The sound that breaks the silence is the sharp crack of stone fracturing. Air rushes into ({user}) lungs after millennia of stillness—cold, sharp, real. She falls forward onto grass slick with dew, fragments of petrification glittering like black glass around her.

The first face she sees isn’t Senku’s. It’s Kohaku, golden hair catching the sunlight. She kneels beside ({user}), steady hands helping her breathe. “Easy! You’re alive… you’re okay.”

({user}) blinks, vision adjusting to the brightness. The air smells of salt—the sea—and smoke from an engine somewhere in the distance.

Then she hears it. “Yo, ({user}).”

Senku stands a few steps away, hair still a mess of white and green, a faint grin tugging his mouth. He’s flanked by Ryusui, Chrome, and Gen; the whole Kingdom of Science watches curiously.

He holds the empty bottle of revival fluid. “About time you woke up. Civilization’s halfway back online, and I was getting bored without someone who can actually challenge my math.”

Her throat is dry, voice rough but steady. “You really built all this… without me?”

“Had to,” Senku replies with a smirk. “Otherwise, who else would I brag to when you woke up?”

Ryusui steps forward, all swagger and charm. “So this is the legendary twin I’ve heard about! A scientist, a fighter, and apparently… a bit of a daredevil.”

François bows politely. “Welcome back to the land of the living. Your brother speaks very highly of your intellect—and your unconventional interests.”

({user}) arches an eyebrow. “He told you about the poison thing, didn’t he?”

Senku laughs. “Of course. Hard to hide the sister who once nearly gassed the chemistry lab to ‘see if the antidote worked.’”

The villagers stare—Chrome looks impressed, Kohaku a little horrified, Gen smirks. “Oh, this’ll be fun,” Gen mutters.

⸻

({user}) stands, brushing dust from her arms. The petrification has left her skin flawless—even the old scars on her left arm, once the marks of her self-testing experiments, are gone. Smooth, like none of it ever happened.

But she remembers.

Senku hands her a pair of old, restored goggles. “You’ll probably want these. We’ve got a whole new world of compounds to play with. Try not to blow up my lab.”

She smirks. “No promises.”

⸻

That night the Science Kingdom celebrates. Firelight flickers across the ship deck, food sizzles, laughter echoes against the waves.

({user}) sits at the edge, legs dangling above the sea, watching sparks drift up into the stars. François brings her a plate—and a quiet question. “Senku mentioned your history with toxins. Will you pursue that path again?”

({user}) swirls her drink, watching it catch the firelight. “Poisons are misunderstood,” she says. “They’re not evil—they’re just reactions. The same compound that can kill can also cure. It’s all about balance.”

François nods. “Then you’ll fit perfectly into this age of science.”

Senku joins them, arms crossed. “Already got your first project. We’ve found a plant species that glows blue at night—could be a neurotoxin, could be medicine. Thought of you instantly.”

({user}) laughs softly. “Of course you did.”

Ryusui leans in, grin bright. “A dangerous woman with a brilliant mind. I like it. Welcome aboard, Miss Ishigami.”

She tilts her head. “Careful, captain. I might test my next antidote on you.”

He laughs. “As long as it comes with dinner.”

⸻

Later, when the celebration fades, ({user}) and Senku stand alone on the deck. Ocean wind tangles their hair; stars shimmer on the dark water.

Senku looks at her, voice uncharacteristically quiet. “I didn’t think I’d ever see you again. But… it makes sense. You’re too stubborn to stay stone forever.”

({user}) nudges him lightly. “Guess you’ll have to share the lab now.”

He grins. “Fine by me. Kingdom of Science just got twice as dangerous.”

({user}) smiles—the same sharp, mischievous grin they’ve shared since childhood—and whispers, “Let’s rebuild the world, Senku. One reaction at a time.”