[Riven's POV]
The first night in the Scar Zone taught Riven that silence was a luxury he could no longer afford.
He sat by the broken window of their makeshift shelter, watching the shadows move between abandoned buildings while Elena's fever finally began to break. The medical kit from his system shop had done its work, but she still needed rest before she'd be capable of serious travel.
If we live that long, he thought, tracking movement in his peripheral vision.
---
[Enhanced Emotional Detection Active]
[Multiple hostile presences detected]
[Emotional signatures: Anger, Hunger ]
[Warning: Entities showing higher intelligence than previous encounters]
---
Whatever was out there wasn't just prowling randomly.
The emotional signatures his system detected suggested deliberate reconnaissance, studying their position and looking for weaknesses.
They're learning about us, Riven realized. Testing our defenses, maybe.
