Med-bay
Where am I?
His thoughts tangled as a void of black liquid slithered around him.
ProceSsing…
The whispering voice chittered through the dark.
Dozens of eyes opened ahead—too many, too close. Elongated teeth exhaled, and the breath alone plunged him deeper into darkness.
Flickers of images.
Unit 7—cut open. Screaming without sound.
A familiar head of violet hair, soaked in red, swayed in firelight—wrong, unalive—impaled on a pike.
KeEp BEiNG WEAK, ThiS WilL Not BE A DREAM!
His mind felt peeled apart—
Then his vision blurred, snapped, and adjusted to Nera’s face.
Alive.
Karauro gasped and shot upright, hands clawing for the edge of the cot.
Roy and a few others moved to steady him, but he jerked away, eyes wide with panic.
“Don’t—touch me—” His voice was jagged, like he’d swallowed glass.
His body responded on instinct—frantic, trapped. The cot creaked as his nails tore at the sheet.
“Back. All of you.” Nera’s voice sliced through the chaos.
Boots shifted. Someone hesitated.
Nera didn’t raise her tone—she sharpened it. “Out.”
Argos held her gaze for a moment, then nodded and waved them away. Unit 7 filed out, uncertain glances cast back. When the door shut, the room felt breathable again.
Only three remained.
Karauro’s eyes darted between Nera, Aaron, and Whren—measuring distance, angles, exits. The left side of his vision pulsed, orange creeping further into his iris with each heartbeat.
Whren raised her scanner.
Karauro recoiled. “No—”
Whren stopped immediately. “Okay. I won’t touch you.”
Aaron’s calm voice cut through like a steady hand on a shoulder. “Kid. You’re safe. You’re in Spine.”
Karauro shook his head hard. “No. I saw—”
His palm covered his face, shaking as if he could dislodge the vision by force.
Nera stepped closer—real, but not trapping him. “Karauro. Look at me.”
His gaze flicked away—back—away—
“Look. At. Me.”
That registered.
His eyes snapped to hers—wide, wet, furious.
“Good,” Nera said. “Sit up or lie back.”
A pause.
“Your choice.”
The decision weighed like concrete. His breathing stuttered… then slowed. The thrashing stopped, leaving only trembling under his skin.
Whren lifted the scanner again, keeping her distance. “Light only. No restraints.”
Karauro glanced at Nera, silently asking.
Nera nodded. “Do it.”
The scanner hummed. Pale light swept over his throat and collarbones. Karauro’s fingers curled into the sheet, knuckles white.
Nera stayed beside him. “Breathe. With me.”
He tried—too fast—then again. Slower. The orange pulse dimmed, just a fraction.
Whrens expression tightened. “That’s not a typical seizure.”
Karauro flinched at the word.
Whren kept her voice low. “Something disrupted your nervous system. This looks like interference—like a protocol failing, or being… dissolved.”
Karauro swallowed.
The vision flashed again—Nera on pikes, Unit 7 shattered, and a grin on his own face that wasn’t his.
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His hand clamped over his mouth, forcing down a strangled breath.
Nera planted her palm on his chest—an anchor. “You’re here.”
Aaron reinforced it, steady as steel. “You’re in Spine.”
Whren lowered the scanner. “Keep it quiet. Low light. No crowd. If it happens again, protect his head. Don’t hold him down unless he’ll hurt himself.”
She stared at the readout one more second.
“And it’s escalating,” Whren added. “Whatever’s doing this is getting better at it.”
Karauro’s left eye pulsed brighter—as if something behind it listened.
Nera watched him, and for the first time, she didn’t see a problem.
She saw something fragile.
Quarters Hallway
Once Karauro’s shaking subsided enough to hide, Nera guided him out.
Not fast. Not forceful. Just close enough that if his legs failed, he wouldn’t hit the floor.
The corridor lights were dimmer here—Spine’s night-cycle hum. Distant machinery. A muffled voice behind a door. The world moving on like nothing had happened.
Karauro kept his gaze down. His hands didn’t feel like his hands.
Inside her quarters, she didn’t fully invite him in.
Karauro lingered at the threshold while Nera changed—green jacket and jeans over her Nexon under suit. Swift. Efficient. When she turned, he was still there.
“You don’t need to watch over me,” Karauro muttered. “I’m fine.”
Nera sat, arms crossed. “Stop saying that.”
He flinched.
“You nearly wrecked the room when someone reached for you,” she said. “That isn’t ‘fine.’”
Karauro swallowed hard and lowered himself beside the bed—not on it—like he wanted to take up less space.
“Maybe I should ask Liam to take me to find out—” The words left his mouth… and died.
“No,” Nera cut in. “You’re staying—no questions.”
His fingers curled in his lap.
“You can’t babysit me forever.”
“I’m not babysitting.” Nera’s stare didn’t move. “I’m preventing you from making a reckless choice to escape this.”
A half-laugh twitched at his lips, then vanished. “That’s rich coming from you.”
Nera raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”
“You rush toward danger,” he muttered, still avoiding her eyes. “I’m just… finally catching on.”
Nera exhaled once, tight. “Catching on doesn’t mean going alone.”
Karauro’s nails dug into his palm—pain anchoring him. He stared at the floor. “I can’t keep seeing that.”
Nera leaned forward, elbows on her knees. “Then tell me what you saw.”
His shoulders twitched.
“If you say it aloud, it won’t control you,” she urged.
He clenched his jaw—silence overtaking him.
And beneath it, soft and insidious—
GoOd.
LeT tHeM tHiNk tHey cAn hOlD yOu.
Karauro’s throat constricted. His left eye pulsed bright again.
Nera’s gaze narrowed. “Hey.”
He avoided her eyes.
“Karauro.” Her voice didn’t chase—it anchored. “Where are you?”
He breathed shallow, forced the air in.
“No-where,” he lied.
Nera’s eyes sharpened. “That’s strike one.”
He met her gaze for a fraction—enough to prove he was still there.
“What happens if I tell you?” he asked quietly.
“Then I know what I’m fighting,” she replied. “And you won’t fight it alone.”
The air in his lungs turned thin.
THEY WILL DISCARD YOU!
Warmth crawled over his fingers, haunted by threats against Nera.
“Hey, Mutt—focus with me,” Nera said quickly. “One. Two.”
Her count dragged him back as blood slid from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto her knuckles.
Count. Cling. PRETEND.
A soft laugh curled under it—like it enjoyed the routine.
“This voice…” Karauro murmured, low, more pain than she expected. “It keeps… revealing what it wants.”
Nera’s unease flickered—but she shut the door on it and stayed with him. “And what did it say it would do?”
“Using me,” he said, swallowing hard, “it would harm.”
He tried to withdraw his hand—not by yanking away, but by slowly retreating, like he was afraid of what his fingers might become.
“Are you going to keep holding my hand hostage?” he asked, a faint smirk breaking through.
Nera’s eyes dropped—to their hands still tangled. She released him instantly.
“If one day…” Karauro exhaled, posture loosening.
“Don’t,” she interrupted, already hearing the shape of it.
“If I become something far more dangerous,” he said, voice unyielding, “cut me down. Even if it’s not a kill shot.”
Nera didn’t blink. “I won’t show you mercy if it comes to that.”
Karauro’s mouth twitched—almost a grin, almost a wince.
Nera lifted her hand toward his face. He tensed—
Then she flicked his forehead.
He glared. She smiled, pleased.
They shared a brief silence. Karauro's eyes closed, his head tilted back against Nera's mattress as he drifted off, while Nera mirrored him in her desk chair. Outside, boots patrolled—someone was on duty. A distant clang echoed nearby.
Their earpieces beeped, stirring them both awake.
Argos: Briefing in ten. We’ve found clues to the fallen Monarch labs. We start there.
Karauro’s mouth tasted like copper. Nera pressed a cloth to the blood at his lip, firm and quick.
“Clean it,” she ordered, easing her grip when he steadied. “You’re with us on this.”
Karauro nodded once.
He didn’t feel ready.
But he stood anyway.
Hanger
After the briefing, movement turned automatic—gear checks, straps, seals.
Nera walked with Unit 7 while Karauro trailed a few steps behind, eyes distant.
A familiar figure waited near the Hauler, leaning casual against the frame—a cowboy hat shading their face.
“Still gloomy as always, danger magnet,” Liam called.
Karauro tried to disappear.
“Why are you here?” His voice cut through the air like a blade.
He straightened anyway—felt every eye on him—then forced a grin and approached.
“What—missed me that much, you shelf dust?” Karauro raised his forearm for a casual bump.
“Not here for you, problem child.” Liam fist-bumped Karauro’s scarlet armor. “I’m Unit 7’s guide. Paid in full.”
Aaron nodded at Liam. “Ever been through White Crown-fall district? Anything the data won’t cover?”
Liam patted Karauro’s shoulder. “Just Corps units prowling. Probably Onyx. And those lurkers—once night falls, they get active. We move before it gets darker.”
Taron snorted. “No wonder the briefing cut short.”
They loaded in. The Hauler’s engine vibration filled the silence.
Before anyone could settle, the radio crackled.
[White strains around these areas… crackle… watch for lurkers… crackle…]
FINALLY, A FEAST!
Karauro turned his face away, calibrating his gear just to keep his hands busy.
Ilene shoved a can into his chest plate. “Coffee. And you two can cut the childish act. The injury wasn’t because of our mutt—he was more mobile this time.”
“I’m not being childish,” Roy protested.
Ilene slid him into a headlock anyway. “You’re always childish.”
Roy wheezed. “You’re not going to bite me and give me rabies, are you?”
Karauro stared—then a grin crept across his face.
“Dumb-ass,” he muttered. “If I was going to do that, I’d make your face match your crazy hair first.”
Roy pointed at him like he’d proven something. “See? We’re cool now. Minus the creepy threat.”
Karauro’s grin held for another second—then thinned.
His vision flickered crimson.
Voices surged.
This time—
He folded it down.
He concealed it from himself.
The Hauler halted at the edge of what looked like a forest swallowing the city. Greenery clung to white-dulled buildings, turning daylight into something gloomier. Pockets of sun broke apart around spore clusters like the air was bruised.
They moved out through the brighter lanes, quieting as soon as boots hit broken concrete.
Liam took the lead.
Karauro swept both sides behind him, scanning the places where things liked to stand still and pretend, they weren’t alive.
Nera still being her cold self. However she won't allow Karauro to run-away and spiral on his own.
Think Liam will bring out Karauros ruined personality out?
