The sensation was terrifying.Falling as a toy had been weightless—a plastic tumble through the air. But as the two million voices of the audience wrote our descent, the world began to **thicken**. I felt a sudden, agonizing heat in my chest. It wasn't the glow of the Origin; it was the first, thumping kick of a heart.My plastic skin stretched and softened, turning into porous, warm flesh. My joints, once simple ball-and-socket hinges, filled with the fire of nerves and the ache of bone. I screamed, but for the first time, the sound didn't come from a speaker in my chest. It came from lungs that burned with the cold night air.**THUD.**I hit the grass of a suburban lawn. It didn't feel like a "collision event." It felt like pain. Raw, messy, beautiful pain.I rolled over, gasping, my fingers digging into the dirt. It wasn't a "flat texture" anymore. It was damp, gritty, and smelled of life."Kaima?"I looked up. A few feet away, a man was struggling to stand. He was tall, his violet
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