Kyle had been staring at the terminal for nearly two hours, mapping the novel's plot points against a mental timeline, when the fog rolled in.It did not creep. It did not drift. It arrived like something alive, a wall of thick, yellowish gray vapor that swallowed the streetlights outside his window in under thirty seconds.One moment the settlement's east side was clear, lit by the dim glow of perimeter lamps. The next, everything beyond the glass was gone, replaced by a churning, wet curtain that pressed against the building like it was trying to get inside.Kyle sat up in bed and watched the fog with a growing tightness in his chest. According to the original's memories, fog like this only appeared on the west side.The toxic, beast infested west side that required government clearance and a minimum three star combat team just to enter. The east side was supposed to be safe. That was the whole point of living here.Something hit the window.Not a knock. Not a tap. A full, wet, meat

Scarlett's room was sparse and clean. A single bed against one wall, a desk with nothing on it, a small closet, and a bathroom with the door slightly ajar.No decoration, no personal touches, nothing that suggested a human being lived here rather than a weapon stored in a case between deployments."I need to shower," Scarlett told him, her voice carrying the flat tone of someone issuing a warning rather than sharing information. "The Fog Corpse residue needs to come off before it eats through my clothes. Stay on that side of the room."She disappeared into the bathroom. The water turned on. Kyle sat on the floor against the far wall, pulled a spare blanket over his legs, and waited.After ten minutes, the water stopped. Kyle heard rustling, the sound of drawers opening and closing, fabric being pulled and adjusted.He slid down further under the blanket, leaving just his eyes visible above the edge, angled toward the bathroom door with the guilty, instinctive curiosity of a man who kn

Within two minutes, all five women were crowded into Scarlett's small bedroom. Vivian leaned against the far wall with her arms crossed, watching with quiet interest. Bianca stood by the door. Riley knelt in front of Kyle and placed both palms flat against his chest, her blue healing light spreading across his torso in a soft, diagnostic glow."Physically, he's completely normal," Riley reported after a long pause, her pale eyes narrowing. "No damage. No blockage. No abnormality in his nervous system or his energy pathways. His body absorbed the stone's energy without any resistance.""Then why didn't his star sea expand?" Bianca pressed, leaning forward."Move." Hailey's soft voice came from behind Riley, and the white haired girl shifted aside. Hailey knelt down and placed one small hand against Kyle's forehead. Her brown eyes went distant, unfocused, and a warm golden glow pulsed from her fingertips.Kyle felt something brush against the inside of his mind, gentle and careful, like

Kyle wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and pushed his plate away. Hailey's breakfast sat warm in his stomach, and the kitchen still smelled like butter and pancakes. He pulled the terminal onto the table and pressed his thumb to the scanner. The star map loaded with a soft chime.

"Vivian. Negative twenty. You told me you'd make me pray for the dead to take me first. Poetic, but poetry doesn't earn points." Vivian said nothing. Her amber eyes rested on him the way a snake watches a mouse crossing open ground. "And Hailey." Kyle softened his voice just enough for the shift to be noticeable. "Negative five. You scoo