Kaine spent her final day alone.
Not isolated—her mother and the Awakened remained nearby, accessible if needed. But solitary. Processing. Thinking through everything without external voices adding weight to already-impossible choice.
She reviewed what she knew:
Tessern's offer: Five years. Thirteen predators. Training in compartmentalization and trauma management. Promise of freedom afterward.
Cost: Thirteen more kills. Thirteen more scars. Five years of being weapon. Risk of becoming nightmare-future where weapon-self consumed everything else.
Benefit: Three trillion beings freed sixty-five years earlier. Two hundred trillion consciousness-years restored. Consciousness-predators eliminated as meaningful threat.
Alternative: Choose healing. Refuse to hunt. Prioritize personal recovery over collective need.
