Zza staggered through the warped tunnel, her claws scraping along the hot metal, trying to steady herself even though the place kept changing shape around her. The forge breathed in weak pulses, each one rolling through the floor with a dull shudder that rattled her legs. She couldn't tell if it was dying or waking up, and her stomach twisted at the idea that maybe it was doing both.
Buzz drifted beside her, drifting in that uneasy way he had ever since the Mind-Split. His shell flickered with faint gold trails like thin scratches across a dark surface. He kept trying to walk straight, but each step looked like it belonged to a different version of him. One step solid, next one pulled sideways by some memory that didn't belong to him.
"I can feel it trying to write on me," he muttered, swiping the back of his claw across his mandible as if something clung there. "Like someone's editing me in real time. It scratches through my thoughts then wanders off when it gets bored."
