“There are those of flesh and there are those of energy. They are messy. Uninteresting. I intend to… find an alternative path for evolution to walk.”

* Praetor Pathos upon his commencement many years ago.

Two women strode through the shrieking night, hurried yet slowed by the man between them. Lucius constantly nodded off, struggling to keep his eyes open as his arms carried his body resting on Joan and Rose’s shoulders. Despite his impossible regeneration and the aid from the doctor and Miro, he hadn’t recovered.

A trail of footsteps lingered in the snow behind the trio while figures flashed amidst the trees. Joan’s eyes flickered non-stop, attempting to glimpse them for even a second. Nonetheless, she failed, as they were faster than she could follow.

Rose, however, felt her skin crawl. Her instincts and training told her that enemies had surrounded her. She could only rush forward with more impetus, towing Lucius more and more as his feeble legs couldn’t keep up.

Her flesh roiled with her Tide, the humid aura strengthening her body’s muscles, bones, and connective tissue. With each step, she began to lead more and more, gradually leaving Joan unable to follow.

“Can’t you go faster!?” Rosa demanded, glaring at her partner.

The doctor groaned, reaching for a vial of adrenaline before realizing that she was all out. Her medicine bag had been draining for weeks, with a mere slight recovery. All her time spent making drugs was for perfecting Brute.

“Fuck. No. Out of stims. Any ideas, Miss Seafarer?”

Snow leaks into their boots as they hurry and argue, the shrieks becoming more animated and feral. What left the women sick to their stomachs was that they neither knew the origin nor the direction of the howls.

Rosa shook her head with a curse, “Fuck you. Uh... What Tide do you have?”

“Marrow!” Joan shouted in a panic, stumbling from a hidden branch. The nearby tree rustled, leaving her kicking up snow to escape its reach. Yellow eyes hid behind the veil of twigs, and she noticed them for the subtlest second.

The failed Judge stared at Joan, ducking under a branch while shouting, “What the Depths does that mean!?”

“It’s a Necto! Liquid and solid bone!” the ‘good’ doctor countered, huffing with each step. A transformation into the Pouncer would give her the speed needed to run away, but that’d leave Lucius to die. The Martian was too beefy for one person to carry and run with.

“You couldn’t have just said that!” Rosa heaved before droplets trailed down her face, sinking back into her flesh. The failed-Judge was doing the heap of effort here. “I’ve seen a Tide like that before! It was... uh... Pitch! The guy could coat himself with it! Make himself faster and stronger by combining the two states!”

Rosa may have dropped out on her mission to become a Judge the first time, but she had learned much. After spending just one year with Centurion Heron, the woman had seen countless Seafarers, both strong and weak.

Meanwhile, Joan’s intellect meant she didn’t need to be told directly what to do. The brief explanation filled her with ideas. The doctor remained limited in how much marrow she could control or summon, but shifting states felt intuitive.

As such, she grasped the armor already formed across her body beneath her clothes. The minute plates guarding her vitals and ligaments twisted, deviating in and out of solidity. She moved their locations with each transition, pushing the pressure against her body. Her knowledge of the skeleton, musculature, tendons, and every other minuscule aspect of the body played the most critical role. Without such medical skills, she would have only injured herself.

Instead, while barbaric and rudimentary in design, Joan succeeded in her first proper step toward mastering her Tide.

She shot forward while her bottom arms thrust back and forth for momentum, catching up with Rosa in a few steps. The Tianshe laughed at the Harenlar in relief and said with a shake of her head, “Fucking entire crew of monsters!”

“Thanks! Tell Dante that! He picked us all!” Joan giggled maniacally, relishing the feeling of surpassing her biological limits. Countless experiments burst into her mind like a night sky of fireworks. Once she returned to her lab, the woman would isolate herself for days to discover what she was capable of and how she could implement it into her Biotics.

Rosa simply shook her head. Nothing about this crew made any sense. Lucius slayed a ‘Thema all on his own without an ounce of Tide, while Sonna had an incredible talent for Arido. Then there was Archimedes’ unheard-of skill with technology. After reading his file, Rosa knew he had a limitless future ahead of him.

Now, even Joan shocked Rosa. The Tianshe had thought she was just a hired doctor with weird eyes. How wrong she was.

Joan did more for Lucius’ recovery than Rosa, and the latter had a Tide that specialized in healing. While Rosa never trained in that aspect, it was still potent.

The only person Rosa found lackluster was the bizarre Araki. She had never meant one of his kind until Rejo fumbled with his incomprehensible words. He had a Qualae but never once showed his Tide, though his Stigmata nearly made up for it.

Just about any of these people could have made it large on their own. How did Dante find them all? An eye for talent? Luck? Or... is it something more sinister? Has he been planning this all? I mean, who survives a run-in with a Caesar!? We really need to kill him. He’s too dangerous. That Anomaly Designation is just waiting for him, I know it already.

Rosa’s mind spiraled as they two sprinted through the snow, gaining more and more speed with each moment. However, after a few minutes of running, the two noticed the howls had abated.

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They slowed, not spotting any movement behind the trees. Both panted from exertion while they shivered, the cold seeping in. Despite their own noise, though, nothing returned from the forest.

No echoes. No ambient sounds. No animals. Nothing.

Two pairs of eyes met each other. They shared no words. Both knew something was off about their surroundings. But what was it?

Joan pressed a finger to her lips, signaling Rosa to be quiet. Her eyes narrowed as she scanned the darkness, squinting into the shadows that seemed to stretch deeper than they should. Every tree, every snow-covered branch, loomed as if the night itself were watching them, waiting.

Rosa nodded, setting Lucius down gently against a nearby tree. She crouched beside him, one hand on her weapon, eyes darting through the thickets. Her Tide swirled again within her veins, pooling just beneath her skin. Whatever was out there was no longer just playing games, and she could feel it—their adversaries were closing in.

The Centurion’s subordinate prepared her most powerful technique. A swamp emerged in her veins, readied to explode with self-destructive force.

Joan’s pulse hammered in her ears as she strained to hear any sound or movement beyond the rustle of her own breathing. The silence had become oppressive, almost alive, as though the forest itself held its breath. She scanned the perimeter with trained vigilance, but the snowfall muffled visibility, shrouding everything in a heavy cloak of white and shadow.

She wished she had taken the stockpile of Nullify left in her lab. Just one dose would have allowed her the calm and sensitive perception to peer through any fog. However, she would then have to deal with the addiction. Even after her many trials, she hadn’t found a way around that yet.

As she considered her options, a single crunch of snow echoed from behind them, breaking the stillness.

Joan and Rosa turned sharply, muscles tensed and Tides raised, ready to defend themselves, but froze when they saw a man standing a few paces away. He wore a bright red sweater, the color jarring amid the snow-laden forest, and a soft, almost lazy smile played across his face. He exuded a casual air, his hands at his sides, a relaxed kindness in his gaze. But something was wrong.

The stranger’s calm, that unsettling ease amidst the bitter cold, gnawed at their minds. He stood without the slightest shiver, his skin free of any chill or goosebumps. And that smile—a perfect, serene expression that never his eyes, glinting with an unnatural light.

Worse yet, it was a human. Joan’s eyes narrowed to thin slits, her hand already clenching a syringe.

Rosa instinctively tightened her grip on Lucius, his arm draped over her shoulder like a dead weight. Her eyes never left the man as she took a small step back, pressing Lucius closer to her side. Joan felt a bead of sweat slide down her temple, her own body reacting, despite the cold, as a warning sense permeated her thoughts. She shifted, her marrow armor twisting in readiness beneath her skin.

“Evening,” the man said in a soft, inviting tone. “I noticed you and your friends seemed... weary from your travels. There’s no need to look so tense.” He spread his arms in a gesture of welcome. “You’re safe here.”

Neither woman relaxed. The man’s voice was too smooth, each word precisely measured, his gaze sliding over them with an unnatural calm. Rosa opened her mouth to respond but stopped short, uncertain. However, Joan found her voice.

“Who are you?” she demanded, masking her unease with a hardened tone. “And what are you doing out here? Do you know Dante?”

The man tilted his head as if considering the question with amusement, “Just a passerby. Don’t know a Dante, though,” he said, his smile unwavering. “But I know these woods well. And I know a pair of weary travelers when I see them. The poor fellow there looks like he could use a proper rest, no?”

Rosa’s gaze hardened. She didn’t trust this man for a second, not with Lucius failing to stay conscious and the distant howls still echoing in her mind. She shifted her stance, angling her body to shield Lucius from the stranger.

If he indeed killed an Anathema like the evidence suggested, the Martian was the strongest of the three. Rosa couldn’t let him die.

“Appreciate the concern,” Rosa replied cautiously, her tone laced with warning. “But we’re doing just fine. We don’t need any help.”

The man’s eyes lingered on Lucius, his smile tightening ever so slightly.

“Oh, but I insist,” the figure fixed his tilted head, and the expression, though small, held a chilling intensity. “It’s dangerous out here, especially for those unaccustomed to these woods. Creatures lurk, you know. Things that don’t belong in the warmth, scrounging to evolve in the cold.”

Joan felt her mouth go dry at the bizarre rationale, “Then… what are you doing out here? Alone in the cold?”

The man chuckled softly, his eyes twinkling with something unreadable, “Oh, I’m never alone out here. This place is my home,” he paused, his gaze flicking briefly to Lucius, then back to them. “And I take it upon myself to welcome all travelers who cross through.”

Rosa tightened her grip on her weapon, sensing something dark coiled behind his words, though his tone was light. Her Tide rippled, strengthening her muscles, but something in her warned that even her full strength might not be enough.

“Thanks, but we’re fine,” Joan cut in, forcing a steadiness into her voice she didn’t feel. “We’ll be on our way.”

The man raised an eyebrow, his smile now almost fatally curious, “And go where? You won’t make it far carrying him,” his voice dropped, each word crisp and deliberate. “That is... if you make it at all.”

Rosa felt a pang of fear flash through her chest, but she shoved it down, meeting his gaze with defiance, “Is that a threat?”

The man’s smile never wavered, but the warmth in his eyes faded, leaving a strange, glassy look, “Not at all,” he replied, his tone smooth and even. “Merely… an observation.”

Joan’s mind rushed with ways out of this, and a shiver crawled down her spine. She exchanged a quick look with Rosa, then tried to move Lucius another step back, hoping they could slip away without turning their backs on the unsettling figure. But the man noticed, his smile broadening as if he found their retreat amusing.

“Please,” he said, gesturing toward the deeper forest. “Come with me. It’s not far. I promise you’ll find everything you could ever need there.”

Rosa’s hand drifted to her side, her fingers twitching over the grip of her dagger, “And what exactly is it we’d find there?”

He gave a low chuckle, “Oh, you’ll see,” his voice was soft, almost a whisper. “There are places, hidden places, where one can lose their burdens… forget their pain. In them, you can become something new... something... perfect.”

His eyes glinted, “Doesn’t that sound wonderful?”

The weight of his words pressed against Joan’s chest, a cold, invisible pressure that made it hard to breathe. The doctor’s mind flared at the words given. Perfection was something she sought with her skills. Yet this felt utterly wrong.

“No,” she said firmly, though her voice shook. “That’s not what we’re looking for.”

The man’s smile faltered just a fraction, and something dark flared across his face. His eyes, which sparkled moments before, now radiated an endless, hollow cold. For a brief, heart-stopping moment, Joan glimpsed something behind his facade—something ancient and malevolent, lurking beneath the guise of a harmless stranger.

“Ah,” His voice dropped, the pleasant tone slipping away. “That is… disappointing.” He took a step closer, and they could see that his skin was impossibly smooth, almost waxen, devoid of any flaws or signs of life. “You know, it’s rude to refuse an invitation from your host.”

“R-R-Run...”

The drawn-out word came from between the woman. Lucius’ muscles flickered with a false strength as his eyes opened through their swollen lids. Past the blood in his nose, he smelled dead flesh. The rotting meat swam through his senses and told him everything he needed.

With a growl, he forced noise through his broken windpipe, “RUN! He’ll kill us all!”

Neither woman waited a second before heeding the order. They turned around and hauled Lucius, sprinting away at maximum terror. Even through Joan’s experience, her heart pounded like a rifle, filling her with unnatural dread.

“Oh, come now, Lucius. We wouldn’t hurt you. We like you. You’re just like us,” the words of the ‘human’ echoed into the branches, resounding from every direction all at once.

Nevertheless, Joan and Rosa ran harder, pushing their bodies and Tides to the limit while they dragged Lucius. The Martian helped where he could, but he was in no condition to run faster than a car.

The trees shook while they ran, the voice shifting from laughter to the rustling of trees. It was as if the word humored their struggle, their attempts to survive.

Footsteps pounded into the snow, and several minutes later, they saw lights in the distance. Joan squinted while Rosa recognized some buildings attached to the luminance.

“Houses? What’s that? A restaurant?” Rosa’s breath heaved out each question, the few hours of running with such weight doing numbers on her stamina.

Azure dribbled from Lucius’ lips, but he was the one who replied to Rosa, not Joan, saying, “It’s... a diner. Human in origin.”

Two nodding heads bounced before they slowed once more. In front of the faraway diner, they saw a crowd standing in front of it. None entered; they simply barricaded the windows and doors with their bodies.

Joan shook Lucius carefully, “Hey. What do you see with your eyes, Martian?”

After the jolt, he grimaced, feeling a rush of pain. Even so, he ignored Joan’s actions for now. The Martian’s acute vision focused, sharpening on the crowd before he shivered.

His gaze wandered to the inside, pulling away just as he saw the figures inside. He relayed the information with a cough, “A horde of those... things. Inside, though, I saw Sonna and Claudius. A few others, too. Hard to be sure.”

The mood plunged further. Rosa bit her tongue with indecision, “How are we going to get inside then? That guy... he seemed pretty strong. If even half of them are like that...”

Joan tilted her head, watching the crowd as she saw a few more saunter toward the diner. A serene quietude settled over them. Leisurely, they walked, just like the other one. He never ran. The damned creature only walked.

“I have an idea.”