Three days after their first training session, Jason, Lina, and Milo returned to Mill-4.

  The condemned district looked no less hostile in daylight, but familiarity bred a kind of comfort. Jason had learned which streets to avoid, which buildings still housed squatters, which corners offered the fastest exit if needed.

  Elyra's flour mill stood silent against the gray sky. They approached the side entrance—now slightly less rusted after Elyra had apparently applied oil to the hinges.

  "You're two minutes late," Elyra called from inside before they could knock.

  "Traffic," Lina said as they entered.

  "Lie better next time." Elyra was setting up the training space, arranging equipment on her makeshift table. "But since you're here, we have work to do."

  The space looked marginally more organized than their first visit. Elyra had added more battery packs, improved the lighting, and drawn new reference diagrams on the walls. The abandoned flour mill was slowly becoming a functional training facility.

  "Before we start," Milo said, pulling out a bag, "I finished the prototypes."

  He spread clear plastic ear clips across Elyra's table. A dozen assemblies, plus spare components.

  "Whisper clips," Milo explained. "So RAE can project directly without Jason channeling through random objects."

  Elyra picked one up, turned it over. Her expression shifted to intrigued. "Passive resonance receivers?"

  "Exactly."

  "Clever." She examined the ceramic disc. "Should reduce invest load—if they work." She looked at Jason. "Worth trying. But carefully."

  They worked.

  By evening, each of them wore a clip. RAE could speak to all three simultaneously—though Jason felt the invest spike when she did. Three channels was their limit. Four would push him Orange.

  And the next morning, Elyra pulled out the integration sensor.

  "40.8%," she read. "Up from 40.2%."

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  "Is that good?" Jason asked.

  "It means the clips are working—just not as much as we'd hoped." Elyra set down the sensor and looked at him seriously. "Jason, we need to talk about what these numbers actually mean."

  She gestured for them to sit. "60% is the threshold. Past that point, separation becomes impossible without destroying both you and RAE. Your harmonic patterns will be too intertwined to safely extract."

  Jason felt something cold settle in his chest. "How long?"

  "If every training day adds 0.6%, you'll hit 60% in thirty-three days." She paused. "That's less than five weeks."

  I did not realize it was progressing so quickly, RAE said, something like alarm in her voice. Jason, I am sorry. I have been... comfortable. Perhaps too comfortable.

  "What happens at 60%?" Milo asked quietly.

  "That is what I would call 'Integration'," Elyra said. "You become something new. Not Jason. Not RAE. Something different - more." She looked directly at Jason. "Some people may find it liberating. Others may find it terrifying. But once you cross that threshold, there's no going back."

  "So what do I do?"

  "You decide. Now. Not in five weeks when panic makes the choice for you." Elyra stood slowly."You have three options."

  "One: We actively work to stabilize your integration at current level. Difficult, requires discipline, but possible."

  "Two: You accelerate integration deliberately, accepting permanent coupling on your terms."

  "Three: We attempt separation now, while it's still possible in relative safety."

  Jason felt his heart hammering. "And if I do nothing?"

  "Then in a month, maybe less, you'll wake up and won't be sure which thoughts are yours and which are RAE's. You'll be integrated whether you chose it or not." She paused. "I've seen it happen. It's not pretty."

  She is right, RAE said quietly. I did not want to pressure you. But the coupling is deepening every time we work together. Every time you invest attention. Every time I help you process resonance. We are growing toward each other.

  "I need time to think," Jason said.

  "You have three days until the next check," Elyra said. "Use them. And Jason? Understand this: Permanent integration isn't death. It's transformation. YOU have to figure out, if that's a future you can accept or not."

  The tram ride home was quiet. The mood heavy with the revelation.

  "We're actually getting good at this," Milo said with a false cheer in his voice.

  "We're getting competent," Lina corrected. "Good is still a long way off."

  "I'll take competent," Jason said. "It's better than improvising blind."

  They parted at Jason's stop.

  Inside, he collapsed on the couch.

  How are you feeling? About the integration, I mean.

  Anxious, RAE admitted. Each measurement feels like a judgment. Will we get to stay together?

  We will - no matter what. We're just being smart about it.

  I hope you are right. Because Jason—I am trying to maintain distance. But it is difficult. Every time we work together, every time you reach for my help, I want to give you everything I have. Holding back feels like... denial.

  It's not denial. It's discipline.

  I know. But knowing and feeling are different things.

  Yeah, Jason agreed. They really are.

  40.8%. Nineteen points from Permanent Integration.

  Thirty-three days at current rate.

  We can do this, RAE said quietly.

  We can, Jason agreed.