Elias slept badly and woke worse.
The task window was still there when he opened his eyes.
Task: 200 push-ups, 10 stable manifestations with Dot, and one sparring win. Reward: level increase.
He stared at it until the words blurred.
"What does level increase even mean?"
Dot sat on his chest with her knees tucked under her chin. She looked more awake than he felt.
"Maybe the shard stops treating us like beginners, maybe my objects hold longer, and maybe you stop moving like furniture with opinions."
"That last one is the dream."
He tried to raise his right hand. His left twitched.
Still reversed.
Elias exhaled and slowed down. Intent left, move right. Look down, eyes lift. Reach away, hand comes closer. The logic was miserable, but logic existed. That meant it could be trained.
Dot watched him work through one finger at a time.
"When I do not understand something, I start with what I can control."
Elias looked down at her. "You say that like someone with memories."
"Maybe I lost the story and kept the habit."
That answer was better than either of them expected, and then a knock hit the pod door.
"PT wake-up for the morning schedule," a man's voice called. "Obstacle course after breakfast, so start losing excuses now."
Elias sat up too fast and nearly fell sideways when his body answered wrong. Dot caught a handful of his shirt like that would help.
The door opened enough to show Paul standing outside in the green tracksuit. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and looked like mornings had personally asked his permission to begin.
"You are Elias Kael in A Block, right? Paul Renner here this morning, and I figured I should introduce myself before Kikaru starts yelling through doors."
"Elias Kael, and I would shake your hand, but I might punch the wall by accident."
Paul glanced at his legs. "Reverse penalty from the Doctor tonight?"
"Yes, and I am currently losing a negotiation with my own knees."
"Take your time if you need it, or do not, because the mats start soon either way."
He left the door open and moved down the row to wake someone else.
Getting dressed took twenty minutes.
Elias had to think backward for every motion. Pulling on pants became a tactical exercise. The shirt ended up halfway twisted before Dot stopped laughing long enough to point out that he had put one arm through the wrong opening.
"This is character growth at work," she said.
"This is laundry combat against myself."
By the time he stepped into the main block, the clock read 5:45.
Kikaru and Paul were already near the reinforced wall with medicine balls. Kikaru threw hers with steady violence. Paul matched her rhythm, not as fast but just as controlled. The impacts thudded through the room.
Elias took one careful step.
Then another.
Colby's pod opened to his right. He stepped out mid-yawn, saw Elias upright, and stopped.
"You are walking, which is more surprising than it should be."
"Thank you for your deep faith."
Elias's left foot betrayed him on the next step. His body tipped. Colby caught him by the shoulder before he hit the floor.
"Careful there, because motivational falling still counts as falling."
"I have to complete two hundred push-ups, ten Dot manifestations, and a sparring win before the next cycle, so walking is the warm-up problem."
Colby's eyebrows lifted. "So you got a task too. Mine is less violent, which makes me feel chosen in a better way."
"What did the Doctor say to you?"
Colby looked toward Spock, who sat on his shoulder with both eyes half closed.
"Mostly that comfort is expensive and wind can cut if I stop treating it like a party trick. Spock enjoyed that part too much."
Kikaru caught the medicine ball and turned. "About time you showed up to training."
Elias steadied himself without Colby's help this time.
"You said crawl if necessary, so I upgraded to ugly walking."
"Ugly walking counts until it wastes time, so start with bodyweight control. If your movements are reversed, speed will only make you stupid faster."
Paul tossed Elias a lighter medicine ball. Elias reached for it with the wrong hand, corrected, and barely caught it against his chest.
Kikaru watched the catch and nodded once. "Good, you can learn when forced."
"High praise before sunrise today, noted."
"Do not get used to it," Kikaru said as Dot floated beside Elias's shoulder.
"We need ten objects too, so maybe start with something small enough not to bankrupt our energy."
Elias looked at the medicine ball, then at the mats, then at the task window still waiting at the edge of his vision.
The day had not even started properly, and he already owed it more than he had.