Holster–Arc

Holster–Arc centers on Holster’s proposal to become a living anchor for Arc’s unstable Authority: a way to help Arc without making Holster a Human Pillar sacrifice. The proposal is consequential precisely because it is not presented as a settled solution. It is Holster’s theoretical offer, met by Yuan’s protectiveness, Orient’s caution, and the search for an alternative that might support Arc without binding Holster’s life to the task.

The Circumstances of the Proposal

The possibility arose as Yuan and his companions considered how Arc could teach him while they remained on the move. Arc had agreed to train Yuan only after requiring an Unspeakable Vow: he would destroy Manhattan, any students Manhattan might have taken, and do everything in his power to ruin Manhattan’s plans. Yuan accepted the obligation, but Arc’s own circumstances complicated the arrangement. She could not leave the leyline without risking her Authority going haywire, and she refused to use a Human Pillar, insisting that she was not a fiend.

This refusal matters to the relationship. Arc’s need for stability did not make her willing to impose the cost on someone else. Holster, meanwhile, recognized a possible role for herself. As a Human Pillar, she had been created to strengthen and stabilize an area’s feng shui; she thought that function might be adapted to help Arc. The proposal therefore grew from a specific overlap between Holster’s nature and Arc’s predicament, rather than from a general promise of assistance.

Holster’s Living-Anchor Plan

Orient translated the sutra material that Holster had been studying. According to her explanation, Holster believed she could use sutra scripts to bind herself to Arc’s bullet-core and serve as its living anchor. The arrangement would require Holster to remain in Arc’s close vicinity, but it would not require her to give up her life. Holster conveyed her willingness through a small, practical gesture: after shaking her head reassuringly, she mimicked walking with a limp. Yuan interpreted the gesture as meaning that she could act as a crutch.

Yuan’s first response was protective resistance. He told Holster that they were not going to bury her alive inside Arc’s Authority. Once Orient clarified that the proposal did not entail death, Yuan still questioned its cost. He warned Holster that even if the plan worked, she might spend the rest of her life tending to Arc, and stressed that Arc’s agreement was with him alone: Holster owed Arc nothing. Holster remained resolute. She believed she could help someone in a situation resembling her own, and that possibility was enough for her to give up part of her life.

Risks and the Search for an Alternative

Orient did not treat Holster’s idea as a dependable technique. She described it as highly theoretical, warned that the process would be fraught with failures, and said it would likely suppress most of Arc’s qi. She could not foresee the consequences. The offer thus carried two distinct uncertainties: whether Holster could establish the bond at all, and what a successful bond would do to both women’s lives and abilities.

Arc’s earlier refusal to use a Human Pillar forms an important limit around the plan. Holster’s proposal was a voluntary attempt to help, but Yuan questioned whether she understood its lifelong implications, while Arc had already rejected the prospect of relying on a Human Pillar. The exchange does not establish that Arc accepted Holster’s offer or that the binding took place. Instead, it makes the ethical and practical tension explicit: a solution might be possible, but Holster’s willingness alone would not erase its risks.

Orient then offered another route. Seeing Yuan’s concern, she suggested that she and Holster could reshape one of the spirit-train’s cars into a special Barrier to stabilize Arc’s Authority. This alternative shifted the proposed support away from binding Holster directly to Arc’s bullet-core and toward altering the train itself. The evidence presents it as a suggestion, not a confirmed result, but it shows that the group was seeking a way to accommodate Arc’s need to remain near the leyline without making Holster’s personal sacrifice the only option.

What the Relationship Establishes

Holster’s offer reveals a strong, self-directed commitment to Arc: she was prepared to accept a lasting obligation because she saw in Arc’s situation a chance to help someone like herself. Yuan’s response makes their different priorities visible. He takes Holster’s choice seriously enough to explain its possible duration and to remind her that she has no duty to fulfill Arc’s agreement with him; care for her includes challenging the cost she is willing to bear. Orient, meanwhile, serves as translator and technical mediator, making Holster’s idea intelligible while refusing to disguise its uncertainty.

The relationship is therefore defined here less by a completed bond than by a proposed one and the negotiations around it. Arc’s predicament, Holster’s offer, Yuan’s resistance, and Orient’s alternative bring together questions of care, consent, and sacrifice. The surviving account leaves the plan unresolved: it establishes Holster’s intention and the dangers considered, but does not confirm that she became Arc’s living anchor.