“HEL—”
Parker’s muffled scream cut off.
Silence.
Only the distant tapping of the spider remained.
Then even that faded.
Sid scratched the side of his skull.
“Giant spiders…”
His blue eye lights brightened.
“Interesting.”
The tunnel split ahead.
Three passages branched into darkness, but only one carried the pale strands of webbing left by Parker’s abduction.
Kaya pointed at it.
Her hand shook.
“What are we going to do about that?”
Sid shrugged and started down another passage.
Elias followed.
Kaya stared after them.
“Wait.”
They kept walking.
“Seriously?”
Sid glanced back.
“You’re just going to leave him?”
“He’s made from prehistoric dinosaur bones.”
Sid continued walking.
“He’ll be fine.”
Kaya’s jaw dropped.
“HE GOT ABDUCTED BY A GIANT SPIDER!”
“Temporarily.”
“What does that even mean?!”
Sid stopped.
“If the spider intended to kill him immediately, it would have done so.”
He raised one finger.
“Parker remains structurally intact.”
A second.
“He possesses enhanced skeletal durability.”
A third.
“And the spider demonstrated prey-storage behaviour rather than immediate consumption.”
Sid lowered his hand.
“So, statistically speaking, Parker may currently be the safest member of the expedition.”
Kaya stared at him.
“You cannot possibly believe that.”
“I mostly believe it.”
“Sid.”
“Fine. Sixty percent.”
“That’s not better!”
Sid crouched and picked up a bone from the floor.
“Anyway, we need someone with combat experience.”
He rotated it beneath the blue light.
“A soldier, perhaps. A hunter. Someone useful.”
Kaya’s eye lights narrowed.
“Or you bring back a complete psychopath.”
Sid waved this aside.
“Then we don’t arm them.”
“That’s not how people work.”
“Hm.”
“Carelessly reviving people could backfire,” Kaya continued. “You can’t keep dragging strangers into this situation and expect them to cooperate.”
Sid gave a dismissive little chuckle.
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
He gestured around the tunnel.
“More people means more hands. More hands means more work. More work means more progress.”
Kaya stopped.
“You seriously think most people are going to help the person who trapped them in a skeleton body?”
Sid stopped too.
“…Yes?”
Kaya stared.
“Or… no?”
“Absolutely not.”
Sid looked toward Elias.
Elias considered it.
“She’s correct.”
Sid’s shoulders sagged.
“FINE!”
His arms flew outward.
“HOW DO WE DO THIS, THEN?”
The tunnel answered.
HOW DO WE DO THIS, THEN?
HOW DO WE DO THIS, THEN?
HOW DO WE DO THIS, THEN?
Kaya waited for the echoes to die.
“How about we stop dropping everything on them at once?”
Sid tilted his head.
“Huh?”
“You revive someone and immediately tell them they’re dead, trapped underground, surrounded by monsters, and expected to contribute to society.”
She paused.
“That’s a lot.”
“Nah.” Sid waved a hand. “A reality check always works.”
He pointed at Elias.
“Look at him.”
Elias stared back, crimson eyes perfectly still.
Kaya gestured at him.
“Elias is not a normal benchmark for human behaviour.”
Elias said nothing.
“People need time to adjust,” Kaya continued. “Survival gives them a reason to stay with us now, but eventually that won’t be enough.”
Sid went quiet.
Kaya stepped closer.
“If we keep bringing people back, they’re going to disagree. They’ll argue. They’ll form groups. Some will want to leave. Some will want to take control.”
“And eventually,” Elias added, “someone will attempt to establish authority.”
Sid looked between them.
“Hm.”
His fingers tapped against his jaw.
“We need structure.”
Kaya’s eye lights narrowed.
Sid’s brightened.
“A role-based hierarchy system.”
“NO!”
The word detonated through the tunnel.
NO.
NO.
NO.
Sid recoiled.
“What? Why?”
“Because that is exactly how you end up with a cult.”
Sid considered this.
“A cult of science!”
He gestured eagerly toward Elias.
Elias gave a single approving nod.
Kaya stared at them.
“SID, THAT CANNOT BE YOUR BIG TAKEAWAY FROM THIS CONVERSATION!”
“We revive them one at a time,” Sid continued, pacing now. “Control the information. Give them time to acclimate. Someone with people skills handles the initial integration…”
He stopped.
Slowly, he turned toward Kaya.
Elias did the same.
Kaya’s pink eye lights narrowed.
“No.”
“You can handle social integration.”
“No.”
“You can explain the situation calmly,” Elias said.
“No.”
“You can stop them from panicking.”
“No.”
Sid pointed at her.
“You can run the skelly daycare.”
Silence.
Kaya pointed at herself.
“The what?”
Sid was already looking down one of the branching tunnels, thinking.
Then he stiffened.
“…But what if she starts a revolution?”
Kaya’s jaw dropped.
“A revolution against WHO?”
Sid pointed at himself.
“ME.”
“WHY WOULD I DO THAT?”
“You’re charismatic.”
“That is not a crime!”
“Historically, it is concerning.”
“SID!”
Elias rubbed thoughtfully at his jaw.
“He does raise a valid concern.”
Kaya turned toward him.
“OH, FOR THE LOVE OF—”