Brando's eyes flew open, feeling his heart stop for a moment. "You know where Bianca is?"

  "Of course," Folgore confirmed. "And I know her condition as well. And this condition can only be resolved by you, Karanti."

  "Don't call me that," Brando replied, feeling a strange anger rising within him. "My name is Brando."

  "You'll choose your name," Folgore said with a shrug. "But what you are doesn't change just because you refuse to acknowledge it."

  Folgore approached the shelf while Brando gritted his teeth and took the book they had just put back. She opened it to a specific page, as if she knew the contents by heart, and placed it open on the table.

  "I suppose you didn't have time to read this part," Folgore said, opening the book to a specific page.

  Giordano observed that the page was covered in the same incomprehensible symbols he had seen before. "I can't read these symbols."

  "Naturally," Folgore replied. "The book responds only to those who possess the appropriate genetic code. Brando, touch it."

  Hesitantly, Brando placed his fingers on the page. As before, the symbols reacted to his touch, reorganizing themselves into legible letters.

  "Cryogenic Reversion," he read aloud. Folgore's gloved finger traced some of the now-visible words and continued. "In case of Khepera subject instability, emergency protocols call for the use of the Karanti subject as a stabilizing element." Then she finished, addressing the others: "It means Bianca is losing her humanity. Her transformation into Deviant form is becoming permanent. And you're the only one who can bring her back."

  "Why me? Why not another, more powerful Bearer? I'm just a Zeta!"

  Folgore stared at him intently. "Precisely because of that. The point is that your Zeta rank isn't a weakness, Brando. It's your greatest strength, even if you don't understand it yet."

  Folgore then moved away from the book and took something from her uniform, a small crystal vial containing a golden liquid that pulsed faintly. "This is a sample of Bianca Ruggeri's Cold Veins. Her Cold Veins have unique properties, a molecular structure that allows them to reach extraordinary levels of power." Then she placed it on the table. "I'd like you to touch it, we need to verify something."

  Brando hesitated, looking at Giordano who seemed equally confused and suspicious.

  "It's nothing serious," Folgore said with a sigh of impatience. "It's a test we need to do to see if we can save Bianca."

  Brando hesitated for another moment, then reached out and touched the vial's cold surface. An intense heat, almost burning, shot up his arm and concentrated in his palm. Surprise made him pull his hand back, but it was already too late. Without his willing it, a sphere of Predator Ice formed, engulfing the crystal vial. It quickly transformed into ice with golden veins that pulsed like heartbeats. Then, the KryoWatch on his wrist vibrated frantically:

  [ANOMALY DETECTED]

  [New Ability Forming]

  [Golden Ice - Level 1]

  "Golden Ice," Folgore murmured, observing the phenomenon with clinical attention. "This is the first phase, but it's still not enough."

  "What do you mean?" Brando asked while staring at the newly created ice sphere.

  "Brando, ice powers aren't separate compartments. They're interconnected, like branches of a tree. They can be combined, fused together to create new forms with unique properties."

  Brando looked at her, confused. "Combined?"

  "Exactly." Folgore indicated his hand. "What you see is only half the equation. By itself, it's useless. To get what we need, you must use it to enhance an ability you already possess, to obtain a new ability, better than the previous one."

  Folgore then turned toward Rusty, who was watching with all three eyes attentive. At that point, Brando understood.

  "You're saying I need to fuse the two abilities?"

  "Yes," Folgore confirmed. "Sacrifice both to create a new, more powerful one."

  Brando looked at his hand where the Golden Ice was already beginning to dissolve. The idea of sacrificing Sync Ice made him feel strange, as if he were about to lose a limb.

  "What will happen to my connection with Rusty?"

  Folgore's face softened imperceptibly. "The new ability will maintain the capacity to synchronize, but in a different way. It will be deeper. You'll only know after you've experienced it."

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  "And how am I supposed to combine two powers?"

  "You must visualize both powers in your Cold Veins. You must feel them flowing in parallel. Then, instead of materializing them individually, imagine them fusing before emerging from your hands."

  Brando looked at Giordano, who nodded encouragingly. "Worth a try," his friend whispered. "If it can save Bianca..."

  Brando closed his eyes, concentrating on his Cold Veins. This time he tried to perceive two distinct flows: the Sync Ice with its mental connection and blue circuits, and then the Golden Ice with its warmth and golden veins.

  Slowly, he visualized the two energies approaching each other, like currents from two distinct rivers converging into one. There was some resistance force; they seemed to repel each other the way two magnets of the same pole would.

  "Let them fuse naturally, don't force them," Folgore warned.

  Giordano and Rusty stared at the scene with curiosity, and Brando nodded. Brando then eased the mental push, trying to imagine harmony between the two forms.

  Don't fight each other. Complete each other.

  Suddenly he felt something change. The Sync energy and Golden energy had seemed to repel each other before, but now, slowly, they were beginning to appreciate one another. They were getting along better and better, and finally, Brando raised his right hand and what came after was consequential.

  A violet-colored sphere that glowed with a blue/gold lattice had formed in his right hand, and sharply, the KryoWatch pulsed frantically.

  [CRYOGENIC COMBINATION DETECTED]

  [Catalyzed Abilities: Sync Ice, Golden Ice]

  [New Ability Formed: Symphony Ice - Level 1]

  [Characteristics: Neural Synchronization + Cryogenic Harmonization]

  [Warning. Minimum Stage required: Violet Three]

  "Symphony Ice," Brando whispered, watching fascinated as blue and gold colors danced together in the sphere.

  "The beginning of something extraordinary," Folgore murmured, slowly approaching to study the sphere. "But do you see the warning? Your Symphony Ice requires at least [Violet Three] stage to be used effectively."

  "[Violet Three]?" Brando frowned. "But I've just reached [Violet One]. Under normal conditions, it would take months to reach that level."

  "Months we don't have," Folgore said grimly. "Bianca is losing control faster and faster. From the latest data, we have a week at most before her transformation becomes irreversible."

  "A week?!" Giordano exclaimed. "That's impossible. I'd barely manage to rise two Stages in such a short time."

  Folgore, with a decisive gesture, put her helmet back on. "This is where I come in. From this moment, you're under my tutelage. Brando, Giordano, and Rusty. Stop attending normal Academy classes. I'll be your teacher."

  Giordano nearly choked. "Teacher? An Ace as a teacher?"

  "It's the only possibility," Folgore continued. "Only by doing things my way can we hope to accelerate the process sufficiently."

  "And how do we explain this to the professors?" Brando asked. "Esposito isn't here anymore, but Ferretti will wonder where we've gone."

  "Ferretti is under my jurisdiction," Folgore replied with an enigmatic smile. "Starting tomorrow, you'll officially be in an intensive recovery program for problematic students. No one will ask questions."

  "But why do you care so much about Bianca?" Brando asked, carefully studying Folgore's reaction. "Why would one of the Four Aces worry so much about a single student? Why risk all this?"

  And then Giordano intervened. "There's something personal, isn't there? No one would risk their position for someone who means nothing."

  A spark ignited in Folgore's eyes that disappeared almost instantly. "I have a personal interest in her survival."

  "That's not an answer," Brando insisted.

  "Ugh, fine," she said curtly, almost annoyed at having to explain. "Since you'll keep asking questions anyway... I was on the original Deviation Project team. I supervised both Karanti and Khepera, from conceptualization to implementation. And yes, Bianca Ruggeri is my biological daughter. 'Ruggeri' is just a cover name. Happy?"

  Giordano opened and closed his mouth a couple of times, like a fish out of water. "Wait, you're the mother of—"

  "It was the most logical choice to protect her, considering my position."

  And Folgore wasn't entirely wrong. As a Deviant, Bianca was constantly at risk of losing control of her Cold Veins and transforming completely, just as was happening now. At the Academy, she would be under constant monitoring by the Protector himself, the only person besides Folgore who knew Bianca's true nature. If she had kept her close, Folgore would have had to reveal that she had been part of a project that involved creating hybrids, half-human and half-Glacial. The Eight Houses, always obsessed with bloodline purity, would never have tolerated the existence of such an experiment, let alone that one of the Four Aces was not only a participant but the biological mother of one of the subjects. It was better for Bianca to grow up as an anomaly within the system rather than a secret to be eliminated.

  She adjusted a glove, as if this conversation were an annoying detail in a day full of more important commitments. "And before you ask, there are elements to this situation that go well beyond your current understanding. That's all you need to know for now."

  Folgore took a step back, and Brando noticed a subtle change in her posture. The vulnerability she had momentarily shown disappeared, replaced by something more familiar: a soldier's discipline. It was as if she had allowed them to see through a crack in her armor, but now that crack was rapidly closing.

  "I want you at the Daedalus tomorrow. Six o'clock sharp," she said as if giving orders to soldiers. "Not a minute late. And bring the Pseudo-Glacial."

  Brando and Giordano exchanged an uncertain glance. The change had been subtle but undeniable. The woman who had revealed herself as Bianca's mother had disappeared, replaced by the authoritative figure of one of the Four Aces.

  "What exactly will happen tomorrow?" Brando dared to ask.

  "You'll find out tomorrow. For now, I advise you to return to your rooms and rest. You'll need it. The corridors are patrolled at this hour, but I've disabled the sensors in the east sector for the next fifteen minutes. Exit through there and return directly to the dormitories without stopping."

  And without even saying goodbye, Folgore turned and slipped between the shelves, silent as a shadow until she completely disappeared from sight. Silence fell heavily in the library. Rusty made a low sound that seemed almost like a question, pressing his muzzle against Brando's leg.

  "Holy shit," Giordano finally exhaled in a whisper. "That was... amazing. Really amazing."

  "She's Bianca's mother," Brando murmured, still staring at the spot where Folgore had disappeared. "An Ace is Bianca's mother."

  "And she wants us at the Daedalus tomorrow morning at six," Giordano added. "Without even telling us why. Typical of all mysterious and powerful types."

  "I don't know," Brando said finally. "She's right about one thing: we need to rest."