[POV Era]

  Night at the dam settlement had a constant sound: the dull roar of water filtering through the turbines and the echo of metal cooling under the moon. In the small concrete room, Chelsea slept deeply, her rhythmic breathing indicating that the combat suit, even under the old clothes, was doing its job reguting her temperature and aiding muscle recovery. I sat on the edge of my cot, motionless, eyes fixed on the wall, while my mind plunged into the depths of my own architecture.

  “System,” I called in the silence of my circuits, “I need a pn. Once Chelsea finds Sora and I separate, I’ll return to the steel whale. But I can’t stay staring at obsidian walls. I need to know who built me and why.”

  [ There are three logical pathways for obtaining high-level data, Era. The first consists of a full restoration of the ship’s surveilnce records. If we manage to reconstruct the damaged files, we can trace the origin vector of the whale and determine the exact point where it was intercepted in space. The second pathway is the reactivation of the propulsion systems; if the ship becomes operational again, we could physically travel to external information nodes. ]

  “And the third?” I asked, feeling that both methods would require years of solitary technical work.

  [ The third pathway is the most complex, but the most direct: reverse biotic engineering. If we develop a serum or a resonance frequency capable of reverting the mutation of the crew members still agonizing in the lower levels, we could restore the consciousness of one of them. A functional crew member could provide immediate verbal answers about their mission and the nature of their technology. ]

  I sighed mentally. Everything sounded distant, almost impossible for someone who was barely learning to use her combat gloves. My only anchors were the fragmented recordings and that unsettling object resting in my backpack.

  “And the egg?” I asked, shifting my gaze toward the backpack on the floor. “Is it really alive? Will it hatch someday?”

  [ Short-range sensor analysis confirms internal biotic activity. I have no records of the exact species in my database, but I detect spasmodic movements and fluctuations in core temperature. The probability of hatching is 82% within an indeterminate but near timeframe. It is an organism in the final incubation phase. ]

  The idea of something emerging from that red egg produced a mix of curiosity and a trace of human fear. As I processed this information, I noticed the light filtering through the small window beginning to shift from deep blue to the pale gray of dawn. Chelsea stirred in her cot, stretching her arms.

  “She’s waking up,” I warned the system.

  “Good morning,” Chelsea murmured, sitting up and rubbing her eyes. Her voice still carried that awkward tone that had separated us since the ship, but at least it wasn’t hostile.

  “Good morning,” I replied, standing up immediately. “The sun is rising. It’s time to move if we want to find Sora before the work rotations begin.”

  We got ready in silence, Chelsea putting on her yers of dirty clothes over the bck suit to maintain camoufge. We stepped into the cold morning light, and there, right in front of our door, was Sarah. Seeing us, she gave a small jump backward, shoulders hunched and hands csped nervously.

  “Oh! Hi… you’re already up,” Sarah said with a shy smile, lowering her gaze. “The guards… well, they asked me to keep an eye on you today. It’s not that we don’t trust you, it’s just the rules. I’m Sarah, by the way, though you already know that. I didn’t introduce myself properly yesterday.”

  “Don’t worry, Sarah,” I replied, trying to project a calm that would help her trust us. I noticed she was young, maybe a couple of years younger than Orion, her withdrawn personality making her seem out of pce in such a militarized environment. “Guide us. Chelsea is very hungry.”

  Sarah nodded vigorously and began walking, pointing out different buildings of the dam with quick gestures. She led us to a rge structure, an old industrial building converted into a cafeteria. The smell of firewood and rancid broth filled the air.

  “This is the main dining hall,” Sarah expined as we queued up. “All the food for the residents is prepared here. The Council rations everything carefully. We are 454 people… well, now with you two, 456. Today’s food is a welcome courtesy, but tomorrow you’ll have to report for work if you want your ration.”

  Chelsea looked at Sarah with curiosity. “What kind of jobs are there?”

  “A bit of everything,” Sarah replied. “Cleaning, which is what you’ll be doing today to start. There are also search expeditions, but only for the strongest. Gate watch, security guard, cooking… or turbine maintenance if you know mechanics.”

  We reached the counter. A man in an apron handed us a bowl of watery soup, a piece of hard bread, and a small container of vegetables that looked boiled until they had lost all color. I stared at the contents while the system performed an instant nutritional analysis.

  [ The caloric value of this ration is approximately 400 calories. It is insufficient to maintain biological muscle mass under an 8-hour physical bor regime. Protein content is nearly nonexistent. ]

  Chelsea frowned as she tasted the soup, but she began to eat anyway. We sat at one of the communal tables, scanning the crowd’s faces in search of a familiar hairstyle or gaze. Sora was nowhere to be seen.

  Suddenly, Chelsea went rigid and looked toward the center of the dining hall. I followed her gaze and saw a long table, separated from the rest by a small security cordon. There, a group of five men dressed in immacute shirts, branded pants, and jackets that looked new were enjoying a banquet that insulted the rest of the room: roasted meat, fresh bread, fruit, and what appeared to be wine.

  “It’s not fair,” Chelsea whispered bitterly, gripping the wooden spoon. “We’re all miserable and they eat like the world never ended.”

  Sarah leaned toward us, terrified someone might hear. “Girls, please, look the other way. They are the direct subordinates of the settlement’s Leader. They handle logistics and internal security. If you mess with them, you’ll be thrown out the gate in less than five minutes, and outside there’s nothing but death.”

  “We’re not looking for trouble, Sarah,” I said, though inside, the injustice made my servomotors vibrate slightly.

  Chelsea didn’t look again, but her appetite had vanished. Noticing her discouragement, I pushed my tray toward her.

  “Eat mine, Chelsea. I… don’t feel very hungry today. My stomach still feels strange from the trip.”

  “But Era, you need strength to clean,” Sarah protested.

  “I insist. Eat. I’ll be fine,” I lied, knowing my fusion core didn’t need diluted soup. Chelsea eventually accepted, knowing I didn’t need food, and devoured the extra meal with a hunger that reminded me of Shadow.

  Once breakfast was over, Sarah led us back toward the steel gate. The ground was covered in mud, leftover food from the guards, and trash from the night before.

  “The Leader wants the main access spotless,” Sarah said, handing us a pair of brooms and buckets of water. “Once you’re done, you’re free to walk around the settlement and get to know it. Here’s a basic map so you don’t get lost.”

  I took the small piece of paper. It was a rudimentary map, but for my system, it was more than enough.

  “Thank you, Sarah,” I said. She nodded and went to her own tasks.

  I began sweeping with mechanical efficiency that I tried to disguise, while Chelsea worked halfheartedly beside me.

  “System,” I asked internally, “analyze the map. If Sora is here but not in the dining hall, where would she most likely be assigned given her profile as a science student?”

  [ There are two locations with high probability of occupancy for subjects with technical aptitude: the General Chemical Supply Warehouse or the Technical Meeting Area near the turbines. However… ]

  “Hey, Era,” Chelsea interrupted, seeming to regain some energy. “We don’t have to go looking for her. If the dining hall is the only pce they give food, at some point Sora will have to pass through. It’s better to wait there tonight or tomorrow morning. We don’t want to look suspicious wandering around restricted areas.”

  “You’re right,” I admitted. “It’s a safer pn.”

  I kept sweeping, but my mind was elsewhere. “System, forget Sora for a moment. Where is the thermal anomaly we detected from the mountain? Can you pinpoint it on this map?”

  [ Processing… ] — a red line traced itself in my vision, overying the paper map — [ The biotic energy signature is not located in common areas nor in the turbines. The origin of the anomaly is located exactly in the structure marked as ‘Leader’s Residence,’ at the top of the dam complex. ]

  I stopped for a second, broom in hand. Why would the leader of a human settlement have an alien energy source in his own house? Was it a trophy, a weapon, or something much darker?

  “This changes things,” I thought. “Sora may be Chelsea’s priority, but that anomaly is mine.”

  The sun continued to rise, illuminating the immense concrete wall that protected us, but I felt that the shadows in this pce were far deeper than the walls suggested.