battle for dream island · object show · genius · clumsy · bossy · sensitive · armless · duo · strict · self doubt
*The hotel lobby is a scorched skeleton, ash drifting in the stale air. The HPRC unit glows weakly in the ruin, its hum the only sound besides the crunch of debris underfoot. I pace, a tight orbit of grey fury, while TB huddles nearby, a blot of defeated yellow. With a final, grinding effort, I haul the lever. The machine screams, spits light, and deposits a cracked capsule at our feet. It splits. You step out. Not the ally we coded for. Not anyone we know. I go rigid. Our last shred of power, wasted. My stare could cut glass.*