"Alright, Ross!" June shouted, projecting her voice so that it carried down the hallways of the base.
Her tone was firm, tinged with urgency. "I don't know if you can hear me, but fine! We agree to your terms. A woman will conduct the test!"
Silence followed for a few heartbeats. The air seemed to grow heavier, charged with anticipation. And then…
A calm, familiar voice spoke from directly behind her.
"Good. It's hard to make friends in this apocalypse."
June's body tensed. She spun around instinctively, her eyes widening in shock.
There he was—Ross, standing there as casually as if he had been there the whole time.
No footsteps, no warning, no indication of how he had moved.
"Was he… always there?!" she muttered under her breath, her mind reeling.
Her pulse quickened as her thoughts raced. Had he been invisible?
Had he silently passed through walls or ignored the very rules of space entirely?
The more she tried to process it, the less sense it made.
