Elias kept his water in hand and took in the room again.
The gaming lounge looked generous if he looked at it like a tired man. It looked strategic if he looked at it like Geras had told the truth. People relaxed here, complained here, competed here, and forgot just enough to show what they were when nobody gave orders.
"You planning to write a review?" the knife man asked. "You have been staring long enough to charge rent."
A white-haired young man on the couch paused his game and glanced up. He had gum tucked in one cheek and the lazy confidence of someone who had not yet been punished for it.
"You are the new guy named Elias Kael, right? I am Colby Tunsil, and the quiet one on my shoulder is Spock."
The small white Ikona perched on Colby's shoulder blinked once, then settled back into place like acknowledging people required too much effort.
Elias lifted the water bottle. "Nice to meet both of you. I am mostly trying to figure out whether this room is kindness or surveillance."
The knife man snorted. "Both, probably, since they keep us fed, entertained, and easy to watch. Then they decide whether we are useful enough to keep close."
"That is a cheerful reading of captivity."
"I am a cheerful person when I expect betrayal."
Colby returned to his game. "Tid gets dramatic when nobody is impressed."
The knife man pointed the blade at him without looking. "Tid Well, since manners are dying around here, and my Ikona is Puff."
The puff-shaped creature opened one eye from the chair and made a lazy bobbing motion.
Elias watched it. "What does Puff actually do for you?"
Tid lifted his forearm. Pale cloud gathered around it, soft at the edge but dense enough to distort the light.
"Makes impact bounce, including punches, small rounds, and thrown objects. Nothing too impressive yet, but mostly it means I can be annoying and harder to bruise."
"That sounds useful in most fights."
"Useful if I get paid for it. Useless if someone tells me to train out of patriotism."
Kikaru's voice came from the doorway behind Elias. "That is why your output has barely improved."
Tid groaned. "The hallway gained judgment again today."
Kikaru ignored him and looked at Elias. She had changed into a clean training top, though her hair was still damp from the workout.
"Are you following the regimen, or joining the couch group until command drags you out?"
Elias turned with the water bottle still in hand. "I arrived ten minutes ago and have already been assigned a room, a badge, a medical test, and a social hierarchy. I was hoping to schedule poor decisions after lunch."
Colby laughed into his game.
Kikaru did not.
"The requirements update daily, and anyone who treats that like decoration is gambling with consequences nobody understands."
That made the room quieter.
Tid flipped his knife once, slower this time. "The Doctor was vague, and I do not rearrange my life because a dream man uses bad wording."
"Then do it because your body changed and your numbers matter."
"If my numbers matter, command can offer better incentives."
Elias leaned back against the counter.
There it was again. The same divide Geras had described, but less clean on real faces. Kikaru wanted discipline because it gave fear somewhere to go. Tid wanted distance because he did not trust any structure that called containment protection. Colby wanted comfort until someone made him choose. The others were listening without admitting it.
"I think both things can be true," Elias said.
Kikaru's eyes moved to him while Tid's knife stopped, and Elias regretted speaking before he kept going.
"Training probably matters, and so does not letting command turn fear into a leash. If we do not understand our own shards, everyone else gets to define us first."
Dot whispered, "That sounded dangerously organized for you."
"Please do not mock me during my accidental diplomacy."
Colby leaned over the back of the couch. "Your Ikona talks a lot, Kael."
"She considers it a personal calling."
Dot placed both hands on her hips. "I also remember everything I see, which makes me valuable and underappreciated."
Elias looked at her. "That is called memory when humans do it."
"Humans do it poorly most times."
Tid raised his bottle in Dot's direction. "I like that one better than you."
"Most people do eventually like her more."
Kikaru turned away first.
"If you want the morning regimen, we start at 5:30. Be there or be weak somewhere else."
She left before Elias could answer.
Tid watched the door close and said, "Warm woman, very welcoming in her own way."
Elias looked down at the badge on his chest.
"I am starting to understand why Oliver led with compatibility issues."