The girl hesitated, her resolve wavering as Ethan finished speaking. Sandra glanced back over her shoulder toward the room behind her, where her legless father lay within his open VR Capsule, the soft hum of machinery filling the quiet house.
"W—we should probably stay," she said at last. But there was a firmness beneath her voice that surprised him.
Ethan blinked, studying her more carefully. He could see it now, the flicker of temptation she was trying to suppress. The reluctance wasn't truly hers. It belonged to her father. That alone puzzled him. Why wouldn't a man in his condition want to be moved somewhere safer? The developers should have paid them generously to vacate this area. Every surrounding structure bore bright demolition markings, yet this two-story house stood untouched, free of spray paint or legal warnings. They hadn't signed. They were holding out.
