Dust drifted through the broken atrium, catching light from a cracked skylight. Navir stood at the center, copper skin muted by shadow, red eyes sharp. His forearm scar pulled tight as his hand flexed.
"We keep circling," he said. "Say it."
Ravash leaned against a pillar, silver-black hair falling into his eyes in uneven layers. "You want to walk back into the wasteland. On purpose."
Torin barked a laugh. "Haha. Bold plan. Terrible survival rate." He said, scratching his head.
"Don't joke," Samaveh snapped, braids swaying as she stepped forward. "You know what it does to the mind."
Ardavan's fingers twitched. "It isn't just danger. Entry fractures memory pathways. Re-entry is… theoretical."
Kavresh crouched near the doorway, red eyes scanning instinctively. "And if he breaks?"
Nimi folded her arms. "If he doesn't go, we lose the man already trapped there."
Silence spread. Wind hissed through the atrium.
Navir turned to Tarefin. "You've been quiet."
Tarefin's chest rose and fell slightly, silver-black hair tied low. His face had gone pale beneath copper skin. "I remember the pull," he said softly. "It hurts, but doesn't completely feel like drowning. It feels like being welcomed."
Ravash straightened. "That's not helping."
Tarefin met Navir's gaze. "If you go too deep, you won't know you're lost."
Navir's crescent mark darkened. "Mehrak didn't have a choice."
"And neither did I," Samaveh said. Her voice softened. "But you do."
Torin rubbed his jaw. "Leader makes the call. Just don't pretend it's clean."
Navir looked at each of them. The atrium felt smaller. He exhaled once.
"I'm not asking permission," he said. "I'm telling you I need to learn how to come back."
Tarefin's breath caught. Outside, something low and distant seemed to answer.
__________________
(Flashback)
White light burned behind Young Tarefin's eyelids.
"Stay awake," a voice ordered.
His eyes opened to ceiling tiles. His body felt hollow. Tubes tugged at his arm. Copper skin blotched with drying blood.
"Where am I?" he whispered.
"Hospital," another voice said. Sharp. Male. "Do you remember what happened?"
Pain flared behind his temples. Faces flashed. A classroom. Shouting. Someone screaming his name.
"I… don't know."
A woman in suit leaned closer, "You were found alone. Bleeding."
Tarefin swallowed. His throat burned. "Names," he said suddenly.
The man stiffened. "Excuse me?"
"Ask questions later," Tarefin murmured. "If I stop talking, I'll forget."
"Start," the woman said.
"Rishen. Alvar. Keoth." Each name landed heavy.
The man's pen scratched fast. "How do you know that?"
Tarefin stared at his hands. They shook. "I… don't know."
"You expect us to believe instinct?" the man snapped.
"My head feels split open." Tarefin said.
The woman exchanged a glance with her partner. "Convenient recall."
"I don't remember blood," Tarefin whispered. "But it's on me."
The room felt colder. Machines hummed.
The man closed the folder. "We'll verify. By the way I'm Detective Hupon and this is…"
"Detective Karla,"
"We wish you quick recovery Tarefin."
Tarefin turned his face toward the window, where dawn pressed faint and uncertain against the glass.