They burst through a side opening and fell back into the forest.
Real air hit their lungs.
Cold.
Honest.
Behind them, the "station" collapsed inward like melting wax, shrinking back into trees and muscle until nothing remained but bark and shadows.
Aditi sobbed uncontrollably.
"It's not hunting us."
She looked at Maya with terror.
"It's studying us."
A branch cracked nearby.
Slowly, something stood.
The monster emerged again.
But different.
Taller.
Balanced.
Its limbs bent the way Sameer once had.
Its shoulders sat human.
Its head tilted with curiosity, not hunger.
Worst of all—
It wore Sameer's face halfway across its own, stretched like wet cloth.
Rohan gagged.
"Yeah… I officially hate science."
The creature opened its mouth.
Sameer's voice slipped out, broken and layered:
"Maya… this way…"
Maya's eyes filled with tears.
But she didn't move.
The monster's chest expanded oddly.
Inside it, something learned how lungs worked.
Then it took a step forward.
Not crawling.
Walking.
Like a person remembering how to be one.
Aditi whispered,
"It's becoming us."
The forest went quiet.
Even the insects stopped breathing.