Chapter Text
As the simulation faded into blinding white, Mio slowly came to. It felt like resurfacing from the depths of a dream she'd been trapped in for days. Her limbs were heavy, her head pounding and thoughts muddled but the pressure behind her eyes told her this was real. Finally, painfully real. Blinking against the harsh light of the lab, she pushed herself up on shaky arms, the weight of her body unfamiliar after being disconnected from it for so long.
Across the room, Rader slumped against the remains of the machine. His hair disheveled, his face bruised, a mix of sweat and rage clinging to his features. For a moment, he just stared at her with raw disbelief.
“My machine... my life’s work.” He fixed her with an accusing stare. “You ruined everything!”
“Oh, shut up.”
Even if he’d stolen every single one of their ideas, Mio doubted he could turn them into anything meaningful. He had twisted their creations, stripping them of what made them special and it was obvious he didn’t understand them properly. What once had depth and purpose was now reduced to something shallow. This was the outcome he brought on himself, a fitting end for someone manipulative and eager to claim what was never his.
She looked over at Zoe who was being oddly quiet to find her still lying on her side with her eyes closed.
"Zoe?" Mio gently nudged her shoulder. "Hey, wake up."
But Zoe remained still, her body unmoving. Mio's eyes darted around the room, catching sight of others stirring, confused and disoriented. The distant wail of police sirens echoed from the plaza outside the Rader headquarters, adding to the growing sense of unease. Panic began to creep up inside her. Something was wrong. With a quick motion, she scooted closer to Zoe, shaking her gently, hoping she was just a heavy sleeper and that her rising anxiety was unwarranted.
"Zoe… can you hear me?" She nudged her shoulder again but there was no response. She leaned closer, listening. Waiting.
Nothing.
No rise of her chest. No breath against her cheek.
"She's not breathing." The words came out shaky, barely louder than a breath. She pressed two fingers to Zoe’s neck, searching for a pulse. Nothing.
For a split second, panic clutched at her chest but instinct took over. She remembered the basics of first aid, a skill she'd picked up thinking she might need it one day for her dad. She hadn’t imagined this.
She yelled for someone to call an ambulance, her voice cutting through the rising hum of confusion. Someone took off running, footsteps fading down the hall, but she didn’t look up. Her attention stayed locked on what mattered most. Keeping Zoe alive.
Thirty compressions. Two breaths. Again and again.
"Come on," she whispered. Her arms were shaking now, tears stinging her eyes. "Don’t do this."
She kept going. Minutes passed. Or hours, it was impossible to tell, but she didn't stop until she could hear voices and rushed footsteps coming down the hall.
The police stormed in, their voices loud and commanding as they moved through the room. Rader was quickly restrained and led away in handcuffs, offering little resistance. Amid the chaos, Mio barely registered what was happening around her until one of them gently pulled her away from Zoe. You've done enough, let them help her now.
In the blink of an eye, a whole team of paramedics appeared around Zoe's unmoving form.
The officer who pulled her away told her she needed to come with them. She was taken to the station where she was sat under harsh fluorescent lights, the adrenaline wearing off and leaving a hollow ache in its place. The questions came quickly; what had happened, who was involved, what did she see? She answered everything as best she could, giving them a detailed account of the events that led up to the moment the police arrived.
As she spoke, her mind wandered, each word feeling distant as if it weren’t her own voice recounting the events. It was as though someone else was telling the story. All she could think about was Zoe and whether she was okay, whether the paramedics had arrived in time, whether her efforts had made any difference at all.
All she could do was hope that Zoe was alright.
It was late when she finally returned home. She moved back home when her dad got sick. It didn’t make sense to keep renting an apartment when they needed every single penny they could get. The living room light was still on and as she peeked inside she found her dad asleep on the couch, the TV humming quietly in the background. He must’ve stayed up waiting for her, probably worried about why she hadn’t answered his calls all day. She didn’t want to wake him, so instead she left a note on the coffee table apologizing and promising to explain everything in the morning.
She quietly climbed upstairs to her room and went to bed but when she lied down the room felt too quiet after everything that happened that day. Her thoughts wouldn’t stop spiraling, replaying one moment after another in her mind’s eye, refusing to let her rest. Staring at the ceiling, a weight settled heavily in her chest.
Zoe. This morning they had barely known each other. Two strangers, passing through the same space, each wrapped up in their own world. And then Mio ended up in Zoe’s bubble. They had discovered something in each other, a connection and a shared purpose and in that, they became more than just friends. They became allies, united in a fight to protect their ideas.
In just a single day, Zoe had become one of the most important people in her life and now she was lying in the hospital. Mio squeezed her eyes shut trying to block out the memory of flashing red and blue lights. Their hard-won victory had barely settled in before it was torn away, replaced with the weight of worry and guilt. It should have felt like a triumph. Instead, it felt like a loss she didn’t know how to carry.
She pulled her blanket up her nose, thoughts reeling.
A soothing sound of water gently flowing around her. A fluid rhythm that sounds almost like a melody.
The feeling of something brushing gently against her leg.
Soft teal glow, like moonlit ocean glass. A soft chime. Familiar and inviting.
Come find me.
It’s been three days since the Rader accident. She visited Zoe in the hospital the day before when she was out of the ICU only to find out that she was in a coma. She was lying motionless in the hospital bed, her face pale and still beneath the soft hum of fluorescent lights. Her chest rising and falling in a slow, mechanical rhythm, guided by the machines keeping her body going. A thin oxygen tube runs under her nose, and IV lines thread into her arms. Her blond hair still in a bun but now made messy against the pillow, untouched since the day she slipped into the coma. She looks so quiet and unlike herself now.
As she came back home from the visit instead of going through the front door she circled around the house to the garage. She had a feeling that was where she would find her dad.
The garage smelled like motor oil and strong coffee, the same as it always had. The door was propped open, letting in the soft hum of the late afternoon. Tools were scattered across the workbench in their usual organized mess, though he hadn’t touched them much lately. Still, he kept the place looking busy, like denial could live in the clutter.
She peeked her head inside and spotted him near the back, sitting on a low stool beside an old bike, wiping down a wrench he hadn’t used.
“Hey, kiddo,” he said looking up. His voice had that same scratchy warmth, though weaker now. A little hollow.
“Are you working or pretending again?” Mio asked teasingly.
“Depends. Are you here to criticize or admire my craftsmanship?”
She cracked a smile and moved closer, crouching down beside him. Up close, she could see the yellow in his eyes, the way his skin hung looser now. Still, he gave her that crooked grin like he didn't have a care in the world.
“So how did the visit go?”
Mio explained to him everything that happened the morning after the whole ordeal. Her dad sat across from her, silent and patient as she finally began to speak. She told him everything about Rader Publishing, the truth they uncovered, the danger they hadn’t expected, and how it all spiraled out of control so fast. Her voice wavered when she talked about Zoe, about the connection they’d formed and the risks they’d taken together. She explained how it all ended with flashing sirens of police and ambulance. Her dad didn’t interrupt, just listened with quiet intensity, his brows drawn and his eyes never leaving hers.
When she finally stopped speaking, the weight of everything she'd said lingered in the quiet between them. Her dad reached across the table and placed his hand gently over hers. In that simple gesture, without a single word, she felt his steady, unwavering support for whatever came next.
Now Mio stood in the doorway, her voice low and unsteady as she told her dad the truth that Zoe was in a coma. She expected a flood of questions, maybe even frustration, but instead, he just looked at her with quiet concern. He pulled her into a hug without saying a word, holding her tightly like he knew she might fall apart if he didn’t. When he finally spoke, his voice was soft and full of warmth.
"I'm so sorry, Mio. That must’ve been horrible to find out." She nodded against his shoulder, the words catching in her throat. There was no trace of judgment in his tone, only quiet understanding and the steady comfort she hadn’t realized she needed.
That evening, she ended up in her usual spot in the garage, her quiet little writing corner tucked away near the back wall. Her dad hunched back over his bike with a wrench in hand, the sound of metal tools and the occasional hum of a socket wrench filling the space. The corner wasn’t anything fancy but it had become her sanctuary. It was just an old, sagging sofa and a small table she could slide over when she needed it. It was where she came to unwind and write when the world felt too much.
She didn’t bother setting up properly this time. Instead, she flopped onto the sofa letting her legs dangle lazily over one arm and pulled out her tablet. The familiar mechanical rhythm of her dad working nearby was strangely comforting, a steady presence that reminded her she was safe. She stared at the screen, trying to focus, but the words came slowly, scattered by the weight of everything still lingering in her mind.
At some point the screen of her tablet became a blur, and the warmth of the garage mixed with the soft clatter of tools and smell of coffee made her a little bit too comfortable. Her eyes closed without her noticing, the tablet slipped out of her hand safely onto the sofa.
Mio stood in water, the cool depths rising to her knees. The world around her was swallowed by darkness, thick and endless. All she could feel were the slow, cold currents brushing past her legs, as gentle and elusive as whispered thoughts.
She flinched as something soft grazed her thigh. Panic surged through her for a heartbeat.
But then it gracefully circled in front of her illuminating the space in gentle aquamarine light. A flash of recognition washed over her. Blue spectral fish, translucent and otherworldly, trailed luminous threads like starlight through the air in front of her.
“Hey you,” she whispered in disbelief, almost smiling at seeing Zoe’s familiar.
The fish rubbed once more against her leg as if to tell her to follow before drifting forward casting a shimmering trail in the darkness.
She followed through the heavy water, one step at a time.
Her companion suddenly quickened its pace, and just as she was about to call for it to wait, it came to an abrupt stop. Bathed in the gentle glow of the fish spirit, a girl was quietly sitting in the water.
Wet blond hair clung to her shoulders, free of her usual bun. She sat with her back turned, knees tucked to her chest, bare skin glinting faintly above the waterline.
A strange weight settled in Mio’s chest. Recognition, disbelief and hope twisted tight together.
"Zoe?" Mio called out relieved, voice soft.
For a heartbeat, everything stills. No darkness. No water. Just that shared look between them, fragile and bright.
Zoe’s lips parted like she might speak, but no sound came. Mio takes a step forward. The current resists, thick like syrup, tugging at her knees. She doesn’t care.
“I found you,” she whispers, though she’s not sure what she exactly means by that.
Zoe’s expression shifts. Confusion. Relief. A flicker of fear. Then—
Mio jolted awake. She’s back in the garage, her heart racing.
The phantom touch of water still lingering at her ankles.