The shift was instant. One second they were standing in a tight circle of maps, theories, scribbled notes, and unanswered questions—voices overlapping, tension coiled but contained— and the next— a scream tore straight through the apartment. Sharp. Raw. Real. “AUNTY NORKA!” For a heartbeat, everything stalled like the world had forgotten how to move. Karpeta reacted first—already halfway to the hallway before her mind fully caught up. “What was that—?” Elsa’s head snapped toward the sound, eyes widening. “That’s her—! That’s Norka!” Ethan didn’t even wait for the sentence to finish. He was already gone. Footsteps slammed into the corridor like a breaking storm. “Ethan, wait—!” Elsa shouted, but he didn’t slow down. Doors blurred past them, the narrow hallway suddenly feeling longer, tighter, like it was resisting their urgency. Another sound came—more strained this time. A fractured cry that turned the air cold. Karpeta muttered under her breath, breaking into a run

The last concealment array locked into place with a low hum.A soft green light swept across the medical bay.CONCEALMENT STATUS: STABLE.EXTERNAL DETECTION: NEGATIVE.Ethan looked at the display for only a second.Then all of his attention returned to Norka.She was breathing harder now.Much harder.Another wave of pain hit her without warning.“Ah—!”Her cry echoed through the underground chamber.Karpeta immediately took her hand.“Aunty Norka!”“I’m here!”“Look at me!”Norka shook her head violently.“It hurts!”“I know!”“It burns!”Linda checked the monitors, her brow furrowing.“…That’s unusual.”Elsa looked over.“What?”Linda pointed toward one of the displays.“Her body temperature isn’t rising.”“It’s… fluctuating.”The numbers kept changing.Thirty-seven.Forty-one.Thirty-two.Thirty-nine.Again and again.As if her body couldn’t decide what normal was anymore.Ethan stepped beside the bed.“What about her heartbeat?”Linda stared at another screen.“…Two rhythms.”Elsa

Ethan stepped closer.“Norka.”She looked at him.“I can’t stop it.”“You don’t have to.”Her eyes widened slightly.“What?”Ethan placed one hand gently against the edge of the bed.“I’ll stabilize it.”Linda immediately looked at him.“Ethan, be careful.”He nodded.“I know.”Elsa frowned.“How?”Ethan didn’t respond.Instead, he closed his eyes.The room became strangely quiet.Even the alarms seemed distant.For a moment, Ethan stopped focusing on the chaos around him.He focused on the energy itself.The same way he had learned to read opponents.The same way he had survived impossible situations.Not by overpowering.By understanding.A faint mark appeared across his palm.Elsa noticed first.“…Ethan?”Karpeta looked over.“What is that?”Ethan opened his eyes.“A control technique.”Linda stared.“You never mentioned you had one.”“Because I rarely use it.”The mark slowly expanded.Thin lines of light traveled from his hand across the bed frame, forming a complex pattern aroun

Karpeta’s voice broke.“…Auntie Norka?”Norka didn’t answer.Her legs trembled uncontrollably beneath the blanket as another pulse of crimson light swept through the room.Linda’s eyes darted between the monitors.“…The resonance is destabilizing again.”Ethan looked toward the tray of alchemical reagents.There was one option left.One he had never intended to use.His jaw tightened.“…There’s another catalyst.”Linda looked at him.“The one marked Black-7?”He nodded.“I’ve never administered it.”Elsa frowned.“Then we don’t use it.”Ethan remained silent.Another surge rolled through Norka’s body.She cried out weakly.“I… can’t…”The monitors emitted another warning tone.Linda swallowed.“…If her aura collapses now, both life signatures become unstable.”The room fell into a heavy silence.Karpeta looked from Norka to Ethan.“Can it help?”Ethan answered honestly.“…I don’t know.”“You don’t know?”“No.”He looked at the small vial.“It was designed to stabilize violent resonanc

The entire medical bay became still.Not silent.Never silent.The machines continued their steady rhythm.The concealment arrays hummed softly beneath the floor.But everyone inside that room was focused on one thing.Norka.And the life she was bringing into the world.Ethan stood beside her, his hands steady despite the storm of energy surrounding them.For once, he wasn’t thinking about Watson.Or Harry.Or the Demon Realm.Or enemies waiting in the shadows.Only this moment.Only her.“Norka.”His voice was calm.“Stay with us.”Her eyelids fluttered.A faint sound escaped her throat.“…Ethan…”Everyone looked up.She was awake.Barely.But awake.Karpeta immediately leaned closer.“Auntie!”Norka’s eyes moved slowly toward her.“…I heard you.”Karpeta’s face crumpled with relief.“You scared me.”A weak smile appeared on Norka’s face.“I’m sorry…”“No.”Karpeta shook her head quickly.“Don’t apologize.”“You just…”She swallowed.“You just scared everyone.”Elsa let out a shaky