A massive projection bloomed into existence.
Clear.
Bright.
Unavoidable.
The village appeared once more, suspended overhead like a window into somewhere they could no longer reach. Team One stood within it, scattered across the dirt road, still adjusting, still reacting, still unaware of how quickly things would turn.
The wind moved through their clothes.
The clouds churned above them.
And somewhere—
Something waited.
Below, Team Two stared up at the projection, their earlier panic settling into something colder, heavier. The reality of their own scenario— the sterile corridors, the things that learned, that adapted, that remembered— pressed back into their thoughts with renewed force.
The humor from moments ago didn't just fade.
It felt… inappropriate now.
Like it had never belonged in the first place.
Beside them, even Team Three had gone quiet, their so called "lucky" scenario no longer comforting under the weight of everything they had just witnessed.
And yet—
