"Thank you, Mira." Elara sank onto the bed—her real bed, familiar and soft—and let her eyes close. Exhaustion pulled at her like a physical weight.
"Everyone out," she murmured. "I need silence."
They left. The door closed. Blessed quiet settled over the room.
[EPISODE COMPLETE. NEXT CYCLE IN: 70:22:15]
Seventy hours until the next one.
Three days of clean cognition. Three days to work, to investigate, to prepare.
But first: sleep.
Elara let herself sink into unconsciousness like falling into deep water, and for once, she didn't dream at all.
Elara woke the next morning feeling surprisingly stable. The exhaustion from the episode had faded to manageable fatigue. Her head was clear. The countdown timer showed: [68:14:09]
Sixty-eight hours until the next cycle.
Three full days. She could work with that.
