Envi

Earlier…

The drop split us apart.

Sylvi and Juno fell like stones into G Sector, reckless as always. Me? I pulled up. Couldn’t bring myself to dive that deep.

I hovered too long. Faces below started pointing, eyes following me. Too much heat. I swerved out, veered under a collapsed overpass, and slid my V2 into the shadows.

I patted her side, breath still uneven. “Okay, my sweet baby,” I whispered, “stay here. I’ll come back.”

I’d barely taken three steps before a voice cut through the dark.

“Traces detected. Organic, but… altered.”

I spun—

BOOM!

The world tore open behind me. My V2 went up in a fireball, shrapnel raining like knives. The blast threw me to the dirt, lungs locked, ears ringing.

“No…” My hands clawed at the ground, eyes fixed on the burning wreck. “No, no, no…”

“You sure this is the one?”

The voice was casual, almost bored. I turned, vision blurred by smoke. A man stood there with a wide-brim hat dipping low over his face, cigar glowing between his teeth, revolver dangling loose in one hand.

Beside him—a thing. All steel and blade, a red slit of light across its face.

“Scan is required,” it said flatly.

Rage snapped through me, sharp enough to override the shock. I staggered up, fists clenched. “You— You killed my GOAT!”

The man didn’t even blink.

“I’LL KILL YOU!” I lunged.

The machine intercepted, hand clamping around my throat, lifting me like a doll. My legs thrashed, kicking its chest, but it didn’t budge.

“Scan commencing.”

Blue light seared into me, pulling something out of me I didn’t know was there. Then—release. I hit the dirt hard, gasping.

The machine tilted its head. “Not the anomaly. But… altered. Carries traces of exposure.”

“Mm. Figures.” The man crouched near me, smoke curling from his mouth. “Cassian,” he said simply. He jerked his chin toward the machine. “That’s Edison. Don’t worry, he ain’t much of a talker.”

Edison’s voice buzzed. “Correction: I speak when necessary.”

Cassian smirked. “See what I mean?”

I spat dirt, forced myself upright. “Why the hell—why’d you blow my bike up?”

“Precaution,” Cassian said, tapping ash onto the ground. “We’re hunting something. Can’t be too careful.” He studied me, slow, steady. “Tell me, kid. You traveling with anyone?”

I hesitated. My throat tightened. “…Why?”

“Because one of them,” Cassian said, his tone dropping lower, like he was sharing a secret, “ain’t what they seem. Not anymore. Not human.”

The words hit harder than the blast. My mind flashed—Sylvi’s laughter, her warmth. Then Juno. Always Juno. His impossible strength. The way things bent around him. The way people whispered.

I heard my own voice before I realized I’d spoken. “…Juno.”

Cassian’s eyes flicked sharp. “Juno, you say?”

My chest locked. I cursed myself for letting it slip.

Cassian leaned back on his heels, like a man who’d just won a hand he hadn’t even looked at. “Interesting.”

Edison’s voice thrummed. “If anomaly is not neutralized, Solaris falls.”

“See,” Cassian said, rolling his cigar between two fingers, “we’re not asking you to like it. Hell, I don’t. But sometimes you don’t get a choice. You either stop what’s gonna kill this place… or you let it eat everything.”

“I’m not—” my voice cracked, shaking, “I’m not killing my friend.”

I staggered to my feet, ash sticking to my palms. My V2 was nothing but a burning carcass now, sparks spitting into the dirt.

Cassian watched me, smoke trailing lazy from his cigar. “You really don’t get it yet, do you?”

“Get what?” I spat.

“That thing you’re running with. The one you trust.” He let the words roll, not naming names. “It isn’t human anymore.”

The machine beside him hummed, voice flat and certain. “Confirmed. Remnants detected.”

I froze. My heart slammed once, hard.

Cassian tipped his hat back just enough for me to see his eyes. Tired, sharp, cutting right through me. “Here’s the truth, kid. Whatever it used to be, that line’s already gone. And when something like that loses its anchor? It don’t hesitate.”

He let the silence stretch, heavy.

“It’ll take what’s closest. What’s dearest. Without a second thought.”

My jaw locked. Images cracked through me.

Sylvi’s laugh, her hand brushing mine when she thought I wouldn’t notice. 

The way she looked at Juno now, more and more. The way…

The way she looked at me was—

Cassian studied me, saw the hesitation flare across my face. His voice dropped softer, like he was confiding in me alone. 

“Question is—when it comes down to it, you really think you’ll still matter? Or will you just be another thing it takes away?”