the storage wing doors finally hissed open like they hadn't moved in years.
cold air rolled out.
Kai inhaled and felt it immediately - a pressure behind her ribs.
almost like someone grabbed the edges of space itself & pulled.
lights flickered overhead, and only half the bulbs were still alive.
Alva stepped in first, silent, scanning corners.
Kai followed with her torch raised.
this room wasn't dusty.
it looked... used.
fresh footprints in the thin layer of grit on the floor.
Kai's heart slowed, controlled, that new calm she never used to have.
> "someone's been here recently," she whispered.
Alva nodded - gently drew out his blade.
Kai grabbed a metal crowbar left, leaning against a crate.
Row after row of military grade supply cases sat stacked neatly - not looted.
not touched by chaos.
Kai could feel the hum under her skin intensify the deeper she went in - the hum like the world was stretching around her.
then a metallic clang - somewhere between rows 14 & 15.
Kai froze.
Alva froze.
someone was here.
Kai lifted her voice.
her voice was stronger now - a tone she never used to have before the mutation.
> "we don't want trouble," she said.
"but you're not going to scare us either. so step out where we can see you."
silence.
but then - a shadow separated from the darkness behind a stack.
a figure stepped out.
slow. cautious.
hands raised halfway.
ragged jacket. lean frame. young but eyes exhausted.
he wasn't armed - or he wanted them to think that.
> "I heard voices," he said quietly.
"I thought maybe it was the scavenger pack returning."
Kai didn't lower her crowbar.
> "you alone?" she asked.
> "yes. for now."
Kai's pulse throbbed again - the walls warped for a millisecond - she saw the edges of space ripple.
Alva noticed her pupils widened.
> "another surge?" he whispered.
Kai didn't answer.
she stared at the stranger.
and something in this wing - the metal, the design, the architecture - made her powers react like a tuning fork.
this wasn't just storage.
this place meant something.
and Kai knew in that second:
whoever built this wing built it with knowledge of mutations.
and this boy - she wasn't sure if he was a victim of it...
or someone guarding a secret.