Cassian had changed the bandages during the night. Riven could tell by the way the wrap sat tighter against his shoulder, not sloppily knotted like before. The satchel hadn't been moved either. It was still tucked between the bench and the wall, right where he'd wedged it.
He sat up slowly with stiff movements. Across the room, Cassian was crouched near the floor panel again, poking through the small stash he kept hidden underneath. He pulled out two ration packs and tossed one in Riven's direction without looking.
"Eat" he said. "It's terrible, but it helps."
Riven caught it, peeled it open, and took a bite. Salt, protein, something synthetic beneath it all. It settled in his stomach like sand.
Cassian sat back against the wall, chewing through his own bar. "You look like you're ready to dodge a punch even in your sleep" he said casually.
"I don't usually sleep around people."
Cassian smirked. "Clearly."
He wiped his fingers on his pant leg, then glanced over again. "Since we're apparently not murdering each other today, I might as well ask, what do I call you?"
"Riven."
Cassian gave a short nod. "Cassian."
That was it. No handshake, no extra talk. Just names, traded like coordinates, the very bare minimum for moving forward.
They ate in silence for a while after that brief but efficient exchange.
Cassian licked his thumb and folded the empty ration wrapper neatly, like he didn't want to leave evidence he'd been here.
"Those people yesterday" he said. "Pet and the others. That wasn't your ambush, just so you know, that was mine."
Riven glanced over, silently asking.
"Tess, the woman with the blade, she used to run assignments for a fixer in Sector Ten. I was part of it for a while. A long while."
There was no guilt in his voice, just the truth of it. Like he'd already gone over it in his own head, maybe too many times.
"Didn't know she was still operating, I guess she was..." Cassian added, almost to himself.
Riven's fingers tightened around the satchel's strap.
"Sorry about the stabbing" Cassian added dryly.
"You didn't stab me."
"Yeah, but I might've if I hadn't shown up late. It's hard to say really." He gave a slow shrug. "Things move quick in places like that."
Riven studied him. He noticed the way he talked like nothing mattered but still remembered names and details. Like he wasn't proud of what happened but had stopped apologizing for it a long time ago.
"You planning on walking out today?" Cassian asked eventually.
"Yes."
"Where?"
Riven didn't answer yet.
Cassian leaned his head back. "Right. I should've guessed. One secret per meal."
Riven finished the last bite slowly, as if chewing gave him more time to think. The ration didn't taste like much, but it had settled the ache in his gut.
"I'm looking for a place called Stillwater" Riven said.
Cassian didn't react right away. "Is that what, like... a zone?"
Riven wasn't sure anymore. "An old facility. Something to do with water control, maybe regulation. It's been off-grid since before the collapse."
Cassian gave a short exhale through his nose. "You've got a talent for chasing trouble..."
Riven ignored the tone. "There are rumors about it being true... It was tied to the southern loop, near one of the spill dams."
"And you thought Pet could get you there?"
"He'd heard the name... I guess I trusted that too easily..."
Cassian pulled one knee up, resting his arm across it. "Let me guess. You've been wandering for months, chasing whispers, trading what little you have for directions that change every time you follow them."
Riven didn't respond. He wasn't ready to admit Cassian was right, even if he was.
The satchel rested against his leg. Its weight was familiar now, like an extension of his spine. He kept it close even now because the thought of someone else doing so made him anxious.
Cassian followed the glance. "Still not telling me what's in there?"
"No."
"You planning to?"
"No."
"You carry it like it matters more than that place you're looking for."
Riven didn't answer.
Cassian opened one eye. "So if Stillwater's the end, what are you actually looking for now?"
"Something to activate it."
Cassian watched him carefully now, no more playfulness. "What is it?"
"A personal project."
Cassian snorted. "Sounds like the kind of thing that gets people killed."
"I don't need you to believe in it."
"If I'm risking a knife in the ribs walking next to you, I'd like to know whether it's for a power cell or a religion" Cassian said.
Riven's voice didn't shift. "It's neither."
That was as much as he was going to offer.
Cassian stood, brushing off his hands. "Alright."
He let it go, but something in his expression showed that he'd stopped treating Riven as a passing oddity and started seeing something else. Riven watched him, calculating. Cassian hadn't asked about the device or lied about the ambush. That didn't make him safe, but maybe useful. And Riven was running out of options.
Cassian paced once along the wall, checking the door out of habit. He was restless.
"You ever consider doing this with someone?" he asked. "The hunt, I mean."
Riven adjusted the satchel strap without looking up. "I had someone... before. But it didn't last."
Cassian turned. "Dead?"
"Gone."
Cassian leaned against the wall near the doorframe, arms crossed. "You're not good at asking for help."
"I don't need it."
"Right" he said. "Which is why you nearly bled out in a brothel alley."
Cassian changed his weight from one foot to the other. "I'm not saying I want in on your secret mission. I'm just saying... if you're walking in that direction, I might as well go too."
Riven watched. "Because?"
Cassian gave a tired shrug. "Because I've run out of bad ideas. Yours doesn't look any worse than the rest, I guess."
He wasn't lying. He looked like someone who had put off too many decisions and had finally run out of road.
"I had chances to leave" Cassian said. "I never took them. I figured I could disappear and avoid the mess, but it caught up."
"And now you want a clean exit, is that it?" Riven asked.
"I want any exit."
He took a step forward. "Look, you don't talk. You move like a guy who calculates things five steps ahead, but you keep walking into places that want to bury you. So here's the offer: I help keep your head down, you help keep me fed. You've got direction. I've got eyes."
Riven considered that. His shoulder still throbbed beneath the wrap, and his muscles were tight from sleeping cold. He could survive alone, he always had, but alone meant longer risks, fewer angles covered, no one to absorb the unexpected. Cassian on the other hand was irritating, but not incompetent.
"I don't need a handler" Riven said.
Cassian grinned. "And I don't need to get stabbed over someone else's satchel. We're even."
"You don't get to ask about it either" Riven said. "Not what it is, not what it's for."
"Done."
"And if that changes, if you even start looking at it differently, you leave. Immediately."
Cassian gave a small nod. "That's real friendly of you."
Riven didn't blink. "I'm serious."
Cassian raised his hands. "I heard you. No questions... scout's honor!"
After a moment his smile widened, then settled. "Alright. So. If we're doing this, any idea what you're actually looking for? Not the facility, the stuff in your satchel I mean."
"Something to activate it" Riven said. "Signal, fuse, key... I don't know. The readings are partial. The system won't boot until the right input is there."
"Old tech?"
"Yeah, pre-collapse..." Riven said.
Cassian nodded slowly, thinking. "There's a place... an old relay substation, half-collapsed. People say it makes weird noises during the night. It might be nothing, but it might be something too."
"Where?"
"East ridge, past the blackout arc."
Riven shifted upright. "Show me."
Cassian's grin returned. "Thought you'd never ask."
They had barely moved when Riven paused. He sensed a faint warmth pressing outward from inside the bag.
Cassian noticed. "What is it?"
Riven didn't answer. He slipped the satchel off his shoulder and crouched moving the flap aside. The metal edge of the core inside was faintly warm. It was reacting. He opened the satchel just enough to see it. The core's surface, round, dull silver, marked with worn circuit lines, pulsed gently. A faint light slowly moved through it, like a heartbeat.
Riven stared at it.
Cassian leaned in just slightly, close enough to see.
"Is that normal?" he asked.
"No" Riven said.
For a long moment, neither moved. Riven stayed crouched beside the satchel, the core still softly lit, while Cassian watched him. Finally, Riven closed the flap and stood.
"Let's go".