The museum felt different when the light returned.
Even in the shattered silence of morning, something hummed beneath the marble. The old statues seemed less broken. The air was clearer, softer, like it had been gently wiped clean by something unseen.
Kaila woke up early, long before the others. The dreams had not returned that night, but a tingling stayed in her chest, like something had been left behind.
She walked barefoot through the old exhibit halls. The lights flickered, powered by salvaged batteries. Her steps echoed through the empty corridors.
As she passed a destroyed sculpture wing, she noticed something strange.
A painting that had been torn days ago was now whole.
The color was fresh. The brushwork perfect. A swirling image of two dancers, wrapped in motion, stood painted on a wall that should have been nothing but soot and cracks.
She stepped closer. Reached out.
The paint was still wet.
Scene: Gathering
Andy was helping Harper patch one of the broken doors when he saw Kaila walking back from the hall.
She looked distant. Almost peaceful.
"You sleep okay?" he asked, handing her a bottle of water.
"I didn't sleep long," she replied.
"You look like you saw something weird."
She paused, then smiled faintly. "I think I did."
Andy chuckled. "This place is weird. You can say that again."
Dr. Alaric approached from behind a stack of salvaged gear. "Did you notice any visual disturbances? Flashing color in the corners of your eyes? Memory shifts?"
Kaila turned to him. "I saw a painting. It was whole again. Fresh paint. But nobody touched it."
Alaric's eyes narrowed. "The entity is beginning to externalize."
"What does that mean?" Andy asked, suddenly serious.
"It means the Skate is no longer contained in the dream-state. It is starting to affect the environment."
"Is that dangerous?"
Alaric shrugged. "It depends. If the influence stays passive, it may be beneficial. If it reacts to emotional surges, or external threats, then we may see more unpredictable effects."
Kaila looked down at her hands. "It felt… gentle. Not dangerous."
Andy looked at her closely. "You feel any different?"
She nodded. "Lighter. Like part of me is opening that was always closed."
Scene: The Restoration Begins
By mid-afternoon, the museum base had changed.
The cracked floors began to show faint color where none had been before. Small broken statues had fused together overnight. One hallway, previously dark and rotting, now carried a faint scent of lavender.
People began to notice.
A few resistance members whispered about it, nervous. Harper tried to downplay the rumors, saying someone was just trying to boost morale.
But Alaric knew better.
He pulled Kaila aside in the archive chamber.
"This place is responding to you," he said. "The entity is using your emotional blueprint to stabilize the environment."
"Stabilize how?" she asked.
"Skate was created during your mother's attempt to rewrite trauma into beauty. It responded to love, fear, grief. You are its next host. If you stay emotionally balanced, it will keep healing. But if something extreme happens…"
Kaila finished the sentence. "It'll break."
Alaric nodded. "Or break everything around it."
Scene: Andy and the Rooftop
That night, Andy climbed up to the rooftop garden where vines had overtaken broken railings. He sat on the ledge, looking out at the ruined skyline.
Kaila joined him. They sat in silence for a while.
"This is the first time in weeks where I don't feel like I'm about to die," Andy said.
"Feels wrong, doesn't it?"
"A little," he replied. "But it also feels like we deserve this. Just for a moment."
Kaila leaned against him.
"I used to think the world was dying because people stopped caring," she said. "But maybe it's the other way around. Maybe we stopped caring because the world was already gone."
Andy looked at her.
"You're not gone."
Kaila looked up at the sky. Faint stars blinked through the cracks in the city dome.
"I don't know if I'm even me anymore," she whispered. "But whatever I am… I want it to matter."
Andy took her hand.
"Then make it matter."
Scene: Something Watches
Far beneath the museum, in a sealed Dive lab buried under rubble and time, an old camera flickered to life.
A red light blinked once.
Then again.
Draton's system rebooted in silence.
His eyes opened, burning faintly. Not with emotion. Just with purpose.
Target reacquisition began.