[Palm – Nexus Spire, Arrival Wing]
The doors hissed shut behind us with a sound too clean for this world.
I stepped off the platform, and the air changed. It
wasn't the rot-heavy stink of the forest or the metallic tang of old blood that had been stuck in my nose for days. This air was filtered, cool, almost aweet—like someone had bottled the idea of "safe" and pumped it through vents.
My lungs didn't trust it.
Nothing in this place felt real.
Nexus Spire.
Win's mom's tower.
I'd seen pictures of it before everything ended—a silver needle cutting into the sky, the kind of place that made normal people feel small. Standing inside it now made that feeling worse. The walls were white and aeamless, the floors polished enough to reflect my dirty boots back at me like an accusation. Soft blue lights ran along the ceiling, humming quietly.
Everything looked expensive.
Everything looked sterile.
Everything felt like a cage with good lighting.
I stayed close to Win, our shoulders brushing. My arm still ached where the Locust had grazed me earlier, but the pain was already
fading.
Too fast.
I could feel the skin pulling itself back together under the bandage. It made my stomach twist. Black fluid—that's what had come out
when I wiped it. Not red. Not normal.
Not human.
Win had seen it.
He hadn't said anything. He'd just covered it, pressing his torn shirt against the cut like it was nothing.
We hadn't talked about it yet.
We would.
Later.
When there weren't eight other people listening.
I glanced around.
Best looked wrecked—shoulder bandaged, eyes scanning every corner like he expected the walls to turn on us. His grip on the rifle was tight, like he didn't trust himself to relax. Kao walked a step ahead, axe still in her hand, moving like this place was just another environment she needed to survive. Mali stayed close by, quiet, her eyes flicking to every medical panel we passed. Vitcha moved like she already understood how places
like this worked, her hand always near her gun. Jay and Jane tried to act normal—Jay muttering about "insane production value," Jane filming carefully—but the tension was there.
We were all waiting.
For something.
A soft chime echoed through the corridor.
A calm female AI voice followed.
"Welcome to Nexus Spire. Survivors have been cleared for entry. Medical processing will begin for designated individuals. Please follow
the blue lights."
Thin blue strips lit up across the floor, splitting into two directions. One led toward glass doors marked Medical Wing. The other stretched straight ahead.
Then a second message came through.
More specific.
"Win, Palm, and Kao—your presence is requested
immediately by Director Sirin. Medical processing is waived. Please proceed down the central corridor. The rest of the group will be attended to and reunited shortly."
Win tensed beside me.
Mali turned slightly, her expression unreadable. Best looked like he wanted to argue. Vitcha just nodded.
"Guess we're special," I said, trying to keep it light.
It didn't really land.
Win squeezed my hand. "Stay close."
We split.
Jay, Jane, Best, Mali, and Vitcha followed the blue
lights toward medical. I watched them go. Mali glanced back at Kao for a second—something quiet and heavy in her eyes—before disappearing through the glass doors.
Then it was just us.
Me.
Win.
Kao.
The corridor stretched out ahead, long and empty. Our footsteps echoed too loudly.
I didn't like it.
It was too quiet.
Too perfect.
Like it was waiting.
My arm itched again. Not the surface—deeper. Like something inside was shifting, settling into place. I flexed my fingers. Everything worked. My heart still beat. I could still feel fear. I could still
feel Win's hand in mine.
But the black fluid—
That wasn't normal.
And the way I moved back there, during the fight… faster than I should have been.
Cleaner.
Like my body was already adjusting.
I wasn't the same.
Win's blood had saved me.
But it had changed me too.
Something in between.
I didn't know what that meant.
I wasn't sure I wanted to.
I glanced at Win. He was watching me again, that quiet concern he tried to hide.
He hadn't said anything.
He didn't need to.
Kao walked beside us, silent, her axe still in her grip. The lighting here made everything sharper—her scars, the tension in her posture, the way she carried herself like she expected something to come at us at any moment.
None of us spoke for a while.
Then Win broke the silence.
"My mom… Sirin. She's not warm. She's not going to hug us or say she missed me. She'll want data. Answers. She'll look at us like specimens."
I nodded. "Then we give her some. But not all. Not until we know what she really wants."
Kao's voice came steady, controlled. "Sirin can give us answers. About me. About Lin. If she knows anything… we use that. We can even barter
information if we have to."
We kept walking.
The corridor opened into a wider space—an antechamber. Screens lined the walls. The same soft blue lighting washed over everything. At the far end, a reinforced door stood closed. No markings, but it didn't need any.
This was where we were supposed to be.
No one came to meet us.
No guards. No scientists.
Just silence.
And the feeling of being watched.
I swallowed.
This place had answers.
But it didn't feel safe.
It felt controlled.
I tightened my grip on the crowbar.
Behind that door was Win's mother.
The person who might explain everything.
Or make it worse.
The door slid open with a quiet hiss.
And one thought stayed in my head—
We didn't escape anything.
We just walked into something cleaner.
Something sharper.
A cage made of glass and
silver.
___