Meadow's POV
The words lingered in the room, heavy, insistent, impossible to ignore. You felt them settle over the three of you like a storm cloud that had followed the last one, denser and darker, promising more than mere rain. "You are too slow." The message seemed almost personal, aimed not at Dr. Ward alone but at all of you, a declaration that the game had already shifted while you had been absorbing its previous moves. Your pulse tightened instantly. Every instinct screamed that this was no ordinary challenge. Someone else had entered the board, someone faster, sharper, more ruthless than anyone you had faced. Tyler's provocations were methodical, but predictable in their chaos. Victor's consolidations were precise, but confined to structure. Dr. Ward's observation was patient and pervasive, yet even she had limits. And now this new vector had made itself known, striking like a shadow through the room, unseen but undeniably present.
