Began as a running joke among boys Ember rejected; curdled into genuine bitterness. Micah Rush's spark: a noble a few years older than Ember (doesn't attend Aegis), publicly confessed to her and was answered with "Get away from me you disgusting slime" — the crowd's laughter was, for a noble, the ultimate disgrace. He acts as shadow puppet master (money, proxies, private Discord servers). Planned escalation: the Glitched Ledger, the Ash Locker, an "Ember Rejection Society — 63 members" flyer, and the Silent Circle confrontation (surrounding her silently in public, cameras ready). Planned resolution: Landen abandons his own fight mid-match — looking like a coward, losing points — to simply stand beside Ember; the Rejects back off on the weight of his presence alone.