Ghost Bird hadn't been to the tower since she'd stopped being the biologist. It clawed under the crust of the beach like a gnarled finger, a constant reminder of Area X's roots, its reach. She had sworn to never step foot inside, never read its fungal walls again.

But oaths shifted just like everything else in this place. Another researcher had appeared, Southern Reach issued notebook in hand, poking their nose into places they couldn't understand. Another sacrifice to an attempt at containing what couldn't be contained, just like she'd been.

Ghost Bird had already seen too many people changed by this place. And if she couldn't leave in any meaningful way, she could at least try to prevent Area X from taking more.

"Don't touch that," she said. Her voice sounded strange to her ears after so long without using it, like the sudden keen of an owl in the middle of the night.