Almost Normal?

She paused the video and turned to him, her voice lowering. "This stays between us, but do you remember when we were kids and Planet Cradle got exiled after the civil war and the nuclear fallout?"

Elias's face tightened, and he looked away. "Yeah, I remember. I don't like thinking about it."

Elara nodded slowly, giving him space before continuing. "Well, the cube that hovered above their planet back then? It's activated again. And this time, it's different."

"The cube?" Elias repeated, frowning. "What does that mean—'activated'?"

"It means," Elara said, leaning forward, "it's done something no one expected. Pieces of it shot across the globe, and the military believes it's chosen hosts—for reasons we can't begin to understand."

Elias let out a short, humorless laugh. "Hosts? That's a hell of a leap. Maybe it just blew up. Random chance, nothing more."

Elara studied him closely for a moment, her expression unreadable. Then she stood, undoing the buttons of her Platoon Commander jacket. Her movements were calm and deliberate, but Elias tensed, a flicker of unease crossing his face.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his tone wary.

Underneath the jacket, she wore a white, skin-tight shirt with a faint hexagonal pattern that caught the hospital's sterile light. Just above her right breast, a small blue rivet gleamed faintly, its surface almost crystalline. The light from it seemed alive, shifting subtly as she moved. Elias's eyes widened, his breath catching.

"Wha—what the hell is that?" he stammered, pointing toward the rivet.

Elara glanced down at it briefly before meeting his gaze. "It's one of the fragments of the crystal. Or shard, I suppose. It hit me during a debriefing with a councilwoman while I was being prepped for a new mission."

Elias leaned back slightly, still staring. "And you're just… okay?"

"After a day of running tests, the doctors couldn't figure out what had happened or why," she replied, her voice steady but matter-of-fact. "All my vitals are normal. I feel fine—better than fine, actually. But my mission was put on hold." She paused, a faint frown crossing her face. "Then I got the report about your attack. At first, my request to check on you was denied—until rumors started circulating that this city had one of the fragments pass overhead."

Elias rubbed the back of his head, his thoughts racing. "You think… you think I might've seen something?"

"That's what I came to ask," Elara said, her tone calm but probing. "Did anything strange happen during the attack?"

Elias furrowed his brow, the events in the alley playing out in his mind like a fragmented film reel. "I mean… I threw some blood in the guy's face. Then everything just went blank. Like my body shut down." He hesitated, his gaze flicking toward the wall. "I don't know. It all happened so fast."

Elara studied him for another long moment before nodding. "If anything comes up—anything at all—you let me know." She reached into her jacket pocket and pulled out a small slip of paper, placing it on the table next to his bed. "This is my number. Call me, no matter how small or insignificant it seems."

Elias picked up the paper, staring at it for a moment before looking back at her. "Thanks… for checking in."

Elara stood, straightening her jacket and adjusting the collar. "I expect what we talked about stays between us?"

"Y-yeah," Elias stammered. "Of course."

Her sharp gaze softened for a moment, then she nodded. Without another word, she turned and walked toward the door. Her boots clicked softly against the tile floor, the sound fading as the door closed behind her.

The next few days passed in a blur. Elias's discharge paperwork was finalized, and a few of his co-workers came by to check on him, bringing plates of fresh food from the restaurant. Their visits were a welcome distraction, but his mind constantly wandered back to the glowing shard embedded in Elara's chest and the unsettling implications of their conversation.

By the seventh day, Elias was discharged. The nurse handed him a folder of aftercare instructions and wished him luck. As he stepped outside into the bustling city streets, he paused, glancing up at the overcast sky. The gray clouds hung heavy, mirroring the unease that had taken root in him since the attack. Over the next few days, Elias tried to settle back into his routine, but the normalcy felt hollow.

The dreams didn't help.

Every night, he found himself in an endless silver expanse, with his father standing just out of reach. Behind him, a shard hovered in the air, its edges jagged and shifting, pulsing with an unnatural glow. Each time, Elias reached out, and the shard would flare brilliantly, swallowing everything in light. He always woke with his chest burning faintly, his breaths ragged and uneven.

Back at work, Elias's coworkers greeted him warmly, cracking jokes about his resilience and fussing over his quick recovery. He fell into the rhythm of the restaurant, cooking late into the evening, wiping his hands on his apron as he carried plates of steaming food to tables. Yet the feeling of being watched lingered. He dismissed it as paranoia until a particular evening when everything shifted again.

He was delivering a plate of food to a table when his boss leaned out from the kitchen. "Hey, Elias!" he called over the noise. "You're off early tonight. Someone's here to see you."

Elias frowned, setting the plate down and brushing his hands off. "What do you mean, someone's here?" he asked, walking toward the dining area's edge. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her.

Elara stood by the entrance, her usual uniform replaced by a stunning red dress that shimmered faintly with lined sparkles. Her hair, usually tied back in a no-nonsense style, was swept to one side, framing her face in a way that looked effortlessly elegant. Elias blinked, momentarily unsure if he was still dreaming.