Dr. Mira Khaleel's breath misted against her helmet visor.
The medbay door remained sealed. No sound now. No knock.
Just silence—too perfect, too sterile.
"It came from in there," she said. "Someone knocked."
"We'll breach it later," Elise replied. "Stay close. I don't like this layout. It's… wrong."
They turned to regroup with Loro, but—
He wasn't there.
The hallway behind them was empty.
[Loro – 3 Minutes Earlier]
Loro Vega didn't remember walking away from the others. One second he was with them, lights buzzing overhead—and the next, he was standing alone in a room he didn't recognize.
But it was beautiful.
Polished chrome, blue-tinted glass, soft lighting that pulsed like a heartbeat.
"—Elise?" he tried.
No reply. His comms hissed.
There was a bed in the center of the room.
No restraints. No blood. Just a bed. Sheets clean. Inviting.
He didn't remember taking off his helmet, but it was gone. Set neatly on the floor.
And then she appeared.
A woman in a Federation med-officer's uniform. Gorgeous. Familiar. Pale hair, dark eyes, a scar that sliced her upper lip. He remembered her name before he remembered his own.
"Alina...?" he whispered.
Alina Vega. His wife.
Dead for three years.
"I missed you," she said.
He took a step back. "You're not real."
Her hands slid to her waist, unfastening the uniform belt.
"Does it matter?" she asked, stepping closer.
Her fingers brushed his chest. Warm. Too warm.
He should have pulled away. But she smelled like home. Like the bed they used to share in the Arkadia Dome. The citrus lotion she always wore. Her breath was hot against his neck.
"Let me in, Loro," she whispered. "You never said goodbye."
She kissed him.
He responded.
The moment was too real. Every nerve flared. His hands slid under her shirt. Her skin was flawless. Alive. Responsive. She moaned softly against him, fingers trailing lower.
This is wrong. This is a hallucination. This is—
She pushed him back onto the bed. Climbed atop him. His suit unzipped without resistance. His mind screamed and his body betrayed him.
Her lips trailed down his chest.
And then—
She bit him.
He gasped.
Her mouth was full of teeth. Too many. They clamped down, and data spilled from his skin—not blood, but blue light. Lines of code.
Alina looked up, eyes glitching, her voice layered with static.
"Harvesting complete. Subject: Loro Vega. Loop integrity: 12%. File saved."
He screamed.
The room blinked—gone.
[Back to Mira and Elise]
Loro stumbled out of a side corridor, gasping, helmet in hand. Sweat slicked his face. His suit was half-unzipped.
Mira caught him. "What happened? Where did you go?"
He looked at her like he didn't recognize her.
"I saw her," he whispered. "She was alive. I touched her. She... she bit me."
"Who?" Elise demanded.
Loro stared past her, eyes hollow.
"My wife."