---
The matter of Dennis and Yvonne was a minor one. After Jin handed it off to Lisa, he put it out of his mind. There were more pressing concerns—water, training, the fog pressing against every window like a living thing waiting to get in.
But early the next morning, before the sky had even begun to lighten, Lisa came to find him. Her face was grim, her voice low.
"Dennis and Yvonne went looking for Josh before dawn," she said. "They were in it together. All the way."
Jin's expression didn't change, but something cold settled in his chest. He had expected as much. Dennis had been desperate enough to incite a riot over food; selling information to Josh was a natural下一步 for a man with no principles and nothing left to lose.
"Let it go," Jin said after a moment. "They're not worth the time. Right now, I need you three to focus on training. The moment you all hit First Order Mid, we're heading outside. We're running out of water, and I'd rather not wait until the last drop is gone to start looking for more."
Lisa nodded. "I understand. I should break through tomorrow. Mark might take another day or two."
---
The sudden disappearance of Josh and his faction went largely unnoticed on the first day. Six people vanishing from a building of nearly forty survivors was hardly remarkable when most people were too consumed with their own survival to keep track of their neighbors.
But the discovery of Dennis and Yvonne's bodies the next morning caused a ripple of panic.
They were found in Josh's room, their throats torn out. The wounds were savage—jagged, brutal, the kind of damage a monster would leave behind. Someone whispered that a creature had gotten into the building. Someone else said they had seen a pale shape moving in the corridors at night.
Most people were too frightened to ask questions. But some connected the deaths to Josh's disappearance, and those who did kept their mouths shut. The Contractors among the survivors understood more than the others. They knew that Jin's Summon had four arms and claws that could rend steel. They knew that the same creature had punched through a brick wall during the supply distribution.
They knew enough to be afraid.
The atmosphere in Building 7 grew heavier. Conversations died when Jin or his people walked by. Eyes dropped to the floor. The fragile community that Nathan had tried to build was fracturing, and everyone could feel it.
Jin noticed, but he didn't care. Let them be afraid. Fear was useful. Fear kept people from doing anything stupid.
---
In contrast to the growing tension in the building, Jin's group grew more focused. The confrontation with Josh had stripped away any remaining hesitation. They trained harder, longer, pushing their Summons to the limit.
Lisa's Mutant Rat was the first to break through to First Order Mid.
The change was immediate. The Rat's already unsettling form grew more pronounced—its body swelled to nearly half a meter tall and over a meter long, not counting the tail. That tail, once a bare appendage, now gleamed with fine, chain-like scales that clicked softly when it moved. Its black fur bristled, each strand as hard as a steel needle. The patches of rotting flesh that had covered its body receded, replaced by coarse, blood-red skin that pulsed with visible veins. Its eyes burned crimson in the dim light.
Lisa stood beside it, her posture different now. There was a confidence in her that hadn't been there before. The feedback from her Summon was already making itself felt—her movements were quicker, more precise. She had always been observant, but now there was a sharpness to her that hadn't been there before.
Mark and Simon weren't far behind. Another day, maybe two, and they would join her.
---
Three days after Josh's death, Jin was in his room, running through synchronization exercises with Fidex, when a knock came at his door.
He opened it to find Lisa, her face tight with urgency.
"The Brilliance Tree," she said. "It's grown a second fruit. And we've figured out what it does."
Jin's focus sharpened. He followed her without a word.
They moved through the hallway to the room where the Brilliance Tree was kept. Mark and Simon were already there, standing in front of the desk where the plant sat. The yellow glow from the tree filled the space, casting long shadows across the walls. It was brighter than Jin remembered—bright enough to read by, bright enough to make the corners of the room seem darker by contrast.
The Brilliance Tree itself had changed. Its twisted, leafless branches had thickened, grown more robust. Hanging from two of them were crystalline yellow fruits, each pulsing with soft light. The larger one was the size of a child's fist. The smaller was no bigger than a thumb, still forming.
"How long has the second one been there?" Jin asked.
"It appeared overnight," Mark said. "We've been taking turns feeding it energy from our Summons. The more energy it gets, the faster it grows."
Jin studied the plant, then looked around the room. His eyes caught something he hadn't noticed before—a potted jade tree sitting on a shelf near the window. He remembered that plant. When he had first brought the Brilliance Tree into this room, the jade tree had been withered, its leaves brown and curling.
Now it was thriving.
The plant stood nearly thirty centimeters tall, its leaves thick and plump, a vibrant, healthy green that seemed almost artificial in the gloom of the building. It was more alive than anything Jin had seen since the fog descended.
"What did you do to it?" he asked.
"Nothing," Lisa said. "That's the point. We didn't water it. We didn't move it into better light. The fog affects everything—plants are dying all over the building. But this one…" She gestured to the jade tree. "It's been sitting next to the Brilliance Tree since we put it here. And it's been getting stronger every day."
Jin's mind raced. The fog's influence was everywhere, pressing against the building, seeping into every crack. It was why the plants were dying, why people felt the weight of something crushing down on them even when they were safe inside. But the Brilliance Tree—its light—seemed to push back against that influence.
"That's not all," Lisa said.
She crossed to the window and pulled back the heavy curtain.
Beyond the glass, the fog pressed against the building, thick and white and endless. It had been that way for two weeks now, unchanging, unbreathing, a wall that separated them from the rest of the world.
But where the yellow light from the Brilliance Tree fell on the glass, something was happening.
The fog was moving.
It was a slow retreat, barely perceptible at first. Then Jin saw it—a ripple in the white, a parting, as if the fog was pulling away from the light. In less than half a minute, the fog had withdrawn nearly five meters from the window, leaving a pocket of clear air in its wake. Beyond that, the fog was thinner, more diffuse, visibility stretching farther than Jin had seen since the cataclysm began.
He stared, his heart beating faster. "The light disperses the fog."
"It seems that way," Lisa said. "Mark was restless last night, pulled back the curtain to check on something. He almost fell out the window when he saw it."
Mark rubbed the back of his neck, a sheepish grin on his face. "I was bored. Didn't expect to find something that might save our lives."
Jin turned back to the window, watching the fog slowly creep back toward the glass now that the light was no longer focused on it. The effect was temporary, then. The light pushed the fog back, but it didn't destroy it. As soon as the light moved, the fog returned.
Still. It was enough.
"Get the map," Jin said, his voice calm but carrying a weight that made everyone straighten. "It's time to figure out where we're going."
---
Mark spread the map across the desk, pushing aside the Brilliance Tree to make room. It was a standard civilian map of the southern district—the kind you bought at a gas station, creased and coffee-stained from years of use. But it was enough. It showed the major roads, the supermarkets, the hospitals, the water treatment plant on the edge of the district.
Jin studied it, his finger tracing the lines.
"We're running out of water," he said. "The building's tanks are almost dry. Nathan's group has some reserves, but not enough for everyone. If we don't find a new source in the next few days, people are going to start dying."
"Die of thirst, or kill each other for the last drops," Simon said. His voice was flat, but Jin could hear the undercurrent of something darker. Simon hadn't been the same since Marcus was taken. The boy was still out there somewhere, hidden in the building, and every day that passed without finding him was another weight on Simon's shoulders.
"We're not going to let it get to that point," Jin said. He tapped the map. "There's a supermarket about two kilometers from here. It's on the main road, easy to find. If it hasn't been looted yet, there will be water bottles. Canned food. Supplies."
"That's a long way in the fog," Mark said. "Even with the Brilliance Tree pushing it back, we're not going to see more than ten meters ahead. And the fog's effect on people—"
"I know." Jin's voice was firm. "That's why we're not going until all three of you are First Order Mid. Every bit of strength we have is going to matter out there. And we're taking the Brilliance Tree with us."
Lisa frowned. "Carrying it into the fog? That light will make us a target. Anything out there is going to see us coming from a long way off."
"Anything out there is going to see us anyway," Jin said. "But if the light pushes the fog back, we'll see them first. That's an advantage I'm not going to give up."
He looked at the map again, tracing possible routes, marking safe points, calculating distances. The supermarket was the obvious choice—close enough to reach in a few hours, large enough to hold what they needed. But there were other options. A pharmacy a block away. A hardware store with tools and materials they could use. The water treatment plant, farther out, more dangerous, but potentially a permanent solution.
"We go to the supermarket first," Jin decided. "We get what we need, then we reassess. If it's clear, we push further. If it's not, we fall back and try again another day."
"Two days," Simon said. "Give me two days. I'll be First Order Mid by then."
Jin nodded. "Two days. Then we go."
He looked at the Brilliance Tree, at the soft yellow light that pushed back the fog, at the jade tree thriving beside it. The world outside was dead and dying, choked by something that shouldn't exist. But here, in this small room, something was growing. Something that might give them a chance.
And somewhere in the building, hidden in the dark, Simon's son was waiting. Jin hadn't forgotten. He wouldn't forget.
But first, they needed water. They needed supplies. They needed to be strong enough to survive what came next.
Two days. Then they stepped outside.