The heavy steel doors hiss open. The footsteps echo — slow, deliberate. A figure in bright red armor steps in, calm and wordless.

All heads turn. Silence. The figure walks straight to the front, stopping where Jin Himura once stood. The suit is the same. The presence is not.

Yumeko Suzukiri (Yellow Battalion) (flicks her eyes up, voice cool) “You’re not Jin.”

Komachi Aizome (Blue Battalion) (arms folded, eyes narrowed) “They didn’t even tell us. No ceremony, no briefing. Just replaced like trash.”

Kanon Hisui (Green Battalion) (blunt, with mild curiosity) “I heard they had to scrape what was left of him off the walls.”

Masurao Nadeshiko (Pink Battalion) (smiles faintly, hands behind back) “New face. New silence. But the suit’s still warm, isn’t it?”

The red-suited figure doesn’t move. Doesn’t react.

Komachi (steps forward slightly) “Are you going to say something? Or are you just here to look pretty for the Keepers?”

Yumeko (tone sharpens) “Doesn’t matter. A replacement is a replacement. One more loyal dog in red.”

Masurao (tilts her head playfully) “Or maybe… something else.”