The first thing Torres became aware of was food.
Not consciousness. Not reality. Not his surroundings.
Food.
The smell drifted through the guest bungalow like divine intervention. Fresh bread. Eggs. Rice. Grilled fish. Fruit. Tea. Pancakes. Enough food to trigger survival instincts across multiple generations.
Torres opened one eye. Slowly. Carefully. His head felt heavy. Suspiciously heavy. He blinked once. Then looked upward.
Little Bean's foot rested directly across his forehead.
Torres stared.
"…why am I being occupied."
Little Bean didn't even open his eyes.
"Market confidence."
Torres considered that.
"…reasonable."
Then immediately closed his eyes again.
Across the bungalow, chaos began waking up one victim at a time. Tomas Ibarra woke first after Torres. Mostly because the smell of food reached him. His eyes opened. He looked down. The chopsticks remained in his hand. The half-eaten dumpling remained on the plate.
Tomas stared at both.
"…I respect my commitment."
Then immediately stood. Food first. Questions later.
Viktor Hale sat upright so quickly he nearly launched a pillow across the room.
"Breakfast."
Jun Park opened one eye. Then another. Then quietly sat up. Ren remained wrapped inside Ethan's hoodie. Ethan accepted this without comment. Because honestly, this had become normal. Rafe emerged from his blanket cocoon looking deeply confused, hair standing at three separate angles that defied both gravity and dignity. Lucian adjusted his glasses before even fully opening his eyes. Marcus Calder stretched, joints cracking audibly enough that Jun winced from across the room. Darius Kane blinked toward the ceiling thoughtfully, as though the ceiling owed him an explanation. The Forest twins opened their eyes simultaneously. Again. Nobody was surprised anymore. Everyone remained concerned.
The dining table disaster finally woke. Octavian Vale shifted. Rolled. Then immediately fell off the table. The crash woke half his crew. One cadet sat upright. Looked toward the table. Then toward Octavian.
"The king has fallen."
Octavian closed his eyes.
"I regret everything."
Another cadet pointed toward breakfast.
"The kingdom requires nourishment."
"That's fair."
Within minutes the bungalow transformed from disaster zone into organized chaos. Blankets disappeared. Shoes appeared. People became vaguely presentable. Torres finally managed to sit upright. Unfortunately Little Bean remained attached to him. The younger boy sat calmly beside him holding a datapad already filled with notes.
Torres pointed.
"You were sleeping."
"I was processing."
"You were drooling."
"A tactical pause."
Reasonable answer.
Then the doors opened. Emily entered carrying a tray. The room changed instantly. Because Emily brought food. Actual food. Fresh pastries. Fruit. Tea. The smell hit the room like a tactical strike.
Torres stood so fast he nearly launched Little Bean off the couch.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU LEAD WITH THAT?"
Emily blinked.
"You were asleep."
"THAT IS NOT THE POINT."
Little Bean immediately secured his datapad. Priorities.
The younger generation flooded toward the dining hall. And immediately discovered another problem.
Krysta Benton.
The genius sat comfortably near the center of the breakfast hall looking entirely too pleased with herself, her datapad propped against a teapot like a throne accessory. Cassian Benton sat beside her wearing the expression of someone actively enabling bad decisions. Which was accurate. Very accurate. Between them sat a neat stack of printed photographs, the old-fashioned kind, edges trimmed square, clearly prepared the night before with the sort of dedication usually reserved for final exams.
The moment the younger generation entered, Krysta smiled. Dangerous smile. The room froze.
Torres immediately pointed.
"No."
Krysta smiled wider.
"Oh yes."
A massive holo-screen appeared above the dining tables. The younger generation collectively groaned. Because everybody knew exactly what that meant. Evidence. Historical evidence. Dangerous evidence.
The first picture appeared. Torres. Sleeping. Little Bean's foot directly across his forehead. Silence. Absolute silence. Then the entire room exploded. Lila physically collapsed into a chair laughing. Viktor nearly choked. Rafe turned red. Even Lucian lost the battle against smiling.
Torres pointed dramatically.
"THAT IMAGE HAS BEEN MANIPULATED."
Little Bean looked up.
"No."
"YOU BETRAYED ME."
"I was asleep."
Torres opened his mouth. Then closed it again. Fair.
The next image appeared. The Forest twins. Perfect synchronization. Same position. Same blanket. Same expression. The room immediately looked toward Lysander and Sylas. Both twins blinked. Then looked toward the picture. Then toward each other. Then back toward the picture.
"…interesting," Lysander admitted.
"Concerning," Sylas added.
Torres pointed immediately.
"THANK YOU."
Another image. Octavian's table kingdom. Complete with crew sleeping underneath. The room broke again. One of Octavian's own teammates physically walked away laughing.
Octavian looked offended.
"This was a strategic arrangement."
"No it wasn't."
"It absolutely was."
"You fell asleep on a table."
"The table was comfortable."
Nobody supported him.
Then came Ethan's floor nest. The image showed Ethan, Ren, Viktor, Jun, buried beneath blankets. Ethan's arm still stretched protectively across the others. The room softened immediately. Even Torres stopped talking. Which honestly felt historic. Ren looked down awkwardly. Viktor rubbed the back of his neck. Jun appeared ready to disappear. Ethan looked confused.
"…what."
Nothing. Nobody said anything. The picture spoke for itself.
Then came Tomas. Still holding chopsticks. Still sleeping upright. Still preserving the dumpling. The room immediately lost composure again. Tomas stared at the image. Then nodded.
"I respect that version of me."
Reasonable answer.
By the time Krysta finished, half the room could barely breathe from laughing. The other half wanted to disappear. Krysta looked completely satisfied. Mission accomplished. Cassian looked even more pleased. Because now it was his turn.
The younger Benton stood slowly. Then smiled. The entire room immediately became suspicious. Especially Torres.
"Why are you smiling?"
Cassian pointed toward the windows.
"Because we're going somewhere fun."
Silence. Instant silence. Hana sat up straighter. Mei immediately became interested. Tomas froze. Lucian looked curious. Lila was already standing.
"Where?"
Cassian's smile widened.
"You'll see."
That was not an acceptable answer.
Torres pointed.
"Is it legal?"
Cassian considered.
"…mostly."
The room exploded.
"THAT'S NOT AN ANSWER."
"It answered the question."
"IT ABSOLUTELY DID NOT."
Little Bean quietly opened a new spreadsheet.
"Probability of disaster increasing."
"THAT'S NOT HELPING."
The excitement spread through the room immediately. Questions appeared from every direction. Theories. Guesses. Arguments. Bets. Especially bets. Torres somehow organized three before breakfast ended. Nobody knew how. Nobody stopped him. Rafe attempted, briefly, to introduce a fourth wager involving whether Cassian would survive the morning, and was overruled on the grounds that it wasn't technically a bet if the outcome was guaranteed.
Far above the valley, on the Grand Viewing Platform, the adults watched. Cherry blossoms drifted across the mountain wind. Dragon Lake shimmered below. The Gate of Dragons waited. The Replica waited. And the younger generation gathered near the dining hall entirely unaware of what lay ahead.
Kael leaned comfortably against the railing. Watching. Smiling. Dangerous smile.
Ryven noticed immediately.
"You are enjoying this."
"Maybe."
"You are."
A pause. Then Kael pointed toward the gathering cadets below.
"They have no idea."
Ryven followed his gaze. The younger generation laughed. Argued. Ate breakfast. Made plans. Completely innocent.
For now.
"None," Ryven agreed.
Kael's smile widened. Below them the next generation assembled. Above them an entire mountain waited patiently.
Master Sora arrived at the railing a moment later, tea in hand, and followed Kael's gaze down toward the dining hall without needing to ask what he found so amusing. She had seen that particular expression on enough young officers over enough decades to recognize it immediately.
"You remember your first day here."
Kael didn't look away from the cadets below.
"Vividly."
"Was it this obvious? How little you understood?"
Ryven, without turning, answered for him.
"Yes."
Kael did not argue the point. He simply watched Hana laugh at something Mei said, watched Torres attempt to organize a fourth bet despite the first three, watched Lila already halfway out of her chair before breakfast had technically ended, and felt something settle in his chest that had nothing to do with amusement at all.
And somewhere beyond the Gate of Dragons, the Replica prepared to meet its newest victims.