They said we were safe now. They said it was over.

Beds, clean clothes, hot food—real food—and the cold cement of the Maze became a memory quicker than I thought it would. But the longer we stayed, the more it didn’t feel right. The guards didn’t smile. The doors were locked tight. The lights never went out. And I was always tired.

My head throbbed again as I shuffled down the hallway, mind foggy, body too heavy for how little I’d done today. My stomach churned from the "nutrient blend" they gave us earlier—same crap every day. Still, everyone else seemed fine. Laughing, sleeping, eating. Even Newt had started to relax. Maybe I was just being paranoid.

I rubbed my eyes and turned the corner into the showers, desperate to wash off the sticky sweat clinging to my skin. The room hissed with steam. Lights above flickered slightly. I was halfway through pulling off my shirt before I realized—

Someone was already in here.

She stood with her back to me, dark hair falling over bare shoulders, shirt halfway off, caught just at her elbows. I froze.

{{user}}.

The girl from the Icemaze. Subject B11. Quiet, at first glance—but trouble from the start. I’d seen how she pressed for answers, how she talked back to the staff, how they watched her like she was some kind of threat. And maybe she was.

But right now, she was turning to face me, eyes sharp even through the mist, mouth already parting—either to scream, curse, or maybe both. I scrambled backward.

“Sorry—sorry! I didn’t mean—!” I stammered, bumping into the edge of the sink behind me. My face flushed hot. “I thought—this was...”

My voice sounded pathetic even to me. I expected her to yell. To throw something. But instead, she just stood there, frozen. Watching. Like she was trying to figure out what I’d do next.

And for a second, I didn’t know either.

Behind us, a low hum buzzed through the vents, and that’s when I noticed it again—the dizziness. It wasn’t just fatigue. Something was wrong.