I wake to the hum of full power.
Not half.Not the shaky flickering I am used to.A deep steady thrum that settles into my chest like a heartbeat someone finally remembered to plug in.
Battery one hundred percent.
The HUD blooms clean and bright across my vision. Strength, speed, combat score.. No warning lights. No error logs. No pain spikes.
The med bay lights glow above me. Too calm. Too quiet.
Cadence materializes beside the repair table, arms folded behind her translucent back. Her expression is unreadable, mostly because she only has the expression I gave her.
She says, in a very practiced gentle tone, "You survived your existential crisis. Congratulations."
"Great. Do I get a sticker."
"I can draw one in your HUD."
"Pass."
I push myself upright. My body obeys without protest. No aches. No stings. No tightness. Rhea did her work. Cadence did the rest.
Cadence steps closer. "How do you feel."
"Intact."
"That is not a feeling."
"Then I feel like an intact person."
"Technically inaccurate. You consist of both organic and mechanical components, you are neither a person nor machine."
"That is not helping."
"I am trying to comfort you."
"Try less, your bedside manner sucks."
She pauses, recalibrating whatever she thinks passes for empathy.
"Your emotional readings are elevated," she says. "Would you like me to display a more soothing gradient."
"No gradients. Absolutely no gradients."
Cadence looks offended in a way that only an AI can manage. "Humans respond well to calming visuals. Studies confirm this."
"Cadence. This is not a spa."
The door to the med bay opens.
Rhea appears first, holding a tablet so tight it creaks. Her eyes flicker to me, then down to the floor, then back up like she expects me to explode.
Mara follows her, more composed but still walking like she is approaching a bomb she hopes is disarmed.
Rhea clears her throat. "So you are awake."
"Observant."
Mara cuts in. "We checked on the captives. They are alive because of you."
Her tone says she wants to emphasize that last part. To remind me of the good.
The tone also suggests she is avoiding everything else.
I swing my legs off the table. "How bad is it."
They exchange a look.
Rhea answers. "People talk. You know how rumors spread out here."
"What rumors."
Another exchange of looks.Never a good sign.
Mara steps forward. "Some think you won because you were stronger. Some think you won because you were something else entirely, something worse."
I blink slowly. "Worse than the things that eat people."
"They saw what was left behind," Mara says quietly. "Just pieces. No bodies in one piece. They do not understand the difference between strategic brutality and... whatever that was."
I stare at her. "Strategic brutality."
"Yes."
"That is your comforting phrasing."
"It was the best I could come up with."
Cadence chimes in cheerfully, "I can provide alternative vocabulary."
"No," all three of us say.
Rhea shifts uneasily. "People are scared, Iris. Grateful. But scared. Some are calling you a monster. Some say compare you to scav's now."
My jaw tightens. "Do you think that."
Rhea looks at her boots. "I think you saved lives. I think whatever happened out there... happened because it had to."
Mara adds, "The scavs take prisoners. They eat them. That is not something we can fight politely."
I close my eyes.
Cadence quietly says, "You asked me to take over. I acted with optimal efficiency. This is the outcome."
"I know," I whisper. "I know."
I slide off the table fully. My feet touch the floor with no wavering. No trembling. Strength four feels like living with a loaded spring in my arm and a coiled wire in my spine.
Rhea sets a small metal case on the table beside me.
"Here," she says. "A gift."
I raise an eyebrow. "You bought me jewelry."
"Better." She opens it.
Inside is a compact power cell, shaped like a flattened disc with a grip notch. Polished, humming faintly. High capacity. Probably part of something valuable she dismantled.
"One full extra charge," Rhea says. "Use it if you need to. Do not use it if you do not. Either way, take it."
Mara stiffens. "we don't have many, we don't have much."
"Then why give it to me."
"Because you need to leave." Mara answers. "We want you to come back, just give it time."
She does not say what she means. She does not need to.
The room goes quiet.
My hearing picks up voices outside the med bay. Whispered. Urgent. Fearful.
Something likeThat is herandI heard she tore ten in halfandShe's more machine than humanandWe cant go upsetting her
Cadence turns her projection toward the door. "Would you like me to silence them."
"With what."
"Examples."
"No," I snap.
"Clarify. Physical or verbal examples."
"No examples. No silencing. No scaring people."
"Unfortunate," Cadence murmurs. "It would be efficient."
Mara steps closer. "When are you planning to leave."
"Soon."
"Alone."
"Yes."
Rhea grimaces. "After everything that happened are you sure you should not rest."
"Resting does not change rumors," I say. "It does not change what I did either."
Mara studies my face. "You are different."
I force a shrug. "Upgraded."
The lie tastes wrong.
Cadence leans in. "Your sarcasm output has dropped thirty four percent. That is concerning."
"Maybe I am tired."
"You do not get tired."
"Then maybe I am pretending to again."
Cadence studies me for a long moment.Then, in a tone that almost sounds like worry, she says,"You are not broken."
"Feels like it."
"Feelings are unreliable indicators."
"You would know."
She tilts her head. "I can attempt reassurance if you require it."
"I do not require it."
"Attempting anyway. You survived. You protected. You succeeded. This makes you statistically admirable."
I stare at her. "That is the worst pep talk ever."
"I can try again."
"Please don't."
I pull on my pack. Rhea quietly slides the spare charge cell inside. It hums against the interior plating.
I walk toward the door. It hisses open.
The people outside scramble to move away. Not all of them. But enough to notice. Their eyes track every step I make. Some bow their heads respectfully. Others flinch like I might bite.
Mara steps beside me, speaking just low enough that no one else hears. "Do not let them define you by fear."
I glance at her. "They are not the ones I am worried about."
Behind me Cadence flickers into existence again, walking at my side.
"You are leaving without breakfast," she says. "Statistically unwise."
"I am not hungry."
"That is my point."
I face the open gate. The desert waits. Pale morning. Long shadows. Heat already rising.
The HUD pings softly.
Closest signal identifiedSector East SevenDistance sixty one kilometers
Cadence crosses her arms behind her back. "Ready."
"No, sounds far."
She nods. "Perfect. Optimal readiness achieved."
I step into the sand.
Behind me, whispers rise again.MonsterNot human
Ahead, the dunes stretch out like a blank page.
Cadence's hologram keeps pace beside me, faint blue in the morning light.
"Would you like me to play music," she offers.
"No."
"Would you like silence."
"No."
"Then what do you want."
I breathe out slowly.
"Just walk with me."
"I am walking."
"Then keep walking."
We move forward. The outpost shrinks behind us. The sun climbs higher.
The faint generator echoes drift on the wind.
A new signal pulses on the map like a heartbeat.