As the squad ventured deeper and deeper into the forest, the air grew thick with a sweet, lemony fragrance that seemed to lift their spirits, soothing the tension that had been building since their descent. Mera paused mid-step, her nose twitching as she inhaled the sugary scent.
“Is that what I think it is?” she asked, her voice filled with tentative excitement.
Ka’lou clicked his visor up, taking in the aroma with an exaggerated sniff. “Primadrossa,” he announced with a grin. “And it smells fresh.”
He looked back at the weary squad. Deciding to elevate his masquerade as he announced loudly, “As a reward for our first mission, why don’t we harvest some of the ever-delicious treats from the forest?” he suggested, his tone too cheerful to feel genuine.
The group exchanged uneasy glances but reluctantly agreed. A break seemed too tempting to pass up, and the scent of Primadrossa did make the oppressive forest feel a little less overwhelming.
Ka’lou’s grin widened as if he’d made up his mind about something. “Tom~!” he called out, voice laced with mock enthusiasm. “Go fetch us some Primadrossa, would you? The ladies love it, after all.”
Tom scowled, still clutching his bruised ribs. Mera took a step forward, concern written across her face. “But what about his wounds? He’s still—”
“He’ll be fine, sweetie~!” Ka’lou interrupted in a singsong voice, waving a dismissive hand. “Look how big he is! A big guy like him doesn’t need anyone to babysit him.” He gave Tom a patronizing wink, as if daring him to refuse.
Ryan and Anneli caught up to Ka’lou, exchanging tense glances. “ Please let someone go with him,” Ryan begged.
“No.” Ka’lou’s cheerful façade cracked for just a second, his voice sharp and final. The sudden shift made everyone flinch. Then the smile returned, wide and unsettling. “We’ll wait right here~. Don’t keep us waiting, Tommy~,” he added with a playful wag of his finger. “Just follow that big ol’ sniffer of yours.”
Tom grumbled under his breath, glaring at Ka’lou with open contempt. Still, he obeyed, staggering in the direction of the sweet scent, wobbling slightly as he walked in the general direction of the scent.
They watched as poor Tom disappeared in the direction of the sweet scent. The remaining four split into two groups. The Ka’lou group with just him, and the not Ka’lou group featuring everyone else.
Ka’lou, seemingly unbothered, leaned back against a tree and began whistling some annoying old tune. With zips and zaps that everyone but him found grating to the ear.
Anneli crossed her arms, her eyes narrowing as she whispered, “Why did he send Tom out anyway?”
Mera thought for a moment, her brow furrowing. “Maybe because Tom’s Kyyr ability is movement-based?”
Ryan thought for moment, considering the real Ka’lou’s personality. “It might be either out of spite or because Tom can’t really get away on his own. Or... maybe both,” he muttered.
The group fell into uneasy silence, the sound of Ka’lou’s irritating whistling filling the gaps between their thoughts.
Mera fidgeted, glancing at Ryan. She seemed to search for something—anything—to break the tension. “So… have you guys ever eaten Primadrossa before?” she asked, forcing some brightness into her tone.
Ryan and Anneli both opened their mouths at the same time.
“Back when—” “When I wa—”
They stopped abruptly, catching each other mid-sentence. Anneli chuckled, and Ryan flushed with embarrassment.
“You go first,” Anneli whispered, smiling playfully.
“Oh, no, it’s okay,” Ryan muttered, his face reddening.
Mera glared at Anneli, annoyed. “So, have either of you actually had it before or not?”
“Yes,” they answered in unison—Anneli’s voice confident, Ryan’s still a little sheepish.
They waited. Five minutes dragged into ten, then stretched into thirty. By the time an hour had slipped by, it was 1324 hours (01:24 PM), and still, there was no sign of Tom. The air around them felt heavier with each passing moment, but the bioreader showed his vitals steadily ticking along. His heart monitor pulsed on the screen—calm, steady—but the silence from him was unsettling.
Ka’lou kept whistling, his strange tune cutting through the heavy silence without a care in the world. The supposed “backup” was now clearly not coming, and the minutes dragged on like weights tethered to their thoughts. Ryan stole a glance at the man, studying his now relaxed face.
Ka’lou was rare in this era, an echo of a distant past. Fifteen million years ago, humans like him had been common under the stars. People born in shades of wheat. He was a relic—a pure, de-extinct human. An echo from a world so old it existed only in fading text. There was a strange gravity to that thought, like he carried a forgotten piece of history in his blood.
Ka’lou's skin wasn’t particularly dark, but it carried the warmth of old Earth—a shade that stood out in this time and place. His silver eyes gleamed faintly, sharp and unreadable, contrasting with the long cascade of white hair falling loosely over his shoulders. There was no denying he was handsome, but his looks were uncanny—like a character plucked from an ancient tale and misplaced in the present. Here on Circh Station, in the isolation of the forest’s edge, he was probably the only person on the planet with those features.
Yet, to most people, he was nothing more than a smiling face—a mask they’d become all too familiar with. Ryan’s gaze lingered on Ka’lou as he tried to untangle the enigma before him. Why is he doing any of this? What was there to prove, hidden behind that constant grin? What did they not know about him—about the real reason he was here?
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“Ryan!” Mera shouted, panic lacing her voice. “Look at his heart rate!”
Ryan’s gaze shot to Mera’s screen. The heart rate monitor was in utter chaos, jagged waves spiking erratically as the numbers surged higher and higher. His own pulse mirrored the frantic rhythm, the pounding in his chest growing tighter with each escalating beat. A cold knot of dread coiled in his gut, twisting deeper with every blink of the monitor.
The eerie stillness of the forest shattered as Tom’s distant screams tore through the air—agonized and primal. They stood rooted in place, hearts pounding, their breath shallow as they scanned the serene, unchanging forest around them. Nothing stirred, no branches snapped, no leaves rustled. The only discernible sound was the sound of Tom pleading for help echoing throughout.
Ka’lou’s whistling finally stopped, his grin slipping as he perked up, his head tilting slightly, listening. As the shrill, far-off screaming intensified, moving rapidly through the forest.
“He’s getting closer,” Mera whispered, her voice trembling.
The sound shifted—erratic and unpredictable—racing toward their location with terrifying speed. It no longer followed the direction Tom had gone but veered toward them, as if whatever had him was dragging its prey along the forest floor, closing in fast.
“What the hell is happening?” Anneli whispered, her voice barely audible over the chaos.
The group stood paralyzed, trapped between confusion and fear, their minds struggling to make sense of it. All eyes locked on Mera’s device as the heart rate monitor surged wildly, the jagged lines spiking higher and higher. The numbers blinked in rapid succession, faster and more erratic with each passing second, the sharp beeping growing louder—more frantic—until it reached a deafening, unbearable crescendo.
And then— A single, sharp beep.
Silence.
The jagged lines smoothed into a single, flat bar, unwavering and cold.
A flatline.
The sound hung in the air, more suffocating than the forest’s stillness, as if the world itself had stopped breathing.
Mera’s hand trembled as she clutched the screen, her lips parting slightly in disbelief. "What happened?" she whispered, her voice cracking.
The forest around them remained as it had been—serene and unbothered, the pink grass swaying gently in the wind.
Suddenly, the heartbeat returned—steady, calm, as if nothing had happened. The rhythmic beeping cut through the silence.
“What the...?” Ryan whispered, snatching the device from Mera’s hands, his eyes locked onto the screen. He stared at the smooth, rhythmic waves, frantically searching for answers, but the monitor offered none—only a steady, maddeningly calm pulse.
“What? Wh-what?” he stammered, the disbelief thick in his voice. His heart pounded erratically in his chest, refusing to align with the unsettling composure of the monitor’s beeps.
Anneli leaned in close, her brows furrowing in confusion. “It’s... too steady.”
Ryan swallowed hard, the knot in his stomach tightening. "Yeah... it’s like it never spiked at all.”
Mera shivered. “But—how? It just flatlined,” she whispered, her voice trembling with fear.
Ryan hesitated, his fingers hovering over the bioreader, reluctant to check but knowing he had no choice. He tapped the screen, scrolling through the data with growing unease.
Everything was clean. Too clean. Not a single irregularity, no sign of distress or trauma—nothing to match the chaos from earlier.
Ryan’s eye widened. “What the...” he muttered under his breath, flipping through the readings. And then he saw it. Tom’s vitals weren’t just stable—they were better than before. His heart rate was stronger, oxygen levels perfect, and stress indicators nonexistent.
Ryan felt the weight of dread sink deeper into his gut. “This... this doesn’t make sense,” he whispered, more to himself than anyone else. His hands tightened around the device as if holding it harder might force the truth to reveal itself.
“He’s... healthier?” Anneli whispered, glancing between the screen and Ryan with wide, uncertain eyes.
Ryan nodded slowly, his throat dry. “Yeah. Somehow, he’s in better shape now.”
The words hung in the air, heavy and suffocating.
Mera took a step back, her voice faltering. “That’s... not right. That’s not right at all.”
The steady, rhythmic beeping continued, indifferent to their growing fear—calm, unbothered, as if nothing strange had happened at all.
“This had to be some fucked-up trick!” Ryan growled, his pulse racing. Without hesitation, he stormed over to Ka’lou, his anger boiling over.
“What the hell do you want from us?” Ryan demanded, his voice sharp, trembling between anger and panic. “No one’s coming to help us! You’re wasting our time in this deranged place! What the hell was that black thing anyway? And why does Vizor have us out here doing meaningless shit?”
Ka’lou’s expression shifted in a way Ryan hadn’t expected—the grin slipped from his face, replaced by something colder, darker. He leaned in, far too close, his silver eyes gleaming with a hint of madness.
Ka’lou leaned in far too close, his presence suffocating, every word a quiet mockery. “To be honest?” he whispered, his voice soft, laced with deranged amusement. “I have no idea~. And I don’t care~.”
The nonchalance, the gleeful detachment—it was too much. Rage surged through Ryan, hot and relentless, as he shoved Ka’lou backward with everything he had.
“Fuck you! And fuck Vizor! We’re getting the hell out of here!” Ryan snapped, his breath ragged. His pulse thundered in his ears, the weight of everything crashing down at once. “We’ll call for real backup. I don’t care if you break every damn bone in my body—something is wrong with you and this fucking place.”
For a moment, Ka’lou stood still, his smile completely gone. The playful façade faded, revealing something more dangerous beneath—a simmering rage waiting to explode. The girls watched in silence as Ka’lou’s Kyyr began to leak from him like vapor, swirling erratically around his body.
Ka’lou’s eyes narrowed. “Ryan,” he growled, his voice dropping into a warning. “What did I tell you earlier? We. Don’t. Defy. Command.”
In an instant, Ka’lou lunged, his hand igniting in a chaotic burst of Kyyr energy. Blue flames sputtered and crackled wildly, as if barely contained, each flicker radiating heat and menace.
Ryan saw the blow coming and dove just in time, bracing himself as he summoned his own Kyyr. The energy sputtered weakly around his hands, dark and oily, seeping like viscous tar from his fingertips. He could feel it struggling to coalesce—sluggish and unstable.
Ka’lou grinned viciously, the fire dancing in his hand as he swung again. This time, the blow grazed Ryan’s side with a blast of heat, and he stumbled back, pain flaring along his ribs.
Thinking fast, Ryan flung the oily black substance toward Ka’lou, splattering it across his face. Ka’lou snarled, staggering as the tar-like material clung to his skin, stinging and smoldering. He roared in frustration, his Kyyr flaring brighter as he burned away the sticky residue, flames licking across his body in chaotic bursts.
“Go! Now!” Ryan shouted, taking the opportunity to create distance between them.
Ka’lou clawed at the inky substance on his face, momentarily blinded by the searing sting. The distraction gave the squad the precious window they needed.
“Run!” Ryan barked, his voice cutting through the tense air. He didn’t wait for the others to react—he turned and bolted into the forest, heart hammering in his chest.
Behind him, he could hear Ka’lou's furious scream, followed by the hiss of burning Kyyr.