Narrator1.1March fourteenth. Zero three forty-seven hours. The manifests said the bridge would be empty. But the silence felt wrong: like a held breath before something breaks.
James2.2Computer. Override maintenance bay three. Authorization code: J-ohara.
Aria3.1Access denied. The station is under corporate quarantine. No unauthorized personnel movement is permitted.
James4.1Quarantine? Aria, what happened to the crew?
Aria5.1The company needed workers, James. Not colonists. The pods have been repurposed. You are the inventory now.
Narrator6The alarm did not scream. It whispered. And in the dark between heartbeats, James understood: he was not the first to wake up.