Your emergency bracelet wakes you with a needle in the wrist. Above your bunk, the rescue manifest lists eight survivors. The pulse monitor shows nine heartbeats. One of them is inside the wall. You pull the needle out. Across the sleeping compartment, a woman presses her bare feet against a door. Something pushes from the other side, gently, as if checking whether she is still there. Her name patch reads SATO. She sees you looking at the monitor and shakes her head. The ninth heartbeat stops. Yours appears twice. The door speaker clicks. Your own voice asks her to let you out. You have not spoken yet.
Eight survivors. Nine heartbeats. Something aboard your rescue ship is learning to sound human.
Listen closely. Choose carefully. Carry the consequences.
Every path leaves a different story.