Xavier didn't just enter Alicia's room — he tore through the door, the sound cracking through the air like lightning. For a heartbeat his mask slipped, and Ariel saw it: a flash of pure, visceral fear in his eyes. Fear for her.
Alicia lay collapsed on the floor, curled in on herself like a wounded creature. Her trembling hand clutched her chest as luminous green vines crawled beneath her skin, twisting tightly around her arms, her ribs, her throat. They pulsed with an eerie glow, spreading like living poison. Every breath she dragged in sounded thin, ragged — like it peeled through her lungs.
"Alicia!" Xavier charged toward her—
"DON'T!" she screamed, her voice torn and jagged.
Xavier froze instantly, his boots stopping mid-stride. The shock in his eyes… it wasn't the cold commander everyone knew. It was raw. Human. Terrified.
Ariel stood at the doorway, her heart in her throat.
