Chapter 16: Whispers Beneath the Skin
The silence of recovery was strange. Ethan, once again clothed and loosely bandaged, sat on the edge of his new bed. His arms felt strong. Too strong. There was a hum beneath the skin, like pressure building behind a dam. Something inside had shifted. He didn't know what it was—but it was definitely waiting.
It had been four days since he woke up. Four days of quiet examinations, occasional visitors, and mental recalibration. Most of the time, he just observed. The world, himself, the whispers beneath his own breath. Whatever was happening to him… it wasn't over.
This morning, he was guided down silver halls into a small, transparent chamber lit by pale-blue rays. Dr. Eriama stood to his right, arms crossed, eyes scrutinizing every flicker of the screen. Beside her was another figure, taller and older—Dr. Ilon Mareth, the lead bio-physicist in the Concord.
"Vitals are normal," Ilon murmured, voice low and professional. "But that's the problem."
Eriama's fingers moved across a panel. "Healing this extensive in four days after waking up is unheard of. Broken ribs, internal bleeding, torn ligaments,all of it. He shouldn't even be walking."
"Let alone stretching like a gymnast," Ilon added, glancing at Ethan with restrained curiosity.
A pulse flickered across the diagnostic monitor. A blue surge. Fast, sharp, gone in an instant.
"There! Did you see that?" Eriama snapped.
Ilon frowned. Rewound the scan. Nothing.
"Gone," he confirmed.
Eriama stepped forward. "We're either reading phantom signals… or something inside you is cloaking itself."
Ethan narrowed his eyes. "Is that… bad?"
Ilon tilted his head. "Depends. It might mean your biology is no longer entirely human."
Ethan gave a dry laugh. "Right. Because that wasn't already obvious."
Eriama ignored the sarcasm. "We'll need to run deeper resonance scans. But until then… just try not to break anything—or anyone."
---
Later that evening, Warden Caelis requested Ethan's presence.
She stood alone in the garden quadrant beneath the dark glass sky, hands behind her back, posture regal. Ethan approached, unsure of her tone today. The last time they spoke, she was professionally cold.
"Breachers don't usually survive encounters like that," she said, not turning to face him.
"I guess I didn't get the memo," Ethan replied.
She looked at him now—blue eyes sharp. "You might not want to be a weapon, Ethan. But the world might not give you a choice."
Ethan's mouth twitched. "I didn't ask to be any of this y'know,hell I don't even know how or why that portal sent me to this world."
"No one ever does," Caelis replied. "But some of us survive long enough to choose what kind of person we become here.I want to warn you,don't let that event give you ego...this is just beginning,I believe something worse is coming"
Ethan stood there silent not having anything to say at Caelis's warning and shortly after,she left him to his thoughts.
---
That night, Raiden found Ethan leaning against the west wall of the Concord, where the stars blinked faintly beyond the transparent barrier.
"Can't sleep?" Raiden asked.
"Not after what I saw. What I felt."
Raiden stood beside him, arms crossed. "That's how it starts."
Ethan raised a brow. "How what starts?"
"The war in your head. You'll try to go back to who you were before it all changed. But that version of you? He's already gone."
Ethan was quiet.
Raiden turned to him. "You asked me once if I was scared. Truth is? Yeah. Most of us are. Some Breachers don't make it past their second deployment. Some… don't come back at all."
Ethan's jaw clenched. "So what? We just… hope we're not next?"
Raiden smirked. "Or we get stronger. Smarter. So that next time, we don't wake up in a bed. We walk out of the fire on our own."
---
Elsewhere in the Concord, Liora sat beside Keir's motionless body. His vitals were stable, but the boy hadn't stirred. She scribbled designs on her notepad—modifications, enhancements, schematics for new drone tech. Her determination showed in the dark rings beneath her eyes.
Across the courtyard, Zira limped back into the training zone. Bandages wrapped tight around her shoulder and ribs. She eyed a burly trainee twice her size and challenged him to a spar. Minutes later, she had him on the ground, breathing heavy, while she stood bruised but grinning.
---
Later that night, Ethan's dreams took him elsewhere.
He stood in a valley of ash. Charred trees clawed at a red-black sky. Rift beasts lay dead across the horizon, their blood soaking the scorched ground.
A low whisper echoed through the dream.
"They are watching you now…"
He turned. No Nanook. No presence at all. Just a weight behind the veil. A flicker above the skyline—something colossal. Humanoid. Watching.
And then he woke.
Sweat lined his brow. His heart thundered.
He whispered to himself:
"They are watching me…"