The single word hung in the dusty air, a thin bridge connecting their scary, shared reality. The young woman flinched, her unfocused eyes darting towards Eliot. The tiny stones and wood pieces floating around her sped up, a messy circle of uncontrolled power. Fear, clear and strong, twisted her face.
"It's okay," Eliot said, his voice soft, almost a whisper. He kept his hands open, palms up, a sign of peace. "I won't hurt you. I… I understand what's happening."
Her eyes, a cloudy brown, seemed to gain a tiny spark of awareness, though still filled with worry. The small objects around her kept spinning wildly. He could feel the messy energy coming from her, a jarring hum that bothered his own new System connection. It was like hearing a thousand instruments playing out of tune.
"The… the glow," she stammered, her voice rough, as if she hadn't used it much. She pointed a trembling finger at his hand, where the faint blue light of his own mind-moving power now shimmered, which he showed her on purpose. "You… you have it too."
"Yes," Eliot confirmed, stepping a little closer, careful not to scare her. "My name's Eliot. And this… this System, it chose me too. It's new to me, confusing. And it seems… out of control for you." He vaguely pointed at the floating debris. "Can you try to control it? Focus on one thing."
She squeezed her eyes shut, groaning as if in pain. The chaotic swirling grew stronger for a moment, then, with a sharp crack, a piece of glass hit the wall above Eliot's head. He ducked fast, a rush of adrenaline briefly taking over his fear.
"Hey, easy," he warned, "don't fight it. Try to guide it. Like… try to make that small pebble float gently." He pointed to a tiny stone floating near her knee.
She opened her eyes again, her gaze fixed on the pebble he indicated. Her brow crinkled in deep focus. The other objects wavered, their movements becoming less wild. Slowly, painfully, the small pebble separated from the chaotic group and rose a tiny bit, wobbling unevenly.
(HOST ENERGY: 12%. ANOMALY STABILIZING. ENERGY FLOW DECREASING.)
A faint feeling of relief washed over Eliot as the System's message appeared. It proved his idea: she was an unregistered host, overcome by a sudden, uncontrolled activation. And he was right to approach her.
"That's it," he encouraged, a real smile appearing on his face for the first time in days. "You're doing it. Keep breathing. You're not alone in this."
The intensity in her eyes lessened, replaced by a hint of tiredness. The small pebble dropped. The other objects, no longer held by her wild energy, clattered to the floor. The shimmering distortion around her faded, revealing a slender, almost transparent young woman with dark, messy hair and clothes that seemed too big for her thin body.
"I'm… I'm Stella," she whispered, her voice stronger now, though still hoarse. She looked around the broken-down room, her gaze resting on the scattered debris. "What… what is this? What's happening to me?"
Eliot sat down cross-legged a few feet away from her, explaining the little he knew. He spoke of the System, their unregistered host status, Protocol X, and the chilling truth about Hunter-Alpha. He watched her face as he spoke, seeing his own fear and confusion reflected in her eyes.
"So… we're targets?" Stella asked, her voice barely audible.
"Looks that way," Eliot admitted. "But if you can make things move, you have a power. And so do I. We're not helpless." He felt a strange sense of friendship, a bond made strong by their shared problem. The deep loneliness he had felt just hours ago began to fade, replaced by a new feeling of teamwork.
"My System calls you an 'uncontrolled energy flow'," Eliot continued, "and says 'System Overload About to Happen'. I think that means you were about to… burn out, maybe. You need to learn control, to connect."
Stella hugged her knees, shivering even though it wasn't cold. "I don't know how. It just… happened. After… after the accident." Her voice trailed off, a distant, pained look in her eyes. "My family… I was the only one."
Eliot's heart ached for her. His own grief was a dull pain, but hers was fresh, raw. This power, this System, had chosen them in their darkest moments, when they were most vulnerable.
"We can figure it out," he said, the words surprising even himself with their certainty. "We have to. My System says I need to 'connect' more, to understand more about Protocol X. Maybe… maybe if we work together, we can. Maybe it's not just about lifting bricks. Maybe it's about connection."
The idea was wild, but it felt right, almost like an instinct. He had been so focused on saving himself, on getting stronger alone. But perhaps the real strength lay in their combined strangeness, in the very "difference" that the System wanted to get rid of. Two unregistered hosts were harder to stop than one.
Stella looked at him, a spark of something new in her eyes – not hope yet, but a fragile curiosity. "What do we do now, then?"
Eliot looked around the dark, broken-down room, then back at the girl who was just as lost, just as hunted, as he was. A plan, blurry and uncertain, began to form in his mind.
"First," he said, a faint smile touching his lips, "we need to get you some food. And then… we start figuring out what we truly are."