The heartbeat of the Maw didn’t echo; it reverberated through the marrow of Caver’s bones.Caver didn’t move. He stood in the crushing dark, his pulse thudding a defiant counterpoint to the organic, bio-rhythmic drum ahead. Beside him, Jack’s breathing was shallow—a serrated, rhythmic whistle that marked their fragile reality."Target is pulsing at 60 beats per minute," Jack hissed, his voice stripped of his usual sarcastic edge. "It’s not just a signal, Caver. That thing is using the Maw’s power supply to keep itself—or something else—alive.""Focus, Jack," Caver muttered. He didn't look back at the crew. "We didn't come to perform an autopsy. We came to kill the host."From the shadows, a sound drifted toward them: a slow, rhythmic shuffling, like bare feet on wet, synthetic leather. The light in the chamber was near-nonexistent, but a dull, ultraviolet sheen began to seep from the crevices of the walls, illuminating a single, slender form drift

The skin on Caver’s palm hissed, a wet, sizzling sound as the organic conduit beneath the gold nectar pulsed. The contact wasn't just physical; it was neural-vascular.He didn't scream, though his body wanted to. He didn't jerk back, though every cell in his anatomy was screaming at the systemic violation of a forced data-merge. Instead, Caver gritted his teeth, the muscles in his jaw straining as his veins turned a neon, pulsating cobalt.Sync initialized, the internal prompt ghosted through his visual cortex. Primary identity detected: Slave-Component C-76. Hierarchy Status: Reinstated."Get your hand off!" Jack roared, his weapon trained on the seam of the pulsing, fleshy CPU. "Caver, if it re-files you, you're dead! You're an echo!""Don't—touch—the link!" Caver strained to get the words out.The room roared with a sudden shift in atmospheric pressure. Above them, the swirling vortex of defense drones snapped into place, their interna