The ship was dying.

Power cut.

Screens dark.

Red emergency lights pulsed like a heartbeat on its last legs, illuminating pools of blood and broken glass across the lab floor. Metal groaned in the walls. The clone’s half-mechanical body convulsed where he’d fallen, but he wasn’t down for long.

He was transforming.

Noa lay sprawled on the floor, dazed, lungs barely sucking in air. His back burned from the impact. Every nerve screamed. But he kept his eyes open.

He had to watch.

The clone ...