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Nomad connects the Cinder King’s lottery and arena killings to a system that converts victims into sunhearts—condensed souls supercharged by Invested sunlight. He realizes this explains the absence of lingering spirits and recoils at having used a sunheart core to connect to the planet.

Rebeke confirms Beacon also relies on sunhearts, but only from volunteers, often the elderly or ill; her mother chose this, and her brother installed the heart in their quadcycle. She explains prospectors retrieve the floating sunhearts from hardened magma. The revelation deepens Nomad’s horror but clarifies the world’s grim economics.

Nomad recounts how the Cinder King tried to drain him by touch, which failed, though bracers did leech him. He explains Investiture mechanics: intent and method matter. Rebeke describes how touch can exchange heat and Investiture, even unintentionally or during intimacy, while the Cinder King can feed by force, killing thousands. Nomad notes his resistance to casual leeching and considers a plan to use such transfers to alleviate his Torment.

Auxiliary spots a distant scout ship. Nomad advises Rebeke not to charge, suspecting the scout is observing and might be reporting. Rebeke splits their quadcycle into individual hovercycles; Nomad does the same, noting their batteries are short-lived without reattachment to the carrier.

Feigning routine patrol loops to avoid alerting the scout, Nomad leads Rebeke in widening arcs toward a rock formation where the scout hides. Balancing her eagerness with caution, he calls the moment to strike as they near optimal range, setting up a covert engagement.