Bianca woke up angry.
Not the loud kind of angry.
The quiet, heavy kind that sat in her chest like wet concrete.
She’d dreamed about her mom again — not a clear memory, just flashes of tired eyes and hurried warnings, the kind that made her wake up reaching for something that wasn’t there.
The System noticed immediately.
> [ Host Cortisol Levels Elevated ]
> [ Sleep Quality: Poor ]
“Yeah, no kidding,” Bianca muttered, rubbing her face.
“Thanks for the medical report, Doctor Parasite.”
Maya was already awake on the couch, knees pulled up to her chest, watching one of the cartoons on low volume.
She looked over when she heard Bianca’s voice.
“Bad dream?” Maya asked.
“Same one.” Bianca swung her legs off the bed.
“You sleep okay?”
Maya shrugged.
“I dreamed I was back in the Red Room. Then I woke up and remembered I’m here. So… better than usual.”
Bianca crossed the room and ruffled the younger girl’s hair.
“We’re both winning at trauma Olympics. Gold medalists.”
Maya gave a small smile, the kind that was starting to reach her eyes more often.
It still felt like a victory every time.
They headed to the cafeteria together.
Ward was already there, nursing coffee like it was keeping him alive.
He looked even more exhausted than yesterday.
When he saw Bianca he straightened slightly.
“Morning,” he said carefully.
“Morning,” Bianca replied, grabbing a tray.
“You here to give me more half-answers or actual useful information today?”
Ward sighed.
“I’m here to eat breakfast. But Evelyn wants to speak with you after.”
Bianca’s spoon froze halfway to her mouth.
The System flared instantly.
> [ PRIORITY THREAT APPROACHING ]
> [ Recommend Avoidance ]
“Tell her I’m busy,” Bianca said. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Permanently.”
Ward rubbed his eyes.
“She’s not going away, Bianca. And she might actually have answers about your mother.”
Maya looked between them, quiet but listening.
She’d started doing that more — observing, thinking, deciding for herself.
Bianca was proud of her for it, even if it made protecting her harder.
After breakfast they walked the long glass hallway together.
Snow was falling heavier outside, thick white curtains that made the whole mountain feel cut off from the rest of the world.
Bianca stopped at one of the big windows.
“I keep thinking about that note. My mom said the System is keeping the door closed. But the System won’t tell me what the door even is.”
The System stayed silent.
Maya leaned against the glass beside her.
“Maybe it’s scared too.”
Bianca glanced at her.
“You’re getting too smart for your age.”
“I had good teachers in the Red Room,” Maya said dryly.
“They taught fear really well.”
Before Bianca could reply, Evelyn Voss appeared at the end of the hallway like she’d been waiting for them.
The old woman moved slowly but with purpose.
The System reacted so strongly Bianca actually felt it like static behind her eyes.
> [ Do not engage ]
> [ Do not trust ]
Evelyn stopped a respectful distance away.
“You found your mother’s warning.”
“Yep,” Bianca said.
“She told me not to trust you. Kinda hard to ignore.”
“I understand.” Evelyn’s voice was calm, almost gentle.
“Your mother saw me as part of the problem near the end. She believed Horizon’s experiments were making the fractures worse. She was… partially right.”
Bianca crossed her arms.
“Partially?”
Evelyn looked out at the snow.
“We were trying to understand the Void. To contain it. But some doors, once opened even a little, are hard to close again. Your mother wanted to seal everything shut. I believed we could learn to control it.”
“And now?” Bianca asked.
“Now I believe your mother may have been closer to the truth than I was willing to admit.” Evelyn turned back to her.
“The thing that took her… it wasn’t human. It came through one of the fractures she was studying. It noticed her. And because of her connection to you, it may have noticed you as well.”
> [ INFORMATION RESTRICTED ]
> [ CEASE CONVERSATION ]
Bianca ignored the flashing warnings.
“So what do I do? Sit here while some cosmic thing has my mom? Wait for it to come for me next?”
Evelyn’s eyes softened, just a fraction.
“You keep doing what you’ve been doing. Surviving. Adapting. The System chose you for a reason. It is protecting you in ways even I don’t fully understand.”
The System went completely silent after that.
Not even a flicker.
Maya stepped closer to Bianca, small hand brushing against hers.
A quiet show of support.
Bianca stared at Evelyn for a long moment, then nodded once.
“Fine. But if you’re lying to me — if you had anything to do with my mom disappearing — I will burn this entire mountain down to find out.”
Evelyn didn’t look surprised.
“I would expect nothing less.”
She turned and walked away down the hallway, leaving the three of them standing in the quiet.
Ward exhaled slowly.
“That went better than I expected.”
Bianca looked at Maya, then at the snow outside.
The pressure behind her eyes was back, faint but constant now.
Like something was pressing against the world from the other side, looking for a way in.
“Come on,” she said to Maya.
“Let’s go find somewhere with worse cartoons. I need something dumb to watch before I start punching walls.”
As they walked away, the System finally spoke again.
So quietly Bianca almost missed it.
> [ She is not wrong about everything. ]
> [ But she is dangerous. ]
> [ We must find your mother before the fractures widen further. ]
Bianca whispered under her breath, “Then help me. Stop hiding things.”
The System didn’t answer.
But for the first time, Bianca felt something new in its silence.
It sounded a lot like determination.
Outside, the snow kept falling.
And somewhere far beyond it, something ancient shifted its gaze.
Looking closer.