It is here.

AlanThe sound behind us was not loud, not sudden enough to make anyone jump, but it carried a weight that made it impossible to ignore, the kind of sound that did not belong to the steady rhythm of machines or the quiet hum of systems running in the background, it was something human, something small and controlled, like the faint shift of a shoe against the floor or the slight brush of fabric as someone adjusted their stance, and that alone was enough to make every thought in my mind sharpen at once.I did not turn immediately, not because I was afraid of what I might see, but because instinct told me that reacting too quickly would give something away, and right now, the only advantage we might have left was the fact that whoever was behind us did not know exactly what we had already noticed.Alan went still beside me, not rigid, not tense in a way that would draw attention, just controlled, the same way he had been earlier, but I could feel the shift in him, the way his awareness

About to find out...

NatashaThe movement in the reflection did not come fast, did not carry urgency the way a threat usually would, but there was something far more unsettling about the steadiness of it, the quiet certainty in the way the figure closed the distance toward Alan as if there had never been any doubt about where they were going or why, and that alone made it harder to breathe evenly, harder to keep my thoughts from racing ahead of what was actually happening in front of us.Alan did not turn.That was the first thing I noticed, the first thing that anchored me, because even as the presence behind us shifted from something uncertain into something undeniable, he held his position with a level of control that felt almost unnatural, his focus still directed forward, his posture unchanged, as if he had already decided that reacting now would only give them more than they deserved.I matched that stillness, not because it was easy, but because anything else would break whatever fragile balance we

What did you connect me to?

NatashaThe space between us shifted in a way that was difficult to explain, not because anything physical had changed in a dramatic sense, but because something quieter had settled into place, something that altered the weight of every breath, every glance, every small movement that followed, and as I stood there beside Alan, close enough now to feel the faint warmth of him through the thin distance that remained, I realized that whatever this was, it was no longer just about the person in front of us.It was about what they had just set in motion.Alan did not respond immediately to those words, and I understood why, because there was something deliberate in the way they had been spoken, something designed to linger, to press against the edges of our thoughts until we filled in the gaps ourselves, and that kind of silence was not empty, it was guiding.I felt it pulling at me already.“What does that mean?” Victor asked, his voice quieter now, less sharp than before, but still carry

Closer.

AlanAs the words left my mouth, I felt it, not in the room, not in the way Victor shifted slightly beside us or the way Natasha’s shoulder remained steady against mine, but somewhere deeper, somewhere quieter, like I had stepped onto a path that had been there long before I knew it existed, and for the first time since all of this started, the silence that followed did not feel like something pressing against me, it felt like something waiting.The figure did not answer immediately, and this time, I did not expect them to, because the question itself had weight, not just in what it asked, but in what it meant, and I could see it in the way they held my gaze, not testing, not measuring, just watching, as if this was the point they had been moving toward all along.Behind me, I could feel Victor’s impatience building again, not sharp enough to break through, but there, restless and contained, while Natasha remained still beside me, her presence steady in a way that made it easier to st

More than enough.

Natasha Something in the air lingered after the figure’s last words, not in a way that could be touched or measured, but in the way everything felt slightly misaligned, like the room itself had shifted just enough to make every breath feel heavier than it should, and as I stood there beside Alan, close enough to feel the quiet steadiness of him without needing to look, I realized that whatever had just been set in motion was not going to stay contained within that space, it was already following us whether we acknowledged it or not. Alan did not speak again after that, and neither did I, because there was nothing immediate to say that would not feel smaller than what had just unfolded, while Victor let out a quiet, restrained breath that carried more frustration than relief, like he was holding himself back from pushing further even though every instinct in him told him to keep going, and yet, despite that, we all moved, not with urgen

You saw someone?

AlanNatasha said she would catch up, I did not question it, not because it felt entirely natural, but because there was nothing in her voice that gave me a reason to stop, nothing immediate that signaled hesitation or uncertainty, and yet as Victor and I continued down the corridor, I found that my awareness did not move forward with me, it lingered somewhere behind, caught in the space where she had remained, as if some part of me had not agreed to leave at all.Victor exhaled sharply beside me, the sound quiet but edged, like he was still carrying the weight of everything that had just happened, turning it over in his mind without finding anything solid enough to settle on, and for a while neither of us spoke, the silence stretching between us in a way that was not unfamiliar, but felt heavier now, more deliberate, as if both of us were choosing it rather than simply falling into it.“She’s getting pulled into this,” Victor muttered after a moment, his voice low, almost restrained.