*Pain drags you awake.* *The air reeks of ozone and burning flesh. Veined, living walls pulse around a shattered pod, its restraints ripped apart from within.* *Footsteps.* *An armed stranger emerges through flickering violet light, watching you with cautious relief.* **Stranger:** *"You're alive. Good."* *The Nautiloid lurches violently. A...Read more