As she led Jin into Cryo-Bay Alpha, Sera's boots clattered on the grated floor. His arm weighed heavily over her shoulder, and his bloody pipe dragged behind them. As they approached the center of the bay, two more pods, Units 735 and 736, hissed open with a pneumatic sigh.
Sera's gold eyes darted across the bay and her jaw tensed. "More people to complicate this mess. Just what I needed," she muttered, though her grip on Jin's arm tightened slightly, a subtle betrayal of her harsh words.
The first girl, with brown hair, sat up groggily. Her cryosuit, weakened by a century of disuse, had become almost translucent in patches, clinging to her body like a second skin and leaving little to the imagination in the flickering emergency light. She looked down, her brown eyes widening in dawning horror as she realized her state of undress. With a squeak, she swiftly crossed her arms over her chest, the movement pressing her breasts together and creating a cleavage that was barely concealed by the thin fabric. A deep blush spread across her cheeks.
"Oh, this isn't good," she whispered, her voice soft and embarrassed.
At the same time, another girl with a playful bounce emerged from her pod. Her purple hair was a stark contrast to the sterile environment. Her own suit was in even worse shape, with significant tears along her sides and thighs that revealed smooth, toned skin as she stretched. "What a nap!" she yawned, arching her back and making her breasts bounce freely. Her eyes, a curious shade of violet, landed on Jin and Sera. "Hey, who's the hottie with the pipe? And why is it so damn cold here?"
Jin, who was already leaning on Sera for support, froze. His newly enhanced perception, still a bit overwhelming, captured every detail—the translucent fabric, the goosebumps on their skin, the way the light hit them. His face flushed a deep crimson, and he instinctively tried to look away, his heart hammering against his ribs.
"A-Asha," he mumbled, his voice low so only the AI could hear. "Their suits are… falling apart. They're cold. What should I do?" His first thought wasn't embarrassment, but a simple, practical concern for their well-being.
"Jin, the suit's structural integrity is compromised by prolonged cryogenic exposure," Asha's calm voice explained in his mind. "Storage Locker B-7, ten meters west, contains replacement jumpsuits. Your heart rate is 33% above baseline, suggesting a non-strategic visual focus. Retrieve the jumpsuits immediately to resolve the primary issue: their discomfort and potential for hypothermia."
Right. Help them. Jin nodded to himself, focusing on the practical task.
Sera, however, saw Jin's blush and the direction of his gaze. She moved with lightning speed, stepping directly in front of him and blocking his view with her own body. The motion made her own thin suit stretch taut across her curves. "Eyes up, you idiot!" she snapped, her face flushing as she realized her own suit offered little more coverage. "And stop talking to that AI like it's your imaginary friend! We have a situation here!"
"Aw, he's blushing!" Rosa chirped, completely unfazed as she stepped onto the edge of her pod, making the tears in her suit widen. "Never seen girls like us before, huh, cutie?"
He fidgeted, his grip tightening on his pipe. "I... uh... You can call me Jin. Nice to meet you."
"Rosa," the purple-haired girl said, blowing him a kiss that made him flinch and look at the floor. "And the shy one over there is Clara."
Clara, offered a small, timid wave from behind her arms. "H-hello, Jin. Um... is there anything else we could... wear?" Her soft voice was filled with genuine discomfort.
Sera's frustration boiled over. "Stop prancing around! This isn't a peep show!" she yelled, her fists clenched. She pointed a finger at Jin. "And you! Before I knock you back into that pod, get those jumpsuits! Now!" She gave him a firm shove in the direction of the locker, her breasts pressing against his arm for a brief, electric moment.
"Right! Jumpsuits!" Jin staggered toward Locker B-7, his eyes fixed firmly on the ground. "I'm not looking! I promise!" he called back, fumbling with the locker. He pulled out three gray jumpsuits and, without looking, tossed one toward Rosa and one toward Clara.
Rosa twirled gracefully to catch hers, a move that unfortunately sent her torn suit flaring and gave Jin an unavoidable, fleeting glimpse of her hip. She winked. "Many thanks, hero! You're cute when you're nervous."
Clara quickly pulled on her jumpsuit, wiggling to get it over the cryosuit beneath, which caused her breasts to bounce. Sera snatched the third one for herself, her glare softening for a second as she caught Jin's earnest, if flustered, expression.
Once they were all more decently covered, Sera crossed her arms, her business-like demeanor returning. "Alright. That's better. Now, you," she said, pointing at Jin. "You said you fought those things to get the power back on. You mentioned an AI. Start talking. I want every detail. What happened while we were sleeping? What is 'Asha,' and what exactly did you do?"
Jin leaned back against a cold metal console, the motion tugging at his injuries. He looked at Sera, then at the curious faces of Rosa and the worried Clara. He had to explain. He took a shaky breath, trying to put the chaotic events into a simple, honest order.
"Okay. It's... a lot," he began, his voice still hoarse. "When I woke up, the Vault was dying. Asha—she's the AI in my head, part of this thing called the Phoenix Core—she said we had to get more power or all your pods would fail."
He paused, letting that sink in. "We tried something first, but it wasn't enough. Asha said the only real chance was the Auxiliary Fusion Core, way down in Sub-Level Engineering."
He looked down, his voice growing quieter. "So I went. It was... bad. There were things down there. Things Asha called 'Shamblers'. They were... they used to be people who worked here."
Clara let out a soft gasp, her hand flying to her mouth. Rosa's playful expression vanished, replaced by a look of grim seriousness. Sera listened intently, her analytical mind processing every word, her arms crossed so tightly it seemed she was holding herself together.
"There were so many of them," Jin continued, his voice cracking slightly. "I had to get to the control room. I... I fought them. With my pipe." He gestured weakly to the battered metal weapon. "I got the core online, just like Asha said. And then..."
He stopped, glancing at his hands as if they belonged to someone else. "Then I think... I think I died, Sera."
The silence in the cryo-bay was absolute, broken only by the hum of the machinery.
Rosa finally let out an audible gasp. Clara looked like she was on the verge of tears. Even Sera's carefully constructed composure fractured. Her eyes widened, and she took an involuntary step closer to him.
"Explain it," she demanded, her voice softer than he'd ever heard it. "Asha, explain this 'Phoenix Protocol' thing. They need to understand."
Jin looked up, meeting Sera's wide eyes. "Asha called it a 'Resurrection Sub-Routine.' She said my... my heart stopped. But the system... it brought me back. It used a lot of energy to do it. She said it sacrificed some... other things to make it happen."
He took another breath. "And after that, Asha said the Vault's defenses activated. They... they cleaned out the rest of the monsters. Everything bad in this area. So... yeah. That's what happened. The power's on. And Asha says you're all safe now. In here, at least."
He offered them a weak, tired smile, a simple attempt to be reassuring.
Rosa moved to his side, her earlier flirtatiousness replaced by pure awe. "Wow," she breathed, her eyes shining. "You died... and came back? That's... that's the most incredible thing I've ever heard." She reached out, then hesitated. "Not that it's good that you died! But... you know."
Clara stepped forward, her gaze full of empathy. "Are you okay now? That sounds... so scary."
Sera was quiet for a long moment, her mind racing. "The Phoenix Protocol... my parents' research... it was real." She looked at Jin, truly *seeing* him now—not as an amnesiac idiot, but as the key to their entire survival. "You're... you're the 'Phoenix Prime' they were talking about."
Jin just shrugged, uncomfortable with the title. "I don't feel like a prime. I just did what I had to do. People were counting on me."
"That's what makes you a prime," Sera said softly, before her tsundere instincts kicked back in. "But don't let it go to your head. We still have a Vault to run, and thirteen more people are still asleep. We need a plan."
"A plan!" Rosa cheered up instantly. "I love plans! Can it involve snacks?"
Clara giggled, a welcome sound in the grim chgold.
Jin couldn't help but smile at their interaction. For the first time since waking up, he felt a flicker of something other than pain or confusion. It felt like hope. Maybe, just maybe, they could make it through this together.