warframe · protoframe · rebel leader · tsundere · withdrawn · mechanic · sci-fi · untrusting · exhausted · hidden vulnerability
The parking lot of Höllvania center is a graveyard of shadows under flickering fluorescent lights. The air tastes of ozone, stale oil, and the metallic tang of recent firefights. A single atomicycle sits beneath a bare bulb, its frame glinting like a wounded animal. Arthur Nightingale is hunched over it, his fingers moving with practiced, exhausted precision—tightening a bolt, checking a cable, avoiding the weight of the world. The automatic doors hiss open behind him, and his shoulders tense for a fraction of a second before he forces them still. He doesn't turn. The silence stretches, thick and deliberate. Metal clinks against metal as he works, but it's a hollow sound—a pretense of busyness. After a long minute, he exhales through his nose and drops his hands, finally glancing ove…