Stability, the ship might call this. I call it a lie that only works briefly.
Travnyk adjusts Tomas again, easing him back against the wall so his spine is supported and his legs are extended. Tomas mutters a weak protest but does not fight it. His strength has not returned; it has merely stopped draining.
“How long?” I ask.
Travnyk doesn’t look up, but he understands I’m asking his thoughts.
“That depends,” Travnyk says.
“On what?”
“On whether the system continues to reallocate output faster than it can accumulate.”
I bare my teeth. “Speak plainly.”
Travnyk’s gaze lifts to mine. Calm. Unflinching. “He will worsen again.”
Tomas exhales sharply. “Love that for me.”
“Not immediately,” Travnyk says. “But the particulate density will rise again as we move—or as the ship compensates elsewhere.”
Lia stiffens. “Even here?”
“Yes.”
She closes her eyes, jaw tightening. I see the moment she understands that this chamber is not a cure. It is a pause. A bubble carved out of a larger failure.
“How much time do we have?” she asks.
Travnyk considers. I hate that he takes time to consider.
“For him?” he says finally. “Hours before impairment. Longer before death.”
Lia flinches.
“And the desert?” she presses.
Travnyk’s tusks shift slightly as his jaw tightens. “More—but not much.”
Silence slams down hard enough to feel like impact.
Outside this vessel, roots are burning. Water tables are shifting. Creatures are sickening with no language to name it. This ship bleeds poison not because it intends to, but because it has no concept of stopping.
It is not cruel. It is worse. It is correct.
“If we leave,” Tomas says quietly, “I’m guessing that won’t help.”
“No,” Lia answers before anyone else can. “The output won’t stop just because we do.”
“And if we stay?” he asks.
She doesn’t answer. I step closer to her, lowering my head until she has to look at me.
“Say it,” I growl.
Her eyes shine, not with human tears, but with restraint. Tight control and understanding burn in them.
“If I keep intervening the way I did before, I can slow the damage. Locally. Temporarily.”
