The morpher's quiet heartbeat fades as we reach the stairs, replaced by the normal sounds of Midtown High. Lockers clanging. Someone arguing over a basketball game. A girl laughing way too loudly at a joke I'm pretty sure wasn't funny.
Normal.
Totally normal.
We push through the flow of students, and I hang back a little, taking everything in.
I remind myself:
I don't know this world yet.
I don't know its rules.
And I definitely don't know these people.
All I have are instincts… and a morpher humming in my bag like it's alive.
Jake munches on a granola bar as we descend the stairs.
"So Ash, you into sports?" he asks through a mouthful.
"I ran track back home," I answer. True. "Pretty fast."
Noah raises an eyebrow. "Fast compared to what?"
"Fast for me," I say.
Peter chuckles. "Well, you look like you're in good shape. Midtown's gym teacher is going to love you."
That's… because TGOB cheated for me, I almost say.
Peak human. Captain America-ish. Whatever.
But I just smile.
We stop at my locker—apparently assigned right next to Peter's. His is covered in stickers of science jokes I don't understand yet.
He opens his locker. A half-finished mechanical project is inside, something with wires and tiny servos.
"What is that?" I ask.
"Oh, uh—just something I'm building," Peter says. He looks a little shy about it. "I make things. Gadgets. Stuff."
I nod.
There's something about him—something buzzing quietly under his skin, almost like my morpher, but different. Not dangerous. Just… potential.
The pulse from my morpher warms again.
Not a warning.
A recognition.
Like: Yes. This person matters.
I push the thought away. I'm not trusting instincts alone. Not yet.
"Come on," Peter says. "We'll show you the cafeteria before you get lost."
We move again, blending into the crowd—and for the first time since waking up in this world, I feel the smallest flicker of belonging.
Small, but real.
Like the beginning of something.