[POV Era]

  Night had settled over the dam like a mantle of cold asphalt. In the small concrete room, the silence was so absolute that I could hear the nearly imperceptible hum of my own energy core processing data in the background. I was sitting on the edge of the cot, my gaze fixed on the door. The internal chronometer in my peripheral vision marked 22:00 hours. Chelsea should have returned exactly two hours and fifteen minutes ago.

  At first, I tried to apply simple probabilistic logic. [ There is a 74% probability that subject Chelsea has decided to remain overnight at the residence of Sora Tanaka due to the nighttime movement restriction imposed after the assembly ], the system had suggested an hour earlier. But the minutes kept falling like drops of lead, and that remnant of consciousness that still felt like Orion began sending warning signals that no probability table could soothe.

  "System, I have a bad feeling," I said in the silence of my mind. "The biotic anomaly at the Leader’s house, st night’s hunt, the nervous guards... It’s not logical for Chelsea to stay out this long knowing we’re under surveilnce."

  [ Your stress levels are increasing, Era. I detect a fluctuation in the temperature of your servomotors. If you wish to confirm the subjects’ safety, a low-profile reconnaissance incursion is recommended. Do not wait for the scenario to deteriorate. ]

  I stood with a fluid motion. I took the backpack where the red egg continued to pulse with its muted scarlet light and adjusted my white gloves. I stepped into the hallway, ensuring it was deserted before exiting.

  Outside, the atmosphere within the settlement had changed drastically since the afternoon. It was no longer merely the tense peace of a dictatorship; it was the chaos of an active hunt. In the distance, the dam’s searchlights were no longer sweeping the outer horizon but pointing into internal alleys and storage zones. I heard distant shouts and the echo of boots striking concrete.

  "They’re chasing someone," I murmured, pressing myself against the shadows of an electrical transformer.

  [ Era, I detect a pattern of interference in the settlement’s radio communications. The guards are using emergency channels. They are searching for two female suspects in Sector B. ]

  Fear—that hollow sensation my chassis transted as a drop in pressure—ran through me completely. "Find Chelsea’s trail. Now. The organic mesh suit must leave some kind of thermal or electromagnetic trace we can follow."

  [ Initiating specific trail scan. Filtering common human signatures... Located. I detect a residual biotic particle trail compatible with ship technology. The trail begins near the residence of Sora Tanaka and moves toward the industrial waste zone. There is a chemical anomaly in the air of that sector: traces of a broad-spectrum sedative agent. ]

  I ran. My feet barely touched the ground, moving like a specter through the shadows while avoiding patrols racing in the opposite direction. Orion’s desperation merged with Era’s efficiency, creating a cold urgency that made me clear two-meter obstacles without a second thought.

  I reached a dead-end alley, an area where the dam accumuted old machinery scraps and industrial garbage containers. The scent of ozone and the sweet chemical the system had identified was stronger here.

  "Where are they?" I demanded, my eyes sweeping the area in infrared spectrum.

  [ The trail ends in the metal container to your left, Era. The thermal signature is weak but stable. ]

  I approached the industrial dumpster. With hands that trembled for the first time since my transformation, I lifted the heavy metal lid. The screech of iron sounded like a scream in the middle of the night.

  There, among trash bags and rusted metal fragments, y Chelsea. She was curled up, her clothes dirty and her face pale, but what terrified me most was her stillness. She was unconscious. I pulled her out with a delicacy that defied my own strength, cradling her body against my alloy chest.

  "Chelsea! Chelsea, respond!" I excimed, forgetting for a moment that my sensors were already informing me her vital signs were stable but suppressed by the drug.

  [ The subject is in a state of deep induced sleep. She will not respond to verbal stimuli for the next four hours. Era, examine the area. I do not detect the thermal signature of Sora Tanaka in this quadrant. ]

  Panic—a feeling I believed I had left behind in the university corridors—struck me head-on. I id Chelsea on the ground, protected by shadows, and began scanning the alley with manic intensity. I saw signs of struggle on the pavement: heavy boot prints, a torn piece of fabric from Sora’s notebook, and an empty pressure syringe.

  "Where is Sora? System, track her signature!" I shouted internally.

  [ I am sorry, Era. Sora Tanaka does not carry ship technology. I cannot track her thermal trail in an area saturated with human activity. However... ] the system projected a reconstructed image of the footprints. [ The guards’ trail moves away from here toward the detention block in Sector Alpha. They have taken her. ]

  I remained there, standing in the darkness, with Chelsea unconscious at my feet and the weight of Sora’s absence burning through my processors. The sirens continued to wail, and the mystery of why they had attacked them grew darker by the second. Had they discovered something about me? Or had Sora seen too much inside the Leader’s Residence?

  I brushed Chelsea’s face, feeling the softness of her human skin against the coldness of my porcein fingers. I was alone again—but this time, the rage boiling in my core was enough to set the entire settlement abze. The Leader had made the mistake of touching the only thing anchoring me to this world.

  "System," I said, and my voice sounded like a gcier cracking apart. "Prepare all combat protocols. I no longer care about stealth. We’re going to retrieve Sora, and if this settlement has to fall to get her back, so be it."

  [ Tactical assault protocols on standby, Era. But remember: if Sora is in Sector Alpha, we are entering the wolf’s jaws. The Leader will use her as a shield. ]

  "Let him try," I whispered, lifting Chelsea’s body to hide her somewhere safer before beginning the sughter. The night was only beginning, and the Dam of Tomorrow was about to discover that they had locked a god inside a cage of men.