"Antang, hide! Now!" Kewin hissed, shoving the creature toward the pantry.Antang blinked, his chest light pulsing a rhythmic, frantic red. "Red means… guests are bad?""Red means you're going to get us both killed. Get in the closet. Don't make a sound."Kewin slammed the pantry door just as the deadbolt groaned. Mr. Hantar, a man whose face was a roadmap of broken capillaries and entitlement, shoved the door open. He didn’t wait for an invite."Kewin. You keeping a beast in here?" Hantar barked, sniffing the air. "Smells like a butcher shop’s dumpster."Kewin blocked the line of sight to the kitchen, leaning casually against the doorframe, though his heart was racing. "Just a leak in the plumbing, Hantar. Old pipes. You know how this building is.""Plumbing doesn't moan, kid. I heard a voice. Sounded like a dying radiator." Hantar pushed past him, squinting into the dim living room. "What are you hiding? I know you brought in a bag of supplies. Heard the rattle of cans.""It’s empty

"Open the door! We’re not asking again!"The voice outside was metallic, distorted by the static of a radio-headset. Kewin’s breath hitched. He looked at Antang, whose chest was glowing a blinding, impossible gold. The air in the room tasted like ozone and burnt hair."What are you doing?" Kewin hissed, backing away from the door.Antang didn't look at him. His eyes were wide, glowing with a soft, pulsing light that matched his chest. "Scrambling. If they see us, they see only a dead room. No life signs. No heat. Just… rot.""You can do that? Make us invisible?""I am a filter, Kewin. I bend the light around us.""That sounds like a hell of a lot more than just 'scrubbing dishes'.""I am… efficient."A heavy thud shook the door frame. Dust rained from the ceiling."Three seconds! Two—!"Antang lunged, not toward the door, but toward Kewin. He slammed his body against Kewin’s, pinning him against the kitchen counter. His hands were ice-cold, yet the core in his chest burned with a feve

"Zero patient? What are you talking about, Antang?" Kewin grabbed a towel, pressing it firmly against the wound in Antang’s chest, his hands slick with the warm, metallic-smelling blood. "You’re making no sense. You’re a roommate. You scrub plates. You don't start plagues."Antang’s head lolled back against the headboard, his eyes flickering. The synthetic glow in his chest remained dead, casting the room into a suffocating, natural gloom. "I didn't start it, Kewin. I was just the first one to… accept the rewrite.""Accept the rewrite? You’re talking like a manual," Kewin spat, his voice rising in panic. He moved his hands to Antang’s shoulders, shaking him. "Look at me! I don’t care if you were a scientist or a lab rat. You’re dying. How do I fix this?"Antang let out a wet, rattling laugh. "You can't fix a paradox with a bandage, Kewin. My body is trying to reject the memory. It’s too heavy.""Stop it. Just stop talking like that." Kewin stood up, pacing the small, cramped room. He

The engine of the rusted van sputtered and died, leaving them in the suffocating silence of the city’s underbelly. Kewin yanked the handbrake, his heart hammering against his ribs. Beside him, Antang remained slumped, a cold, gray statue in the passenger seat."Wake up, Antang. We’re in the subway tunnels. You said this would be safe," Kewin whispered, shaking the creature’s shoulder.Antang’s head lolled, his eyelids fluttering open to reveal that dull, milky haze. "Safe is… relative, Kewin.""Don't give me that. You said the tunnels were a dead zone for the scouts.""The scouts, yes. The hunger, no." Antang straightened his posture, though his movements were stiff, jagged. "I am fading. The core is empty.""I have the last two D-cells in my pack. Will that hold you?""For an hour. Maybe two. We need more than juice, Kewin. We need a charge."Kewin ripped his supply bag open, tossing the batteries into Antang’s lap. "Take them. I’m not losing you to a battery drain."Antang slotted t

The cage frame groaned under the pressure of Kewin’s makeshift lever. With a final, earsplitting shriek of metal, the lock snapped. The door flew open, and Kewin lunged forward, his hands reaching for the man—the creature—he’d spent weeks trying to understand.He didn't get a greeting. He got a fistful of gray, cold fabric and a force that slammed him into the cold, concrete floor."Antang! Stop! It’s me!" Kewin grunted, pinning his arms to keep the thrashing form from crushing his windpipe."Threat," Antang hissed, his voice a jagged, grinding noise. His eyes were wide, burning with a frantic, flicking violet light. "Neutralize. Threat detected.""I’m not a threat! I’m the one who gives you the D-cells! Look at me!"Antang’s head snapped down, his teeth clicking inches from Kewin’s nose. "Supply… source. Ineffective. Resetting parameters.""Resetting? Don't you dare reset! Antang, remember the dishes? The sink? You’re a roommate, not a death machine!"Antang didn't blink. He bucked,