Dot went quiet while Elias washed the pan.
That worried him more than the talking had. She hovered above the sink with both hands pressed against her chest, eyes fixed on something he could not see. The light along her shell dimmed until she looked almost flat against the kitchen air.
"Dot, talk to me before I assume the salmon killed you."
She did not laugh. The watch on the counter ticked backward once, and the kitchen dropped away.
Elias landed on his feet in the pale space where he had first met her. This time the room had a center. A narrow path ran forward through the light, and an old man stood at the end of it with one hand wrapped around a cane.
His lab coat was torn. Dried blood marked one sleeve. His beard had gone mostly white, and exhaustion bent him more than age did.
Dot drifted beside Elias, small and rigid. "That is the doctor from my memory," she whispered.
The old man looked at Dot first.
"My Ikona found a host, which means at least one piece of the work survived," he said.
Elias stepped in front of Dot before thinking about whether that helped.
"Name yourself before you start sounding proud of this."
The old man gave him a tired look. "I am a recording with manners, not the man himself. The name will come when you have earned the danger attached to it."
"That is not an answer to me."
"No, it is a boundary for now."
A transparent panel opened between them, built from pale lines and numbers. Elias tried to step away from it, but the panel followed his sight.
The doctor recording tapped his cane once.
"Each host has begun at a different threshold. Yours is damaged, unusual, and late. That may save you or ruin you."
The panel changed.
REQUIREMENTS NEEDED TO ADVANCE
Strength: 15/100
Speed: 15/100
Intelligence: 5/100
Endurance: 10/100
Perception: 12/100
Instinct: 18/100
Elias read the list twice.
"Those numbers are requirements, so where am I actually starting?"
The doctor recording looked almost amused. "That is the better question from you."
A second list appeared below the first.
CURRENT CORE METRICS
Strength: 5/100
Speed: 3/100
Intelligence: 25/100
Endurance: 25/100
Perception: 2/100
Instinct: 50/100
Elias stared at the numbers.
"I do not know whether to be insulted by Speed or worried about Instinct."
"Both reactions are reasonable for those numbers," Dot said faintly.
The doctor's cane struck the floor again.
"Every cycle, the shard and Ikona bond will check whether the host has reached the next threshold. You will not receive a complete explanation now, but you will receive enough pressure to move, build the body, sharpen the mind, and trust the bond only after testing it."
Elias looked up from the panel. "Why force this on people at all?"
"Because asking was no longer available."
The answer was too human. That made it worse.
Dot moved forward, voice small but steady. "Did you make me to save him?"
The recording softened when it looked at her.
"I made you to find the one who could continue after failure. Saving him was your first choice, not mine. Remember that if anyone tries to call you only a tool."
Dot's face twisted with grief she did not have memories to explain.
Elias felt anger rise, clean and useful.
"You do not get to give her comfort after cutting her memory apart."
"No, I do not get to do that," the recording said.
The pale room began to break at the edges.
"Ninety nine other hosts have received their own version of this message," the doctor said. "Some will be kind, some will be frightened, and some will be hungry before they know what they are hungry for. Do not assume every bearer is an ally because they were chosen by the same disaster."
"What am I supposed to do with that?"
"Live long enough to ask better questions," the recording said, and the room folded.
Elias came back to his kitchen with water still running over the pan. His phone buzzed on the counter. The stat panel remained in front of his eyes for three seconds, then faded to the edge of his vision like a memory waiting to be called.
Dot floated beside the sink with both arms wrapped around herself.
"He was the doctor from my memory," she said. "I do not remember loving him, but my body does."
"Then we take that memory slowly."
The phone buzzed again with Elara on the screen, and Elias answered before the third vibration.
"Did it happen to you too?" Elara asked. Her voice was controlled, but only barely. "A man appeared, gave numbers, and said there were other hosts."
"Yes, I saw requirements, current metrics, and an inspirational threat about living long enough."
She breathed out. "The government is moving already, and I can hear orders outside my quarters."
A hard knock hit Elias's front door.
He looked at Dot. She wiped at her face with both hands and nodded once.
"Someone is at my door right now," Elias said. "If this is Geras, I am going."
"Elias, wait until I can get there."
"You cannot keep being the only door I trust. I will call when I can."
He ended the call before she could turn concern into an order.
Two men stood outside in plain clothes with PCA badges clipped at their belts. No sunglasses indoors. No weapons in hand. That made them look more serious, not less.
The taller one held out a sealed card.
"Elias Kael, Geras Vorn instructed us to deliver this if you remained at this address. A transport leaves in one hour for candidate intake, and you may ride voluntarily. On arrival, you will be separated for individual processing under his authority."
Elias took the card. Coordinates. Time. No slogan, no seal big enough to impress civilians.
"And if I decline the ride?"
"Then tomorrow's team will have different instructions."
Honest, at least. He shut the door and packed in twelve minutes.
Three shirts. Socks. Pain medication. Phone charger. Knife roll, after a long pause. Dorian's watch went into the inside pocket of his jacket. The framed photo from the study went into the bag wrapped in a towel.
Dot hovered near the bedroom door.
"You are sad about leaving the kitchen."
"I worked years to become someone useful in that kitchen. Good pay, good crew, food that made sense when people did not."
"You can still be that person."
Elias zipped the bag.
"Maybe, but right now that person is being hunted by a math screen and a dead man's promise."
He stopped at Dorian's shelf before leaving. The candle was gone, but a ring of wax remained.
"I hope this counts as trying," he said.
Dot settled on his shoulder, visible only to him.
Elias left the apartment before he could find another reason to stay.