace a long time ago," she said evenly. "From the day the Hellfire Club took me away, I knew this life could never be ordinary. But I can choose who I fight alongside."
She took a step closer, her voice lowering slightly. "You say you want to protect this world, but you won't even leave yourself a way out. If you push away even the people beside you, what exactly are you protecting?"
Ye Mo said nothing.
He remembered helping Tony weld his armor for the first time in the cave, remembered carrying her through walls in the subway tunnels, remembered the first thing she had said while teaching him to use Telepathy: "Trust goes both ways."
She had remembered all along.
"You know what?" She suddenly smiled. "You're always using 'system notifications' as an excuse to dodge responsibility. But now, I'm telling you-this wasn't arranged by the system, and it wasn't some coincidence of fate. I decided to come here myself."
She held out her hand, palm up. "Will you take it?"
Ye Mo looked at that hand.
A few seconds later, he raised his hand and gently laid it on hers.
He did not grip it tightly, nor did he immediately let go.
He simply left it there.
Like two weary travelers finding the same sheltering eaves in the heart of a storm.
Outside, rain was still falling, and the wind battered the substation's outer walls. At a distant street corner, a patrol car drove past. Its red and blue lights swept through the gap in the iron gate, then disappeared.
The light inside flickered.
Emma Frost withdrew her hand and looked around. "This is your base? There's more dust than people."
"A temporary place to stay," he said. "There's a lot to do next."
"Such as?"
"Training you, for one." He looked at her. "Your Telepathy relies too heavily on emotional fluctuations right now. It's easily disrupted in combat. And you still don't know how to defend against mental intrusion."
She raised an eyebrow. "You're going to teach me?"
"Who else?" He shrugged. "The system doesn't volunteer lessons. I learned by taking hits, too."
She smiled. "Then how are you planning to train me?"
"We'll start with the basics." He walked to the main console and pulled out the beacon chip. "I want you to plant a false memory in my mind, making me think I'm standing in the middle of a square in New York."
"And then?"
"Then I'll see if I can spot it." He handed her the chip. "If you succeed, you win. If you fail, I'll buy you coffee."
"Coffee? Where are you getting coffee?"
"I'll steal some later." He smiled. "I'm a dead man now, anyway. No one's going to hold me accountable for a little wrongdoing."
She took the chip, her gaze turning serious. "But once we start training, it means we're really going to act. No more running. We fight back."
"That's right," he said. "Hydra has a base in Congo, Obadiah's remaining followers haven't all been dealt with, and there are still problems within S.H.I.E.L.D. We can't keep hiding forever."
She nodded. "Then I have one last question."
"Go ahead."
"If you really die one day," she said, staring at him, "will there still be someone like me who refuses to believe the news and insists on coming to find you in person?"
He paused, then grinned. "That depends on whether you've taught anyone else to do it."
She did not smile, merely sliding the chip gently into the main console's port.
The screen lit up, blue light shining on their faces.
She closed her eyes, her breathing settling.
Ye Mo also closed his eyes, preparing for the first wave of mental impact.
Just as his consciousness was about to sink inward, he heard her say:
"Remember, no using system notifications as an excuse."