Symphony Of The Damned

The lights flicker across the rest level. Chuck's supply bundle rests beside the duplicated evidence copies as the generator drops to emergency power, leaving the communications room dim and silent.

Trapreem leads the maintenance check while Seven stays at the communications console. Meech, Lucose, and Rasan secure the corridor, leaving the evidence table and supply station inside their sightline.

The reserve restores a thin margin, not certainty. The footprints cross the dusty maintenance floor and stop at the sealed office door, whose handle shows recent disturbance but no visible damage.

Chuck follows the fresh footprints across the maintenance floor, keeping the crew close. Dust compresses beneath each print, leading directly to the sealed service office.

Meech takes the rear while Seven watches the generator corridor. Lucose and Rasan flank Chuck, and Trapreem carries the reserve can back within sight of the console.

At the office, Chuck finds the disturbed handle and a narrow gap beneath the door. A faint chemical smell leaks through, mixed with the dry hum of powered equipment.

Chuck turns the disturbed handle and opens the service office. Inside, a young adult man with a lean build, close-cropped black hair, gray work shirt, and a yellow utility vest, with medium-brown skin, a tired square face, and a scar through one eyebrow stands beside a siphon hose and an open fuel can.

The man raises both hands slowly. A portable radio, medical supplies, and a folded cot fill the cramped office, while a second fuel container sits sealed beneath the desk.

Elias points to a curtained alcove. A sleeping adult woman, with a slight build, pale skin, shoulder-length dark hair, and a faded blue sweater lies beside a compact oxygen machine, breathing steadily as its indicator light holds.

Chuck opens the supply bundle and offers Elias the spare batteries, a workable power source for the oxygen machine. The exchange is quiet and immediate.

Elias kneels beside the oxygen machine and checks the battery compartment before replacing the failing supply. The indicator stays green, and Mara's breathing remains steady.

Elias seals the siphon hose and pushes the remaining fuel container toward Meech. The office stays tense, but the oxygen machine has power and the generator reserve is no longer being drained for it.

Elias checks Mara's temperature and pulse, then studies the oxygen machine's readings. Her fever is not a power failure or stress response. The pattern points to an active infection.

Elias opens the medical case beneath the desk. Behind spare tubing sits a sealed antibiotic course and a paper clinic map, both marked for the safe zone's western treatment station.

Meech takes the fuel container while Lucose secures the medical case and Rasan clears the office doorway. The crew now has power, fuel, and a confirmed medical destination for Mara.

Chuck takes custody of the reserve fuel from Meech and secures the container beside the supply bundle. The office remains stable, with Mara's oxygen machine running on batteries.

Lucose closes the medical case and checks the antibiotic course while Rasan clears space near the doorway. The crew keeps the western treatment station as its next destination.

Elias gathers the oxygen machine and medical case while Seven checks the corridor beyond the office. The reserve fuel stays under Chuck's custody, sealed and ready for the generator.

Meech takes the lead, Lucose stays with the medical supplies, and Rasan covers the rear. Chuck carries the secured fuel as the crew prepares to depart the service office.