Edean, Level 208.
The cabin was small—barely fifteen square meters—but immaculate. A private bathroom, full sanitary fixtures, even a tiny balcony that jutted out beyond the tower’s shell.
Two single beds sat inside. Linneya lay on one of them, staring blankly at the ceiling.
On the table beside her was a mountain of food—things she wouldn’t have dared to dream about a week ago. A week ago, she would’ve gone wild. Tonight, she couldn’t even make herself look at it.
The doorbell chimed. A gentle voice followed.
“Miss Linneya, this is Molly. Your dinner is here,” the biohuman said.
Molly had been assigned by Soren as Linneya’s personal attendant—someone to handle her daily life. Linneya didn’t like her much.
“I’m not hungry,” Linneya said.
“But you didn’t eat lunch either.”
“Don’t worry about it. And don’t come in.”
“…Alright.”
***
A while later—
“Miss Linneya.”
“I said I’m not hungry. I just want to be alone.”
“There’s someone here to see you.”
“I don’t want to see anyone.”
“It’s me,” a familiar voice said. “Wyatt.”
“Wyatt!” Linneya sprang out of bed like a released spring and yanked the door open.
Wyatt stood outside.
But the body he was wearing wasn’t the one she knew.
“Don’t panic,” Wyatt said quickly, afraid she wouldn’t recognize him. “It’s me. This is a temporary chassis.”
“Where’s your real body?” Linneya’s eyes widened.
Before he could answer, a tiny blur shot from behind Wyatt and landed in her hands.
“Ah! Pinecone!” Linneya squealed, hugging the little mechanical squirrel to her chest.
Pinecone squeaked back—rapid, excited—like it had been holding its breath for days.
“It was destroyed,” Wyatt said. “They’ll fit me with a new one in a few days. When they do, I’ll have to trouble you for another autograph.”
That erased the last of Linneya’s doubt. She threw her arms around him.
“It’s really you… Wyatt, you finally came…” Her voice broke, and she started crying. “I was so scared.”
“Hey. Don’t be.” Wyatt crouched and hugged her back. “You’re safe here.”
“But you all just… vanished.” Linneya’s words came out between sobs. “And Starling… Starling got hurt so badly…”
“I just checked on Starling,” Wyatt said gently. “Her body is being repaired. It won’t be long before you can see her again. Don’t cry, okay?”
“…Okay.” Linneya wiped her cheeks and forced herself to breathe.
Wyatt reached behind his back and brought out a mechanical arm.
“Here. This is yours.”
Linneya took it, stunned.
It was her father’s right hand—scarred and battered, but cleaned carefully.
“Thank you,” she whispered, holding it as if it might vanish.
“I’m the one who should be thanking you,” Wyatt said.
“Is it just you and Pinecone?” Linneya peered past him. Aside from Molly’s polite, fixed smile, there was no one else. “What about Dorian? Eisen?”
“They’re all hurt,” Wyatt said. “Lord Julian is rushing new bodies for them. In a few days, they’ll all come visit you together.”
“That’s great.” Linneya hesitated. “Will you… leave again?”
“Yes.” Wyatt’s voice was honest. “We’ve been assigned a new mission.”
Without thinking, Linneya blurted, “Then I’m coming with you! Take me—and Starling too. We’ll be together like before.”
Wyatt shook his head. “No. You’ve to stay here.”
“Why?” Her eyes went round again.
“We’re going to war, Linneya,” Wyatt said. “This is where humans belong. The temperature is right. The air is rich. You won’t have to live in fear of food running out.”
“But I want to be with you.” Linneya’s voice trembled. “I don’t like it here. It’s still underground—just like the Sunflower. I hate places without wind or real sunlight…”
“There’s sunlight here.”
“Fake sunlight.”
“It still grows plants.”
Wyatt pointed downward, as if she could see through the tower. “Have you looked at the farms below? They’re incredible. Flowers everywhere. Little animals. It feels like the world in the dream. I stood there for a long time.”
Linneya fell quiet.
“Starling will like it too,” Wyatt said. “You’ll live well here—until we finally defeat Phantom Forge and return to the surface.”
“I just… I don’t know when she’ll wake up,” Linneya admitted, voice small. “She looks… really bad.”
“She’ll get better,” Wyatt said. “And while she’s healing, she needs you.”
“…Okay!” Linneya nodded quickly, grabbing onto that.
“And there’s also Sister Little White,” Wyatt added. “You’ve met her, right? When I’m gone, if you need anything, go to her. She’ll be happy to help.”
“Yeah.” Linneya sniffed. “She’s a really good sister.”
“Then it’s settled.” Wyatt glanced at Pinecone. “Pinecone will stay with you. I’ll come again tomorrow. And you’ve to eat on time, alright?”
“Alright.” Linneya nodded again.
***
Early the next morning, when the artificial sun at the top of the tower spilled its first strand of light, Linneya’s doorbell rang again.
“Wyatt?” Linneya sat straight up.
“It’s me—Little White,” came a whisper from outside, deliberately lowered. “Can I come in?”
“Oh! Sister Little White, of course.”
Little White slipped inside with a grin. “No missions today. Want to go have some fun?”
“Where?”
“Somewhere fun.” Little White’s expression turned conspiratorial. “And I’ve got a gift for you.”
“A gift? What kind?”
“Want to know? Then get dressed and come on.”
Little White brought Linneya down to Level 1, into a maglev car, and out through the old district to the outside of the wall. They rode along the wall for less than two minutes before stopping beside a simple wooden structure.
“Look.” Little White tugged something out from inside. “Your gift.”
A four-hooved animal stepped into view.
“…Is that a horse?” Linneya gasped. “For me?”
It was a stocky little pony—short-legged, but sturdy—with a coat so red it seemed to shine. The tack was already fitted. It was… beautiful.
“Pretty, right?” Little White said proudly. “A real horse.”
“But I don’t know how to ride.”
“That’s easy.” Little White led out a second horse from the stable—a white one. “I’ll teach you. You’ll be riding by today, guaranteed.”
“Really? Okay!”
The pony was unbelievably gentle, and with Little White’s patient coaching, Linneya learned to ride in less than half a day. The two of them raced around the farms circling the tower until the “sunlight” began to weaken, then finally returned—laughing, exhausted, happy.
Over the next few days, whenever Little White had free time she took Linneya out again—picnics in the woods, climbing on stone faces, splashing in rivers. Before long they were as close as true sisters.
Linneya adapted quickly to life in Edean. She even started feeling fondness for Molly, the biohuman she’d disliked at first.
She began to imagine a future.
Every evening after they came back from playing, she would stand on her balcony and watch the world beneath the tower sink into darkness. Then she would go down to the medical wing on Level 211, spend an hour or two beside Starling’s treatment pod, and tell the unconscious Starling about the day’s adventures. Only then would she return to bed.
***
One night, Linneya heard children crying in her dream.
She woke—and realized the crying hadn’t come from the dream at all.
It seemed to be coming from…
The upper levels of the tower.
She listened harder. The crying vanished.
Confused, she stepped onto the balcony and pressed her ear against the steel wall. After a long time, she caught it again—faint sobs, just a few… then silence.
The quiet returned, so complete she began to doubt her own ears.
A chill crawled across her skin. After hesitating, Linneya decided she had to check.
She left her cabin, walked the curved corridor, and reached the elevator. The doors had barely opened when a voice behind her made her jump.
“Miss Linneya.” Molly stood there, appearing out of nowhere. “It’s late. Why aren’t you asleep?”
“Uh…” Linneya stammered. “I thought I heard kids crying. I wanted to go see.”
“There are no children up there,” Molly said, smiling. “You must have misheard.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes. The floors above are laboratories. There’s nothing for you to see.” Molly’s smile never wavered. “Please go back and rest.”
“…Okay.”
Molly escorted Linneya back to the room, straightened the bedding, and helped her lie down again.
“Good night, Miss Linneya,” Molly said, still smiling.
“Good night, Molly.”
No crying came again. Linneya convinced herself it had been a hallucination. Long after, she finally fell asleep.
Molly waited outside the door until she was sure Linneya was out. Only then did she leave. She took the elevator to Level 301, fitted a neural-synchronization headband over her temples, and entered the virtual illusion.
Soren was high, fooling around in a weightless room with a crowd of beautiful women. When Molly’s connection pinged, he looked irritated.
“What is it, Molly? Why are you interrupting me when I’m having the best time?”
“I’m sorry, Lord Dalton,” Molly said. “The situation you told me to report… has occurred.”