Xander smoothed the covers over her, his voice gentle and reassuring. "You’re a Guide. It’s only natural that we take care of you."
He tucked the blanket securely around her shoulders. A faint, intoxicating trace of soothing Sentinel pheromones drifted into her senses, and her eyelids grew irresistibly heavy.
"Sleep, little cutie," the deputy commander murmured softly.
With Xander’s quiet authority taking charge, the rest of the Sentinels lingering in the room had no choice but to file out one by one.
Brandon glanced back at the small, soft lump beneath the blankets, letting out a bitter sigh. "I should’ve volunteered for the containment cell, too," he grumbled, practically green with envy. "That fucker Liam got to reap all the rewards."
Arden, the dark-skinned Sentinel, gave a disdainful snort. "You haven’t even grown up yet, kid, and you’re already obsessing over women."
It was true—Brandon was still three months shy of his eighteenth birthday. Officially, he was still a minor.
Brandon’s expression darkened instantly. "Arden, just watch your fucking mouth."
Xander stepped between them, nipping the argument in the bud. "Both of you, out. Don’t disturb her rest."
Brandon and Arden exchanged a grudging glance. Tsk. Showing off again, isn’t he?
***
Bunny slept better than she had in months.
Ever since awakening in this strange world, she had felt utterly untethered in her new reality. Resources on this planet were scarce and strictly rationed; only the ultra-wealthy could afford private apartments, while ordinary citizens worked endless shifts and slept in cramped, capsule-like pods. Though her time on Terra had been brief, she had loathed every second of it.
That was why she had been so determined to take this assignment. Even if District 616 was now a scorched, hazardous wasteland, it was still home.
That night, Bunny dreamed, too.
She dreamed she was back on Earth, running through an endless green prairie while holding a kite. The fresh wind whipped through the tall grass, scattering velvety poppy flowers across the open air. She held the string of the kite high, her hair streaming wildly behind her as she ran without a care in the world.
Above her, a flock of beautiful white doves soared through an azure sky. Herds of cattle and sheep grazed peacefully across the rolling hills, scattered like pearls over green velvet. The vast wilderness stretched beneath her, reaching all the way to the horizon.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the sky fractured.
A catastrophic rift tore across the firmament, pouring black and violet flames that bled across the sky like ink in water. A colossal meteor engulfed in roaring plasma hurtled through the atmosphere.
Panicked cattle scattered; doves shrieked above. Earthquakes, tsunamis, and roaring storms descended upon the earth all at once.
Yet the asteroid’s impact was merely the beginning of the horror.
Her dream shifted to grotesque, nightmarish creatures dripping with foul, sticky mucus as they slaughtered humanity with terrifying brutality. Some tore through flesh, while others implanted parasitic embryos into living hosts, using human bodies as living incubators. Once the "containers" were consumed from within, the hatchlings burst violently through bone and skin.
Suddenly, one of the abominations opened its horrifying, multi-tiered maw and lunged straight for her face—
Bunny screamed and jolted upright.
Cold sweat drenched her forehead and collarbones. Outside her window, a harsh new sun was rising over the horizon.
Yes. She was in District 616, on the planet called Terra, ruled by the Interstellar Federation. She was not on Earth anymore.
Still trembling from the residual terror of her nightmare, Bunny breathed heavily into the quiet room, punctuated only by the faint, rhythmic ticking of the digital clock on the wall.
Her fingers reached instinctively for the delicate chain around her neck—the single physical artifact she had carried from the old world into this brave new era.
Unclasping the heart-shaped pendant, she looked down at the hidden treasure resting inside. She snapped it shut, drawing comfort from its weight, before picking up the tablet on her nightstand to review the squad’s profiles. She hadn’t possessed the focus to read them thoroughly the night before.
Unlocking the interface, she began scrolling down the classified dossier from the top.
Sentinel profiles.
Name: Cyrus Reid
Age: 28
Origin: Citizen of the Interstellar Federation
Height: 198 cm
Rank: General
Status / Sentence: Life Imprisonment
Mental Power Tier: [CLASSIFIED / REDACTED]
...
Bunny frowned as she looked at the glowing letters. Why is his mental power rank blacked out?
She then scrolled down to the next entry field:
Equipment Spec / Length: Classified
Bunny’s expression froze.
Wait. Why on earth would military high command include a field like THAT in official personnel records?!
Suppressing her disbelief, she swiped down to the next profile.
Name: Xander Stark
Age: 27
Origin: Registered Refugee
Height: 197.5 cm
Rank: Colonel
Mental Entity: Sea Demon
Mental Power Tier: SSS+
Equipment Spec / Length: 21 cm
Oh my...