The problem with surviving a disaster was that people immediately expected you to do something useful afterward.
Daniel Cross discovered this while sitting on an overturned crate, holding a cup of water he was too frightened to drink.
Around him, Shiganshina's evacuation checkpoint had become a miserable imitation of an organized military operation.
Soldiers shouted orders. Civilians argued over missing relatives. Wounded people lay beneath blankets while exhausted volunteers attempted to keep them alive.
Somewhere nearby, a child was crying.
Nobody seemed to know how to make it stop.
Daniel understood the feeling.
His entire body hurt.
His head felt as though someone had attempted to remove his brain with a spoon. His muscles trembled whenever he stood for more than a few seconds, and every now and then, his teeth began aching for no apparent reason.
The system had described his condition as recovering.
Daniel suspected the system had never experienced recovery personally.
[DEVOURER SYSTEM]
[Recovery progress: 31%.]
[Metabolic deficit: SEVERE.]
[Predatory instinct suppression: 64%.]
[Warning: Suppression effectiveness decreases under prolonged starvation.]
Daniel stared at the final line.
"Wonderful."
Eren sat beside him.
"What is?"
"Nothing. My body has apparently decided that being a normal human is a temporary arrangement."
Eren frowned.
"You keep saying things like that."
"Because my life keeps giving me reasons."
Eren glanced at the cup in Daniel's hand.
"Drink."
"I'm considering it."
"It's water."
"That is what concerns me. Water has become suspiciously involved in most of my biological problems."
Eren rolled his eyes.
Daniel drank.
Nothing happened.
He waited another second.
Still nothing.
"Well," he said, "that's encouraging."
Eren gave him a strange look.
Then, unexpectedly, he laughed.
It was brief and almost reluctant, but it was real.
Daniel smiled.
For a moment, they were simply two exhausted boys sitting among frightened strangers, sharing a joke that would probably have sounded ridiculous to anyone who hadn't spent the afternoon watching people die.
Then a soldier approached.
"Cross?"
Daniel looked up.
"Depends who's asking."
The soldier did not appreciate the answer.
"Captain wants to see you."
Daniel sighed.
"Of course he does."
Eren stood.
"I'm coming."
The soldier shook his head.
"Only him."
Eren immediately looked suspicious.
"Why?"
"Orders."
"That's not an explanation."
"It's the only one you're getting."
Daniel rose carefully.
His knees nearly buckled.
Eren reached for him, but Daniel waved him off.
"I can walk."
"You said that ten minutes ago."
"And I've been right about it for approximately four of those minutes."
He followed the soldier across the checkpoint.
As they walked, Daniel noticed something peculiar.
Several soldiers were watching him.
Not openly. They attempted to look busy whenever he turned toward them, but their attention followed him with uncomfortable persistence.
One man whispered to another.
A woman wearing a medical apron stopped speaking when he passed.
At the far end of the checkpoint, two soldiers stood beside a covered object.
Daniel recognized the shape beneath the cloth.
A body.
His stomach tightened.
The system flickered.
[FOREIGN BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURE DETECTED.]
[Source: Unknown human observer.]
[Distance: 12 meters.]
Daniel glanced toward a nearby rooftop.
Nobody stood there.
He dismissed the message and continued walking.
The soldier led him into a small room behind the checkpoint's command tent.
A wooden table occupied the center. Three chairs stood around it, and a lantern hung from a hook in the ceiling.
A man in a dark military uniform sat on the opposite side.
He was in his early forties, with short black hair and a narrow scar running from his left temple toward his cheekbone.
His uniform was clean.
His boots were polished.
Neither detail inspired Daniel with confidence.
The man gestured toward the empty chair.
"Sit."
Daniel sat.
The soldier who had escorted him remained beside the door.
The officer studied Daniel for several seconds.
"Captain Rolf Weiss," he said. "Local garrison command."
"Daniel Cross."
"I know."
"Then we're already making excellent progress."
Captain Weiss folded his hands.
"Tell me about the Titan you encountered."
Daniel described the attack in the courtyard, omitting the transformation.
He explained how the creature had pursued him and the other boys through the streets, how it had destroyed a fence, and how he had managed to escape.
The account was technically accurate.
It was also missing the most important part.
Weiss listened without interrupting.
When Daniel finished, the captain leaned back.
"And how did the Titan die?"
Daniel paused.
"It didn't."
"Then how did you escape?"
"It was distracted."
"By what?"
Daniel looked at him.
"Me."
The captain's expression remained unchanged.
"You expect me to believe that a Titan became distracted by a seventeen-year-old boy?"
"No. I expect you to understand that a frightened person doesn't always make rational decisions."
Weiss studied him.
Then he opened a folder on the table.
Inside were several sheets of paper covered in handwritten notes.
Daniel recognized one of the pages immediately.
It contained a rough drawing of a humanoid figure with exaggerated shoulders and long fingers.
His Titan form.
The artist had done a terrible job.
Daniel was almost offended.
"Do you recognize this?" Weiss asked.
Daniel kept his face neutral.
"It looks like a Titan."
"An unusual one."
"Perhaps the artist has never seen a Titan before."
"The artist was a soldier who has spent eleven years serving within these walls."
"Then perhaps he needs a better hobby."
Weiss ignored the remark.
"He claims the creature fought another Titan and then disappeared in a cloud of steam."
Daniel said nothing.
"The witness also described a human figure lying in the courtyard after the disappearance."
Still nothing.
Weiss closed the folder.
"Do you know why you're here, Cross?"
"Because your soldiers are bored?"
"Because three separate reports mention an unidentified Titan in the southern district, and every witness places you near the location."
Daniel felt his pulse quicken.
The captain continued.
"One witness claims the creature protected two boys. Another claims it attacked a Titan that was pursuing civilians. A third says it appeared to be hunting the other Titan."
He paused.
"Those descriptions are contradictory."
"People tend to become confused when giant monsters are trying to eat them."
"True."
Weiss leaned forward.
"But I have another problem."
Daniel waited.
"The abandoned quarantine facility you mentioned has been under military observation for years. Nobody is supposed to enter it."
Daniel's mouth went dry.
"And yet someone did."
"Yes."
The captain's eyes narrowed.
"Someone also removed a sealed record from the facility three days ago."
Daniel forced himself not to react.
"Perhaps you should investigate that person."
"We are."
Weiss watched him carefully.
"Unfortunately, the record contained a name that has appeared in today's reports."
Daniel knew what was coming.
"Daniel Cross," the captain said.
Silence filled the room.
Daniel looked down at his hands.
For several seconds, he considered denying everything.
Then he remembered the figure on the rooftop.
The soldiers watching him.
The mysterious system's warning about external surveillance.
Whatever was happening, someone had already decided that he was important.
Pretending otherwise would not make him safer.
"Captain," Daniel said slowly, "if I tell you something that sounds impossible, will you at least consider it?"
Weiss didn't answer immediately.
Then he said, "That depends on whether it sounds more impossible than the things I've already seen today."
Daniel exhaled.
"I may have the ability to transform into a Titan."
The captain stared at him.
The soldier beside the door shifted his weight.
For several seconds, nobody spoke.
Then Weiss closed the folder.
"Take him to the holding room."
Daniel sighed.
"That went better than expected."
The soldier grabbed his arm.
Daniel winced.
"Careful. I'm currently held together by optimism and poor medical treatment."
Nobody laughed.
***
The holding room had a narrow window, a wooden bench, and a door thick enough to discourage ordinary prisoners.
Daniel sat on the bench and listened to the sounds outside.
He had been confined for approximately twelve minutes when the hunger returned.
It began as a dull ache beneath his ribs.
Then came the metallic taste in his mouth.
Daniel pressed his palms against his knees.
"No."
The sensation intensified.
His stomach twisted.
He imagined the unconscious Titan in the courtyard, its body steaming against the broken stone.
The memory was so vivid that he could almost smell the creature's blood.
The system appeared.
[METABOLIC DEFICIT: CRITICAL.]
[Emergency consumption may accelerate recovery.]
[Available biological source: Standard Titan tissue.]
[Estimated recovery benefit: 23%.]
[Potential adverse effect: Increased predatory drive.]
Daniel clenched his jaw.
"No."
[Warning: Refusal may prolong neurological instability.]
"Then let it."
The interface remained visible.
[Repeated refusal may compromise evolutionary development.]
Daniel laughed bitterly.
"Is that supposed to frighten me?"
The system offered no response.
Daniel lowered his head.
His hands were trembling.
The worst part wasn't the hunger itself.
It was how reasonable the hunger made everything seem.
Consume a Titan.
Recover faster.
Become stronger.
Survive.
The logic was brutally simple.
And somewhere beneath his conscious thoughts, something agreed with it.
He closed his eyes.
He thought about the family in the street.
The father who had died.
The child who had watched it happen.
The soldiers lying beside the broken wall.
He thought about Eren, who had looked him in the eyes and told him not to surrender to the thing inside him.
Then he thought about the warning in the recovered archive.
In every confirmed case, the subject eventually consumed a human being.
Daniel opened his eyes.
"Tell me something," he whispered to the system.
The interface pulsed.
"Did the previous subjects start with a hunger like this?"
No response.
"Did they know what they were becoming?"
Still nothing.
Daniel leaned back against the wall.
"You're not a system. You're a very expensive way of making me feel lonely."
The door opened.
Eren stood in the doorway, accompanied by an elderly woman carrying a tray.
The soldier behind them looked irritated.
"Five minutes," he said.
Eren entered.
The woman placed the tray on the bench.
Bread.
Soup.
A piece of boiled meat.
Daniel stared at the food.
The hunger surged.
His vision narrowed.
For a moment, the meat looked impossibly vivid.
Every detail seemed sharper: the texture, the moisture, the faint steam rising from it.
Daniel gripped the edge of the bench.
Eren noticed.
"Daniel?"
"Get the meat away from me."
The elderly woman frowned.
"What?"
"Please."
His voice had changed.
It was deeper, rougher, and edged with a growl he hadn't intended.
Eren stepped closer.
"What's wrong?"
Daniel shoved the tray away.
It struck the floor.
The bowl shattered.
Soup splashed across the stone.
The elderly woman gasped.
The soldier reached for his sword.
"What's your problem?"
Daniel stood abruptly.
His vision blurred.
The hunger roared.
For a moment, the room seemed to shrink around him.
The soldier's pulse became audible.
A steady rhythm.
Warm blood moving beneath skin.
Daniel recoiled as if someone had struck him.
"No."
Eren grabbed his arm.
"Daniel, look at me."
Daniel couldn't.
He could hear the soldier breathing.
He could smell the blood beneath the man's bandage.
The system flashed red.
[NEURAL SUPPRESSION FAILURE.]
[PREDATORY INSTINCTS: UNCONTROLLED.]
[WARNING: HUMAN BIOLOGICAL SIGNATURES REGISTERED AS POTENTIAL FOOD SOURCES.]
Daniel stumbled backward.
His shoulder struck the wall.
"Get out," he whispered.
The soldier drew his sword.
"Stay where you are!"
"Get out!"
Daniel's voice cracked.
Eren stepped between them.
"Put the sword away!"
"Move, boy!"
"He isn't attacking you!"
"He's behaving like an animal!"
Daniel heard the word.
Animal.
Something inside him reacted.
His fingers curled.
His nails darkened.
For one horrifying instant, he wanted to tear through the soldier's throat.
The thought was so clear that Daniel felt physically sick.
He slammed his fist against the wall.
Stone cracked beneath his knuckles.
Everyone froze.
Daniel stared at the damage.
Then at his hand.
Blood trickled between his fingers.
His own blood.
The sight helped.
Not much.
But enough.
He pressed his bleeding hand against his chest and forced himself to breathe.
In.
Out.
Again.
He imagined himself sitting in a dark room, counting seconds until a panic attack passed.
He had used the technique before.
He had never expected to need it to resist the urge to eat another human being.
After what felt like an eternity, the hunger receded.
Daniel slid down the wall.
His legs shook uncontrollably.
Eren crouched beside him.
"Daniel?"
Daniel covered his face.
"Don't."
"Don't what?"
"Don't tell me it's going to be fine."
Eren fell silent.
Daniel lowered his hands.
"I don't know if I can control this."
It was the first time he had admitted the possibility aloud.
Eren looked frightened.
But he stayed.
"Then we'll figure it out."
Daniel laughed weakly.
"That's your plan?"
"Yes."
"Brilliant. You've solved everything."
"I'm serious."
"I know."
Daniel stared at the broken bowl on the floor.
"I don't want to become something that eats people."
Eren's expression hardened.
"Then don't."
Daniel looked at him.
For a moment, he wanted to explain how inadequate those words felt.
How terrifying it was to feel his own instincts changing.
How much easier it would be if the system simply gave him a list of rules to follow.
Instead, he nodded.
"I'll try."
Eren held out his hand.
Daniel stared at it.
Then he took it.
The soldier watched them uneasily.
After several seconds, he lowered his sword.
"Five minutes are over," he muttered.
Eren stood.
"I'm not leaving him here."
"You don't have a choice."
"Then arrest me too."
Daniel looked up sharply.
"Eren."
The boy ignored him.
The soldier swore under his breath.
"You children are going to give me gray hair."
Daniel managed a weak smile.
"At least somebody's thinking about the future."
***
Captain Weiss returned twenty minutes later.
He entered alone.
Daniel was sitting on the bench, his injured hand wrapped in a strip of cloth. Eren had been taken elsewhere, though not before promising to return.
Weiss studied the cracked wall.
Then he looked at Daniel.
"I've served in the Garrison for nineteen years," he said. "I've seen men panic, men lie, and men do terrible things because they were frightened."
Daniel said nothing.
"I've also seen men become dangerous when they believe they're entitled to special treatment."
The captain pulled a chair closer.
"Which one are you?"
Daniel considered the question.
"I'm trying very hard to be the first."
Weiss watched him for a long moment.
Then he placed a small object on the table.
A brass key.
Daniel recognized it immediately.
Arlen's key.
His stomach tightened.
"Where did you get that?"
"From a boy who was caught attempting to enter the southern quarantine facility."
Daniel's expression darkened.
"Where is Arlen?"
"Being questioned."
"About what?"
"Several things. Including why his fingerprints were found on a sealed laboratory door."
Daniel leaned forward.
"What laboratory?"
Weiss opened a second folder.
Inside was a faded photograph.
It showed a group of men standing outside a stone building. Their uniforms were unfamiliar, and several wore long white coats.
At the center stood a young man with dark hair.
Daniel stopped breathing.
The face was unmistakable.
His face.
Not merely similar.
Identical.
The same jawline.
The same narrow scar near the eyebrow.
The same eyes.
The photograph had been taken decades before Daniel had supposedly been born.
Weiss watched his reaction.
"Do you recognize him?"
Daniel couldn't answer.
The captain turned the photograph around.
A handwritten caption appeared beneath the image.
PROJECT DEVOURER.
INITIAL SUBJECT: DANIEL CROSS.
STATUS: DECEASED.
Daniel stared at the words.
His hands began to shake.
The system appeared.
[ARCHIVE MATCH CONFIRMED.]
[ORIGINAL SUBJECT: DANIEL CROSS.]
[Status discrepancy detected.]
[Historical death record: VERIFIED.]
[Current host identity: DANIEL CROSS.]
[Warning: Two overlapping identity structures detected.]
Daniel felt the room tilt.
Two identity structures.
He had assumed he was a stranger who had somehow been transported into another world.
Now the system was suggesting something far more disturbing.
Perhaps he hadn't simply inherited another person's name.
Perhaps he had inherited something else as well.
Memories.
Biology.
A purpose.
Or a fate.
Captain Weiss rose.
"You're going to tell me everything you know about this project."
Daniel looked up at him.
For once, he had no joke.
"No," he said quietly.
Weiss's expression hardened.
"Excuse me?"
"I said no."
Daniel pushed himself to his feet.
His legs trembled, but he remained standing.
"I don't know what this project is. I don't know who that man was. And I don't know why he looks like me."
He glanced at the photograph.
"But I intend to find out."
Weiss stared at him.
Then he gathered the documents.
"That may be more difficult than you think."
"Why?"
The captain hesitated.
Then he turned the photograph over once more.
On the back was another handwritten note.
A warning.
"If the Devourer returns, do not permit contact with Subject Eren Jaeger."
Daniel felt every muscle in his body tighten.
Weiss watched him carefully.
"Tell me something, Cross."
Daniel looked up.
"How well do you know Eren Jaeger?"
Daniel said nothing.
The captain's expression became grim.
"Because according to the original records, the Devourer was not designed to evolve independently."
He tapped the photograph.
"It was designed to consume a specific organism."
Daniel's mouth went dry.
"Which organism?"
Weiss looked directly into his eyes.
"Eren Jaeger."
The system flashed.
[CRITICAL DISCOVERY.]
[PRIMARY EVOLUTIONARY TARGET IDENTIFIED.]
[TARGET: EREN JAEGER.]
[Compatibility: UNKNOWN.]
[WARNING: CONSUMPTION MAY TRIGGER IRREVERSIBLE TRANSFORMATION.]
Daniel stared at the interface.
Then at the captain.
Then at the door through which Eren had disappeared.
For the first time, the hunger inside him felt like something more than an instinct.
It felt like a command.
And somewhere deep beneath his thoughts, something answered.
FOUND YOU.