# Chapter 1 — Getting Out Of Night City The first argument happened before sunrise. Which, according to Marco, automatically made it everyone else's fault. "It is four in the morning." "It is six," Lena corrected. "It feels like four." "That's because you were up until one." "I was preparing." "You were marinating meat." Marco pointed a finger at her. "Preparation." Lena took a sip of coffee. The gesture alone somehow won the argument. Marco looked offended anyway. The parking area outside the rented warehouse unit sat under pale industrial lighting and a sky that had not yet decided whether it wanted to become morning. Night City's skyline loomed in the distance, towers glowing through haze and smog like someone had forgotten to turn off half the city. For once, nobody was heading toward it. Everybody was heading away. Ace stood beside the first vehicle, hands in her jacket pockets, watching the growing pile of luggage with increasing suspicion. "We're leaving for three days." Nobody responded. Ace looked at the pile again. Then at the group. Then back at the pile. "It wasn't a question." "It depends," Kiro said from somewhere inside the mountain of bags. Ace blinked. Kiro emerged carrying two hard cases, a backpack, and something that looked vaguely illegal. "On what?" "How you define luggage." "That's equipment." "It is luggage." "No." "Yes." "No." Kiro looked at Mai. "Tell her." Mai glanced up from the checklist on her tablet. "It is technically equipment." Kiro immediately pointed at Ace. "See?" Mai continued reading. "It is also completely unnecessary." Kiro's expression collapsed. "Traitor." Mai took another sip of coffee. "I warned you yesterday." Ace watched Kiro reluctantly carry one of the cases back toward her apartment building. One down. Approximately ninety-seven to go. The morning remained suspiciously peaceful. No gunfire. No sirens. No incoming calls. No one asking for help. No one trying to kill anyone. The absence felt unnatural. Night City had trained all of them poorly. A vehicle pulled into the lot. Reyes. Of course. Ace checked her watch. Then checked it again. Then looked at the approaching car. Reyes rolled down the window. "You look disappointed." "You're early." "Thank you." "That wasn't a compliment." Reyes grinned. "Still counts." The car stopped. Reyes stepped out. Red hair tied back. Dark jacket. Travel bag slung over one shoulder. Coffee already in hand. Entirely too awake. "How long have you been up?" "Three." "Why?" "Couldn't sleep." "Because?" "Vacation." Ace stared. Reyes stared back. The answer somehow made sense. That annoyed Ace. A second vehicle arrived moments later. Marco immediately abandoned whatever argument he had been losing and moved toward it. "My beautiful." "That's a rental SUV." "It understands me." "No." "It does." The rear hatch opened. Marco revealed enough grilling supplies to feed a small militia. Ace closed her eyes. Lena sighed. Mai didn't even look surprised. "Marco." "What?" "You packed charcoal." "Correct." "We rented a cabin." "Correct." "There is already charcoal there." Marco looked genuinely horrified. "What if it's bad charcoal?" Nobody had an answer for that. Apparently neither did Marco. Yet somehow he sounded victorious. A crackle of static drifted through the morning air. Everyone looked up automatically. Shammy stood near the edge of the lot, staring at the brightening horizon. Silver-white hair moved slightly in a breeze nobody else could feel. She looked entirely relaxed. Which was unusual enough to be noticeable. Ace walked over. "What are you doing?" "Listening." "To what?" "The weather." Ace looked at the sky. The sky looked back. Nothing happened. "It's clear." "I know." "Then what are you listening to?" Shammy smiled. "The fact that nobody needs anything." That shut Ace up faster than expected. A few meters away, Mai paused just long enough to hear it. A small smile appeared. Gone again almost immediately. But not before Ace noticed. The final loading process took another twenty minutes. Mostly because Kiro kept attempting to smuggle additional technology into the vehicles. Mostly because Lena kept catching her. Eventually everyone settled. The first vehicle: Mai. Shammy. Kiro. Lena. The second: Marco. Reyes. Ace. Because nobody was remotely surprised by that arrangement anymore. The engines started. The city waited behind them. Night City's skyline stretched across the horizon, enormous and indifferent. For a moment nobody moved. Not quite yet. Not quite ready. Then Marco's voice crackled through the convoy comms. "Road trip rules." "No," said six voices simultaneously. "Nobody even knows the rules yet." "We know enough." "I haven't explained them." "We know enough." Reyes was laughing before Marco finished complaining. Ace looked out the side window. The city drifted past. Warehouses. Industrial yards. Neon signs shutting down after the night shift. Workers beginning another day. Mercs ending one. For years it had felt impossible to leave. Not physically. Emotionally. Like Night City reached inside people and convinced them they could never afford to stop moving. Today, for once, nobody was moving toward a job. Nobody was chasing a lead. Nobody was tracking an anomaly. Nobody was hunting a corporation. Nobody was saving anyone. They were simply leaving. The realization settled quietly. Almost unnoticed. Almost. Beside her, Reyes had stopped talking. The city was shrinking in the rearview mirror. "Huh." Ace glanced over. "What?" Reyes watched the skyline for another second. Then another. Then shrugged. "Nothing." "Liar." "Yeah." Silence returned. Comfortable. Easy. The kind neither of them would have admitted existed a year ago. The highway stretched ahead. Morning sunlight began spilling across distant hills. Behind them, Night City kept spinning. Ahead of them, there was only road. And somewhere beyond that road, a lake that didn't care who they were. For the first time in a very long time, that sounded perfect. --- # Chapter 2 — Claiming Territory The road got quieter the farther they drove. Not immediately. Night City did not let go that easily. For the first hour there were still trucks, freight convoys, roadside businesses, fuel stations, industrial zones that looked like they had grown directly out of concrete and poor decisions. Then gradually the city began losing. Buildings became fields. Fields became forest. Forest became hills. And at some point nobody could quite identify, the skyline disappeared entirely. Kiro noticed first. "Wait." Nobody responded. "Wait." Still nothing. "Guys." "What?" Reyes asked through the convoy channel. Kiro sounded genuinely alarmed. "I don't have signal." Marco immediately laughed. Lena sighed. Mai looked up from her tablet. Shammy smiled. Ace glanced at the dashboard. No bars. Nothing. The network had simply ceased to exist. Like someone had flipped a switch. Kiro stared at her phone. Then looked outside. Then back at the phone. "This feels illegal." "You're addicted," Reyes said. "I am not." "You checked it six times in ten minutes." "I was verifying." "Addicted." "Research." "Addicted." The argument continued for another fifteen minutes. Nobody took Kiro's side. Not even Lena. Which Kiro considered a personal betrayal. --- By noon the roads had narrowed considerably. The convoy left the highway. Then left the secondary road. Then left the road that had already felt suspiciously secondary. The navigation system eventually gave up pretending confidence. The route became: Turn left at the old bridge. Continue until the trees get bigger. If you reach the abandoned boat ramp, you've gone too far. "That's not directions," Reyes muttered. "Apparently it is," Mai replied. The GPS marker continued moving. Somehow. --- The first glimpse of the lake came unexpectedly. One moment there was forest. The next there wasn't. The trees opened. Blue water appeared beyond them. Everyone went quiet. Even Marco. Especially Marco. The lake stretched toward the horizon like polished glass. Not huge. Not ocean-sized. Just large enough that the opposite shore looked distant and unimportant. The surface reflected the afternoon sky perfectly. No boats. No buildings. No noise. Just water. "Well." Nobody immediately answered. Marco parked first. Stepped out. Looked at the lake. Looked at the cabin. Looked at the lake again. Then pointed dramatically. "I choose this." "Choose what?" Lena asked. He pointed at the entire landscape. "All of it." --- The cabin sat on a gentle rise above the shoreline. Nothing fancy. Wood. Stone chimney. Large deck. Private dock extending into the water. Several smaller outbuildings. A fire pit near the shore. A hammock hanging between two old pine trees. Ace noticed the hammock. Then noticed Kiro noticing the hammock. Then noticed Lena noticing Kiro noticing the hammock. Nobody said anything. Yet. 😄 --- The first thing Shammy did was walk directly toward the lake. Not the cabin. Not the luggage. Not the dock. The water. As if drawn there. Mai watched her go. Then quietly followed. Nobody commented. It felt natural somehow. --- The second thing Marco did was inspect the grill. With the seriousness of a surgeon preparing for a difficult operation. "This is acceptable." Lena looked at him. "That's the first thing you've said to the cabin." "It earned it." "It is a grill." Marco nodded. "Exactly." --- The third thing that happened was Kiro discovering the internet situation. Again. "Okay." Silence. "Okay." More silence. "Guys." Reyes groaned. "What now?" "There is literally no signal." "We know." "No, I mean none." "We know." "No, you don't understand." "Unfortunately we do." Kiro slowly turned in a full circle. Phone held above her head. The digital equivalent of prayer. Nothing happened. The phone remained stubbornly disconnected. A look of horror crossed her face. Then something unexpected happened. She smiled. Just a little. "Oh." Lena noticed. "What?" Kiro looked around. The lake. The trees. The cabin. The silence. "No one can call me." The smile got wider. "Oh." --- The unpacking process took surprisingly little time. Mostly because everyone immediately claimed territory. Not rooms. Territory. Marco claimed the grill. Shammy claimed approximately half the shoreline. Mai claimed the dock. Kiro claimed a corner of the deck that had enough shade for a laptop. Lena somehow claimed the entire cabin without visibly doing anything. Ace noticed it happening in real time. A blanket appeared. Coffee supplies appeared. Extra towels appeared. The place began looking lived-in. Nobody saw Lena do any of it. It simply happened. Like weather. Ace respected that. --- Eventually only two people remained standing on the deck. Ace. And Reyes. The others had scattered. The lake stretched below them. Afternoon sunlight danced across the surface. A light breeze moved through the trees. No sirens. No engines. No gunfire. No distant explosions. Nothing. Reyes leaned against the railing. "Feels fake." Ace nodded. "Yeah." "Too quiet." "Yeah." "Somebody should be shooting at us." "Don't." "I'm just saying." "Don't." Reyes laughed. The sound drifted out over the water. For a moment neither spoke. The silence wasn't awkward. That was still strange enough to notice. A year ago both of them would have felt obligated to fill it. Now neither bothered. The lake didn't seem interested in helping. Or judging. Or listening. It simply existed. Below them. Unimpressed by everything. Finally Reyes tilted her head toward the shoreline. Mai and Shammy sat together at the end of the dock. Tiny figures from this distance. Motionless. Completely absorbed in whatever conversation they were having. "Think they'll move?" Ace watched them. "No." "Today?" "No." "Tomorrow?" "Maybe." Reyes considered that. "Fair." A shout erupted from somewhere behind them. "EMERGENCY." Both turned. Kiro stood in the doorway. Looking horrified. "What?" Kiro pointed toward the kitchen. "There are only two coffee makers." Silence. Absolute silence. Then Marco's voice echoed from inside the cabin. "WE WILL SURVIVE THIS TOGETHER." The laughter that followed rolled across the lake. The lake, naturally, did not care. 😄 --- # Chapter 3 — First Evening The coffee crisis turned out to be survivable. Barely. Kiro spent the next ten minutes conducting what she referred to as a _resource allocation assessment_. Everyone else referred to it as staring at two coffee makers. By the end of the investigation she had somehow concluded that: - one machine belonged to mornings, - one belonged to emergencies, - both were currently operational, - civilization could continue. The report was accepted unanimously. Mostly because nobody wanted a second briefing. --- The afternoon drifted by. Not passed. Drifted. The distinction mattered. Time moved differently near the lake. Night City time always felt sharp. Measured. Expensive. Every hour had a price tag attached. Here the hours simply wandered wherever they wanted. --- Ace found herself sitting on the edge of the dock without remembering how she got there. The water below reflected clouds moving lazily overhead. The lake smelled different than the ocean. Cleaner. Softer. No salt. No industrial runoff. No distant chemical burn lingering in the air. Just water. Actual water. A surprisingly rare luxury. Further down the dock, Shammy sat with her feet in the lake. Mai sat beside her. Neither had moved very much since arriving. Ace suspected they had discovered some alternate dimension where time functioned differently. It would explain a lot. --- Shammy glanced over her shoulder. "There you are." Ace frowned. "I've been here." "You disappeared." "No." "You did." Mai didn't even look up from her book. "You vanished for thirty-seven minutes." Ace stared. "How do you know that?" Mai turned a page. "I noticed." Which somehow wasn't an answer. And yet completely was. --- A splash echoed from somewhere near shore. Then another. Then a very familiar voice. "THIS IS COLDER THAN IT LOOKS." Kiro. Obviously. Ace looked toward the beach. Kiro stood knee-deep in the water looking personally betrayed by the concept of lakes. Marco laughed so hard he nearly dropped his drink. Lena sat nearby in a folding chair. Entirely relaxed. Watching the disaster unfold. The expression on her face suggested she had predicted every second of it. --- "You said it would be warm." Kiro pointed accusingly. "I said it looked warm." "That's not the same thing." "I know." "Why would you say that?" Lena took a sip of coffee. "Because it looked warm." Kiro looked like she wanted to argue. Then realized she had been defeated by logic. Again. --- The evening slowly assembled itself. Nobody announced it. Nobody planned it. It simply happened. The sun began lowering. The temperature softened. The sky shifted from blue to gold. People gradually migrated toward the fire pit near shore. Chairs appeared. Blankets appeared. Food appeared. Marco looked happier than any human being should be allowed to look while holding barbecue tongs. --- "This," Marco announced. "Is a good day." Nobody disagreed. That alone was unusual. --- Dinner stretched far longer than necessary. Which was exactly how good dinners were supposed to work. Stories appeared. Old jobs. Old mistakes. Embarrassing moments. Mostly embarrassing moments. The group had discovered years ago that failures were significantly funnier than successes. Success usually meant paperwork. Failure usually involved better stories. --- At one point Marco pointed at Reyes. "Tell the warehouse story." "No." "Tell it." "No." "Tell it." "No." "Tell—" "It ended with a forklift." Everyone immediately became interested. --- Reyes groaned. Ace smirked. The smirk alone doomed Reyes. "You told Ace." "That was different." "No it wasn't." "It absolutely was." --- Ten minutes later everybody was listening. The story somehow involved: - a stolen shipment, - three mercenaries, - one forklift, - an extremely confused security team, - and a fish. Nobody fully understood the fish. Not even Reyes. --- The laughter rolled across the shoreline. The fire crackled. Night settled gently around the lake. Stars began appearing overhead. Actual stars. Not the handful that occasionally survived Night City's light pollution. A sky full of them. Kiro spent several minutes simply staring upward. --- "There are too many." "Stars?" Lena asked. "Yeah." "There are supposed to be." "I know." Kiro continued staring. "It's weird." "It isn't." "It kind of is." Lena looked up. Then back at Kiro. Then smiled. "Maybe." --- The conversation eventually split into smaller pieces. As it always did. Some people moved closer to the fire. Others drifted away. No structure. No plan. Just comfort. --- Ace found herself sitting slightly outside the main circle. Not isolated. Just far enough to watch. Old habit. Some habits never disappeared completely. Across the fire, Reyes occupied a chair that looked dangerously close to collapse. The chair was losing. Slowly. But definitely. --- "You know that thing is going to break." "It's fine." "It sounds injured." "It's a chair." "It made a noise." "It was a chair noise." "There are chair noises?" "There are now." --- Ace rolled her eyes. Reyes grinned. The firelight danced across her face. Softened the edges. Made her look younger somehow. Less like a merc. More like a person. Ace wasn't sure which version was stranger. --- A comfortable silence settled. One of many. Nobody rushed to fill it. The lake didn't seem interested in helping. The stars didn't either. --- Further down the shoreline, Mai and Shammy had somehow migrated back toward the dock. Again. Nobody knew when. Nobody had seen them leave. They were simply there now. Like migrating birds. --- Marco noticed. Pointed. "Missing Persons Report Number One." Immediate laughter. Shammy raised one hand from the dock without turning around. Acknowledgement received. Report closed. 😄 --- The title stuck instantly. Which was unfortunate. Because everyone immediately started using it. --- "Missing Persons Report Number Two." Everyone turned. Kiro pointed dramatically. "What?" "We lost Marco." Silence. Then Lena pointed toward the grill. Marco was standing exactly where he had been for the last twenty minutes. Still holding tongs. Still monitoring food. Still completely visible. --- Kiro frowned. "Never mind." "Outstanding detective work." "Thank you." "It wasn't a compliment." --- Night deepened. The fire burned lower. The conversations grew quieter. Slower. More relaxed. People stopped performing. Stopped entertaining. Stopped pretending. The exhaustion of the previous months gradually leaked out into the darkness. Not discussed. Just released. --- For a while nobody spoke at all. Only the fire. Only the lake. Only the wind moving through the trees. --- Then Reyes looked around the circle. At Marco. At Lena. At Kiro. At Mai and Shammy in the distance. At Ace. A small smile touched the corner of her mouth. Gone almost immediately. But not quickly enough. Ace noticed. --- And for once... Neither of them looked away. Not immediately. Not this time. The lake, naturally, remained completely indifferent. 😄 --- # Chapter 4 — Missing Persons Report Number One The first person to notice was Marco. Which surprised everyone. Including Marco. He was carrying a plate containing enough breakfast to qualify as structural engineering when he suddenly stopped. Looked around. Looked around again. Then frowned. "Huh." Nobody reacted. Morning had arrived slowly. Coffee. Sunlight. Mist hanging low above the lake. People existing at different levels of consciousness. Conversation had not fully initialized yet. --- Marco pointed toward the dock. "Missing Persons Report Number One." Lena didn't even look up. "Already?" "Already." Kiro glanced around the table. "What are we missing?" "Mai." "Okay." "And Shammy." Kiro paused. Considered. Then nodded. "Yeah, that checks out." --- Nobody moved immediately. Mostly because nobody was worried. The previous evening had established a very important pattern. Namely: People vanished here. Then reappeared later. Usually carrying coffee. --- Still. Twenty minutes later. They remained missing. --- Another thirty minutes passed. Still missing. --- Eventually curiosity defeated breakfast. Marco stood. "This is becoming a matter of public concern." "No it isn't," Lena replied. "It is to me." --- The search effort consisted of approximately three people standing up. Which was already more effort than anyone wanted to invest. Ace glanced toward the cabin. Nothing. Beach. Nothing. Tree line. Nothing. --- Then Reyes pointed. "There." Everybody followed her gaze. --- The dock. Far out near the end. Two figures. Exactly where they had been the day before. --- Mai sat cross-legged near the edge. Book open. Coffee mug beside her. Shammy sat nearby with her feet dangling over the water. Neither appeared to have moved in several geological eras. --- "That's it?" Marco sounded disappointed. "What did you expect?" Lena asked. "I don't know." "That's clearly them." --- Kiro squinted. "They've been there all morning?" "Looks like it." "What are they doing?" Nobody answered. Because nobody knew. --- The funniest part was that neither Mai nor Shammy seemed remotely aware that they were currently the subject of an investigation. Or perhaps they were aware and simply didn't care. Both possibilities felt equally plausible. --- "Should we check on them?" "No." "Why not?" Ace looked toward the dock. Then back at Marco. "Because they're fine." --- Marco considered this. Then nodded. "Fair." --- The search party dissolved immediately. Mission accomplished. Nobody had actually wanted more responsibility than that. --- Half an hour later. The mystery deepened. Because neither Mai nor Shammy had moved. At all. --- Kiro became fascinated. "They have to be talking." "Probably." "For three hours?" "Probably." "About what?" Nobody knew. --- Reyes took a sip of coffee. "Maybe they're not talking." Silence. Everyone looked toward the dock. Then at each other. Then back toward the dock. --- "Oh that's somehow weirder." "Right?" --- The subject remained unresolved. --- Around noon. Mai and Shammy finally returned. Walking casually up from the shoreline. Looking entirely normal. Which only made things worse. --- Marco struck immediately. "What were you doing?" Mai blinked. "Reading." Marco pointed at Shammy. "And you?" "Listening." "To what?" "The lake." Marco looked at Ace. Ace looked at Marco. Neither could help him. --- Kiro tried. "For three hours?" Shammy nodded. "Yes." --- Kiro opened her mouth. Closed it. Opened it again. Then gave up. --- Mai sat down. Poured herself more coffee. Opened her book again. As if this entire conversation had been perfectly reasonable. --- Lena quietly raised her mug. "Missing Persons Report Number One successfully resolved." Shammy smiled. Mai turned a page. Marco looked personally defeated. --- By the end of lunch everyone had accepted an important fact. If Mai and Shammy vanished together... they would eventually be found near water. --- No one understood it. But everyone understood it enough. --- Unfortunately this discovery created a new problem. Because later that afternoon Kiro announced: "I'm going for a walk." Lena stood up. "So am I." And suddenly six pairs of eyes tracked them leaving. --- Kiro noticed first. "Why is everybody looking at us?" "No reason," Marco replied immediately. "That sounded suspicious." "It wasn't." "It absolutely was." --- Lena looked around the group. Then at Kiro. Then back at the group. A tiny smile appeared. Just briefly. --- "Come on." Kiro followed. Still suspicious. Still confused. Still completely unaware. --- The two disappeared into the trees. --- Silence settled over the deck. --- Then Marco slowly sat back down. Folded his arms. Looked toward the forest. And declared: "Missing Persons Report Number Two has officially begun." 😄 --- # Chapter 5 — Missing Persons Report Number Two At first nobody paid attention. Which, in hindsight, was probably the mistake. Not because anyone was in danger. But because boredom is a dangerous thing when shared by intelligent people. And unfortunately the deck currently contained several. --- The first thirty minutes passed peacefully. Coffee. Conversation. Sunlight. A light breeze moving across the lake. Everything exactly as intended. --- Then Marco checked his watch. "Huh." Nobody looked up. --- Ten minutes later he checked again. "Huh." Reyes sighed. "What now?" "It's been forty minutes." "So?" --- Marco pointed dramatically toward the tree line. "They have not returned." Ace glanced up from her book. "They're walking." "They've been walking for forty minutes." "Yes." "That's a lot of walking." --- Reyes looked toward the forest. Then back at Marco. "You've never dated anyone, have you?" The entire deck immediately became interested. Marco looked offended. "I have." "When?" "I don't need to answer that." "Because you can't." "Because I don't have to." --- The conversation devolved for several minutes. Which successfully distracted everyone. For approximately several minutes. --- Then an hour passed. --- The silence returned. --- Kiro and Lena remained missing. --- This was still not concerning. Just increasingly amusing. --- "Maybe they got lost." "No." "Maybe they found something." "No." "Maybe they got eaten." "No." --- Marco looked at Ace. "You always answer 'no.'" "Because those are stupid theories." --- Reyes pointed toward the woods. "The forest is approximately six square kilometers." "So?" "So if Kiro got lost we'd hear her." A pause. Then everyone nodded. Because that was completely true. --- Another half hour passed. --- Still nothing. --- Eventually even Ace had to admit something unusual was happening. Not dangerous. Just unusual. --- The afternoon sunlight had shifted noticeably by the time Marco stood up. Again. --- "Okay." "No." "I haven't said anything." "Yes you have." "I literally haven't." "You stood up." --- Marco ignored this. Looked toward the forest. Then toward the shoreline. Then toward the cabin. Like a detective whose career depended entirely on confidence. --- "I am launching a search operation." "No you are not." "I absolutely am." --- The operation consisted of walking approximately thirty meters. --- Then stopping. --- Then pointing. --- "Oh." --- Everyone followed his gaze. --- The hammock. --- The same hammock that had been hanging between two old pines since arrival. The same hammock nobody had paid attention to since. The same hammock currently containing two people. --- Silence. --- "Oh." Marco again. --- Kiro. Lena. --- Both asleep. --- Not resting. Not pretending. Not talking quietly. Not having some dramatic emotional conversation. --- Completely. Utterly. Asleep. --- The hammock moved gently in the breeze. --- Kiro had somehow ended up partially curled against Lena's shoulder. One arm hanging loosely over the side. Phone nowhere visible. A fact which by itself bordered on medical impossibility. --- Lena appeared equally unconscious. Head tilted slightly toward Kiro. One hand resting loosely on the edge of the hammock. --- Neither moved. --- Nobody spoke. --- Then Reyes quietly said: "Well." --- Ace nodded. "Well." --- Marco folded his arms. "This is the most shocking thing I've seen all year." --- "Which part?" Ace asked. Marco pointed. "Look at them." --- Nobody needed clarification. --- The truly astonishing thing wasn't proximity. Or even the fact they'd disappeared for nearly two hours. --- It was the expression on their faces. --- No tension. No alertness. No readiness. No Night City. --- Just sleep. Deep. Comfortable. Uncomplicated. --- The kind of sleep exhausted people accidentally discover when they finally feel safe. --- The realization spread quietly through the group. --- Nobody made jokes for several seconds. Which was approximately a record. --- Shammy smiled softly. Mai lowered her book. Just slightly. --- "Don't wake them." --- Nobody argued. --- For a while they simply stood there. Watching. --- Then Kiro shifted slightly. Murmured something unintelligible. --- Lena didn't wake up. --- The hammock continued its slow movement beneath the trees. --- Marco finally shook his head. "Okay." "What?" "I'm weirdly happy about this." --- Nobody disagreed. --- The search operation officially concluded. --- As everyone began drifting back toward the cabin, Reyes glanced over her shoulder one last time. The hammock remained occupied. The forest remained quiet. The lake remained visible through gaps in the trees. --- Then she noticed something. --- "Huh." --- Ace looked over. "What?" --- Reyes pointed. Not at the hammock. At the small table nearby. --- Two abandoned coffee mugs. Long cold. Completely untouched. --- Ace followed her gaze. Then looked back toward the sleeping pair. --- A small smile appeared. --- "Yeah." --- Reyes immediately understood. --- Neither of them had planned to fall asleep. --- Which somehow made the entire thing even better. 😄 --- Back near the deck, Marco sat down heavily. Picked up his drink. Looked around at the others. --- "Missing Persons Report Number Two." A dramatic pause. --- "Successfully resolved." --- Shammy raised her mug. Mai nodded. Ace smirked. Reyes laughed. --- And somewhere under the trees, completely unaware they had become the topic of the afternoon, Kiro and Lena slept on. 😄 --- # Chapter 6 — Lake Day The second morning began with coffee. This surprised nobody. What surprised people was Kiro. Specifically, the fact that she looked alive. Not awake. Alive. There was a difference. She emerged from the cabin wearing an oversized hoodie, carrying a mug large enough to qualify as a defensive weapon and moving at approximately half her normal speed. Marco noticed immediately. Naturally. "You look rested." Kiro stopped. Narrowed her eyes. "Why do you sound suspicious?" "No reason." "That was suspicious." "It wasn't." "It absolutely was." Marco pointed toward her face. "You have color." "I always have color." "No." "Marco." "No." Kiro looked at Lena. "He's being weird." Lena sipped her coffee. "That's not new." "Thank you." "You're welcome." Marco looked betrayed. Again. --- The lake sat beneath a clear blue sky. The mist from earlier had burned away. Sunlight danced across the water. A gentle breeze moved through the pines. No traffic. No sirens. No distant gunfire. No helicopters. No corpos. No emergencies. No notifications. Nothing. The silence felt expensive. --- Ace stepped out onto the deck. The first thing she noticed was that Shammy wasn't there. The second thing she noticed was that this wasn't unusual anymore. She looked toward the shoreline. Found her immediately. Of course. Shammy was waist-deep in the lake. Standing completely still. Watching the water. --- "How long has she been there?" Nobody knew. Nobody ever knew. --- The third thing Ace noticed was Mai. At the end of the dock. Again. Different book. Different coffee mug. Different position. Otherwise identical. --- Ace considered the possibility that both of them had become permanent features of the landscape. The theory remained unproven. But only barely. --- Breakfast happened gradually. Nobody sat down at the same time. Nobody followed a schedule. People appeared. Disappeared. Returned. Drifted away again. The cabin had developed its own rhythm overnight. --- At one point Marco was cooking. Again. --- "Didn't we eat breakfast already?" "That was breakfast." Ace pointed at the grill. "And this?" "Late breakfast." "It's eleven." "Early lunch." --- No one had a counterargument. Mostly because they wanted food. --- Somewhere around noon Kiro discovered the small rowboat tied to the dock. This was a mistake. --- "Guys." Everyone immediately became nervous. Kiro sounded excited. That was usually a warning sign. --- "What?" "We have a boat." "Yes." "A boat." "Still yes." "A boat." Reyes rubbed her face. "We know what a boat is." --- Kiro pointed dramatically. "We should use it." --- Silence. --- Then Marco said the exact wrong thing. "That's not the worst idea you've ever had." --- Ten minutes later everyone was standing on the dock. Looking at the boat. --- The boat looked back. --- It was a perfectly ordinary boat. Small. Wooden. Slightly old. Entirely innocent. --- "This feels like the beginning of an incident report." "Probably." --- The voyage lasted eleven minutes. --- Nothing exploded. Nobody drowned. No anomalies emerged from the depths. No secret cults attacked. No corporate strike teams appeared. --- The most dramatic event involved Marco nearly dropping a paddle. --- "This is disappointing." "Normal people call that successful." "I know." "Then why are you disappointed?" "I'm adjusting." --- The lake remained stubbornly uneventful. --- Eventually the boat returned. Everyone survived. The universe carried on. --- Later. After lunch. The first disappearance occurred. --- Nobody noticed immediately. --- Which was fair. The entire weekend had become one long chain of people wandering off. --- Still. At some point Lena looked around. Paused. Looked again. --- "Huh." --- Ace was gone. --- A few seconds later. --- "So is Reyes." --- The observation spread through the group. --- Marco checked his watch. Immediately. Of course. --- "Missing Persons Report Number Three." "Already?" "They've been gone twenty minutes." "That's not a report." "It is if I say it confidently." --- Nobody bothered arguing. --- About half an hour later Ace and Reyes returned carrying a paper bag from the small lakeside store three kilometers away. --- "What did you buy?" "Coffee." --- Silence. --- Kiro nodded. "Reasonable." --- The report was closed. --- For now. 😄 --- The afternoon passed lazily. Swimming. Reading. Talking. Napping. At one point Kiro attempted to teach Marco how a piece of old signal-analysis software worked. Marco lasted six minutes. A personal best. --- At another point Ace found herself sitting on the end of the dock. Feet hanging above the water. Not thinking about much. For once. --- A shadow appeared beside her. --- Reyes. Naturally. --- She sat down without asking. --- Ace didn't move. Didn't object. Didn't even look surprised. --- The water stretched quietly ahead. --- For a while neither spoke. --- Then Reyes pointed toward shore. "Marco's asleep." --- Ace followed her gaze. --- Marco was indeed asleep. In a folding chair. Still holding barbecue tongs. --- "...how?" --- "Talent." --- The answer felt correct. --- Further up the hill, Kiro and Lena occupied one side of the deck. Mai and Shammy occupied the dock. Marco occupied whatever dimension people entered when they fell asleep sitting upright. --- And somehow. Without anyone planning it. Ace and Reyes occupied the same piece of dock. Again. --- Nobody commented. --- Nobody needed to. --- The sun slowly began descending. Golden light spread across the lake. The air cooled. Shadows lengthened. --- Dinner preparations began. The fire pit was cleaned. Wood stacked. Food prepared. Chairs dragged toward the shoreline. --- People gradually migrated back together. --- The day had that feeling vacations sometimes developed. That strange awareness that something good was ending even while it was still happening. --- Nobody mentioned it. --- Nobody needed to. --- The fire was already crackling by the time the first stars appeared. The lake reflected orange light. Voices drifted across the water. The entire shoreline seemed softer somehow. --- Then Lena looked around. --- Paused. --- Looked again. --- "Huh." --- Marco immediately sat upright. "Missing Persons Report Number Four?" --- Lena pointed toward an empty chair. --- Ace. Gone. --- Another glance. --- Reyes. Gone too. --- The group waited. --- One minute. Two. Five. --- No sign of either. --- Kiro frowned. "Weren't they here a minute ago?" --- "Apparently not." --- The fire crackled. The lake shimmered. The sky darkened. --- And for the first time all weekend... Ace and Reyes didn't immediately come back. 😄 --- # Chapter 7 — Look Toward The Rocks At first nobody reacted. That was the dangerous part. The entire weekend had trained them not to. People disappeared here. Then reappeared later. Coffee happened. Food happened. Marco became emotionally attached to cooking equipment. Life continued. --- So when Ace and Reyes failed to return immediately... Nobody worried. --- The fire crackled softly. The sky deepened toward evening. The lake reflected the last gold of sunset. Conversation drifted lazily from topic to topic. --- Ten minutes passed. --- Then twenty. --- Nobody said anything. --- Thirty. --- Marco checked his watch. The gesture was immediately noticed. --- "You've started timing them." Lena sounded disappointed. --- "I'm collecting data." --- "That's worse." --- "I know." --- The fire popped. Somewhere across the lake a bird called once. Then silence returned. --- Kiro eventually frowned. --- "Okay." --- Nobody responded. --- "Okay." --- Still nothing. --- "They've been gone a while." --- Marco immediately pointed. --- "Missing Persons Report Number Four." --- "You're enjoying this." --- "A little." --- The report was officially opened. --- Nobody stood up. Nobody searched. Nobody panicked. --- Then Lena quietly set down her coffee mug. --- "Huh." --- Everyone looked at her. --- "What?" --- She didn't answer immediately. --- Instead she looked toward the shoreline. A few hundred meters down from the cabin. Past the dock. Past the small beach. Toward the rocky stretch where the shoreline curved around a stand of old pines. --- Then she pointed. --- "Over there." --- Silence. --- Six heads turned. --- For a moment nobody saw anything. --- Just rocks. Water. Trees. Evening light. --- Then Kiro blinked. --- "Oh." --- A beat. --- "Oh." --- Marco leaned forward. --- "...oh." 😄 --- Because now everyone could see them. --- Reyes sat atop one of the larger shoreline rocks. One leg bent. One arm resting casually across her knee. --- Ace occupied approximately the same coordinates. --- Or more accurately: Ace occupied Reyes. 😄 --- Even from this distance there was absolutely nothing ambiguous about the situation. --- The smaller figure sat practically curled into Reyes' lap. One arm looped around her shoulders. The other somewhere around her neck. --- Neither appeared remotely aware that the rest of civilization still existed. --- The lake existed. The rocks existed. Each other existed. --- Everything else had apparently been deleted. --- "Oh." Kiro again. --- Her operating system had clearly rebooted and immediately crashed a second time. --- "Nope." --- "What?" Marco asked. --- "I don't know what to do with that information." --- "You don't have to." --- "Good." --- Because she absolutely didn't. 😄 --- Lena watched the distant pair for a few seconds. Then slowly nodded. --- "Finally." --- Shammy smiled into her mug. --- "I was wondering how much longer it would take." --- Mai glanced up from her tea. One look. Just one. --- Then calmly returned her attention to the cup. --- "I was wondering when they'd stop being idiots." --- The entire group immediately lost whatever composure remained. --- Even Lena laughed. --- Far down the shoreline the subjects of discussion remained completely unaware. --- Which somehow made everything funnier. --- Marco wiped a hand across his face. --- "I knew it." --- "No you didn't." Lena didn't even look at him. --- "I absolutely did." --- "You literally lost money." --- A pause. --- Marco sighed. --- "That's unrelated." 😄 --- The conversation around the fire dissolved into increasingly quiet laughter. --- Nobody stared. That would have been rude. --- Nobody looked away either. That would have been impossible. --- Because there was something strangely wonderful about it. --- Not the romance. Not the makeout. Not the fact that everyone had seen it. --- The comfort. --- The complete absence of walls. --- For perhaps the first time since any of them had known them... Ace and Reyes looked entirely unguarded. --- No vigilance. No readiness. No pretending. --- Just two people who had forgotten to be careful. --- The realization settled quietly around the fire. --- Nobody said it aloud. --- Nobody needed to. --- Eventually movement returned to the shoreline. --- The distant figures shifted. Stood. Stretched. --- A few final moments exchanged between them. Invisible from this distance. --- Then they began walking back toward the cabin. --- Conversation around the fire died instantly. --- Not intentionally. --- It just happened. --- Because every single person present had exactly the same thought. --- _Oh no._ 😄 --- "Nobody say anything." Lena's voice was calm. --- "Agreed." Mai nodded. --- "Absolutely." Shammy agreed. --- Marco looked physically pained. --- "You expect me to survive that?" --- "No." --- The answer arrived from six different directions. --- Marco sighed heavily. --- "I'll do my best." --- The group watched the approaching silhouettes. --- Closer. --- Closer. --- And then Kiro suddenly froze. --- "Wait." --- "What?" --- Kiro pointed. --- Nobody said anything. --- Nobody needed to. --- Because as the two figures stepped into the glow of the firelight... One detail became painfully obvious. --- Ace and Reyes were still holding hands. --- Not consciously. --- Not performatively. --- Not making a statement. --- Just... holding hands. --- Talking about something. --- Neither paying attention to the camp. --- Neither paying attention to the people watching. --- Neither paying attention to the fact that neither seemed interested in letting go. --- Silence. --- Absolute silence. --- The kind normally associated with sniper ambushes. --- Ace noticed first. --- Not the hand. --- The silence. --- Her eyes moved around the circle. --- Marco. Far too quiet. --- Kiro. Actively vibrating. --- Lena. Dangerously calm. --- Shammy. Smiling into her mug. --- Mai. Not looking at anyone. Which was somehow worse. --- Ace stopped walking. --- Very slowly. --- "...oh no." 😄 --- Beside her Reyes blinked. --- "What?" --- Nobody answered. --- That made it worse. --- Reyes followed Ace's gaze around the fire. --- The realization took approximately three seconds. --- Then: --- "...oh." --- A pause. --- Another pause. --- Then Marco took a very deliberate sip of his drink. --- Nothing else. --- Just that. --- The silence somehow became even worse. --- Ace looked ready to throw herself into the lake. --- Reyes looked ready to help. --- And around them the entire group displayed remarkable discipline. --- Nobody laughed. Nobody commented. Nobody pointed. --- Not one word. --- Which was, without question, the cruelest thing they could possibly have done. 😄 --- The fire crackled. The stars glittered overhead. The lake shimmered quietly in the darkness. --- And somewhere out beyond the dock and the rocks and the shoreline... the lake continued not caring in the slightest. 😄 --- Yap. Ja nyt tiedetään paljon tarkemmin mitä Chapter 8:n pitää tehdä. **Se ei ole enää "hiljainen jälkikaiku rantakivien jälkeen".** Se on käytännössä: > Orbit tietää. > > Ace tietää että orbit tietää. > > Reyes tietää että orbit tietää. > > Kiro ja Lena eivät vielä tiedä olevansa seuraavana vuorossa. 😄 Ja mikä tärkeintä: **ei kiirehditä seuraavaan aamuun.** Rantakivet tapahtuivat juuri. Nyt pitää lypsää se sosiaalinen katastrofi ensin. --- # Chapter 8 — The Cruelest Thing The silence lasted approximately fourteen seconds. Which, under normal circumstances, would not have been remarkable. Under these circumstances it felt geological. --- Ace remained standing. Still holding Reyes' hand. Still painfully aware of it. --- Nobody said anything. --- Nobody even looked directly at them anymore. --- Which was somehow worse. Much worse. --- Reyes glanced around the fire. Then at Ace. Then back at the fire. --- "...they know." --- "Yes." --- "How much?" --- Ace pointed toward the shoreline. --- The rocks. --- The exact rocks. --- Reyes closed her eyes. --- "Oh." 😄 --- "Yeah." --- For a moment neither moved. Neither let go either. Which was not helping. --- Around the fire the collective acting performance remained impressively terrible. --- Marco was studying his drink with the concentration of a bomb technician. --- Kiro was trying not to look at Ace. Which naturally meant she kept looking at Ace. --- Lena appeared completely calm. --- Which was suspicious all by itself. --- Mai was drinking tea. --- Shammy was smiling into her mug. --- Neither looked remotely surprised. --- That somehow made everything worse. --- Ace finally sat down. --- Reyes sat beside her. --- A strategic retreat. --- Unfortunately the retreat remained unsuccessful because everyone had already seen everything. --- The silence returned. --- Then Marco made a tiny choking sound. --- Lena immediately kicked his chair. --- The sound vanished. --- Three seconds later another one escaped. --- Kiro broke first. --- Not from laughter. --- From curiosity. --- "Okay." --- "No." Ace answered instantly. --- "I didn't ask anything." --- "You were about to." --- Kiro considered this. --- "...fair." 😄 --- The fire popped. --- The lake shimmered beyond the shoreline. --- Conversation attempted to resume. --- Failed. --- Attempted again. --- Failed again. --- Because every time somebody looked up... Ace and Reyes were still sitting there. --- Not hiding. Not denying. Not pretending. --- And that was new. --- Really new. --- Eventually Marco tried. --- God help him. --- He genuinely tried. --- "So." --- "No." --- "I haven't even—" --- "No." --- "I literally said one word." --- "It was the beginning of a bad decision." --- Marco looked offended. --- "It was the beginning of a sentence." --- "Same thing." 😄 --- Even Lena laughed at that one. --- The situation improved slightly after that. --- Food reappeared. Drinks circulated. The fire settled. --- People slowly stopped treating Ace and Reyes like unexploded ordnance. --- Which helped. A little. --- Then Kiro accidentally made everything worse. --- Again. --- She was looking toward the shoreline. Toward the rocks. Toward the place where the entire disaster had originated. --- And because Kiro occasionally spoke before the rest of reality caught up: --- "Honestly?" --- Everyone looked at her. --- "It was kind of cute." --- Silence. --- Absolute silence. --- Kiro immediately realized something had gone catastrophically wrong. --- "Oh no." 😄 --- Ace covered her eyes. --- Reyes looked ready to walk into the lake. --- Marco folded forward laughing. --- Lena finally gave up trying to stop him. --- Even Mai lowered her tea. --- Just enough for the smile to become visible. --- Shammy wasn't helping at all. --- "She has a point." --- "Shammy." --- "What?" --- "Please stop." 😄 --- The laughter slowly spread around the fire. Not cruel. Not mocking. --- Warm. --- The kind reserved for people who mattered. --- And for the first time since returning from the rocks... Ace realized something. --- Nobody was making fun of them. --- Nobody was judging them. --- Nobody cared that they had been caught. --- The orbit wasn't laughing at them. --- The orbit was happy for them. --- That realization landed differently. --- Softer. --- Much softer. --- Beside her Reyes seemed to reach exactly the same conclusion. --- The tension slowly bled out of her shoulders. --- And for the first time since they'd walked back into camp... she smiled. --- A real one. --- Marco immediately pointed. --- "There." --- "Marco." --- "What?" --- "Don't." --- "Fair." 😄 --- The fire crackled. The stars brightened overhead. The lake stretched endlessly beyond the shoreline. --- And around the fire the conversation finally found its footing again. --- Tomorrow would bring new problems. New embarrassments. New Missing Persons Reports. --- But tonight? --- Tonight the worst thing that had happened was getting caught. --- And honestly? --- That was a pretty good night. 😄 --- # Chapter 9 — The Morning After Morning arrived gently. Which felt suspicious. --- Nobody trusted gentle mornings anymore. --- The cabin slowly woke around the smell of coffee and breakfast. --- Ace opened her eyes. Immediately regretted it. --- Not because of pain. Not because of injury. --- Because memory existed. --- "...oh." 😄 --- The rocks. --- The walk back. --- The silence. --- Kiro. --- Marco. --- Everyone. --- Especially everyone. --- Ace buried her face briefly in a pillow. --- Beside her Reyes laughed. --- A quiet laugh. --- "Good morning." --- "No." --- "That's fair." --- The laugh got worse. --- "You're enjoying this." --- "A little." --- "A trait I used to admire." 😄 --- The cabin was already alive by the time they emerged. --- Marco occupied the kitchen. Naturally. --- Lena occupied the coffee machine. Equally naturally. --- Mai occupied a chair near the window. Book. Tea. Perfectly predictable. --- Shammy had somehow acquired a blanket and a position near the porch where morning sunlight reached her feet. --- Everything appeared normal. --- Which was immediately suspicious. --- Ace noticed first. --- Nobody looked surprised to see them. --- Nobody reacted. --- Nobody commented. --- Nobody even smirked. --- The entire room behaved with such perfect normality that it felt rehearsed. --- "...they're planning something." --- "No," Lena said immediately. --- Nobody believed her. 😄 --- Breakfast began. --- For nearly five full minutes everything remained peaceful. --- Then Kiro entered. --- Still carrying enough sleep to qualify as a medical condition. --- Coffee first. Awareness later. --- She sat down. Accepted a mug. Stared into space. --- Then froze. --- "Wait." --- Silence. --- Everybody froze. --- Not visibly. --- But internally. 😄 --- "What?" Marco asked carefully. --- Kiro looked around the table. --- Then at Ace. --- Then at Reyes. --- Then back at the table. --- "...why is everybody acting weird?" --- The explosion was immediate. 😄 --- Marco nearly inhaled coffee. --- Shammy folded forward laughing. --- Ace covered her eyes. --- Reyes lost all remaining composure. --- Even Mai's shoulders shook once. --- Only Lena remained calm. --- Mostly. --- Kiro looked around in confusion. --- "What?" --- Nobody answered. --- "What?" --- Still nothing. --- "WHAT?" 😄 --- The realization did not arrive. --- It circled the airport. --- Requested landing permission. --- Missed the runway twice. --- Then finally connected. --- Her eyes widened. --- "Oh." --- A pause. --- Another pause. --- She pointed accusingly at Ace. --- "You got caught." --- The entire table exploded again. 😄 --- Ace immediately pointed back. --- "Don't you start." --- "What?" --- Ace looked at Lena. Then at Kiro. Then at Lena again. --- A dangerous smile appeared. --- "Oh no." Kiro whispered. 😄 --- Lena lowered her coffee cup very carefully. --- The room suddenly became interested. Very interested. --- Even Marco stopped laughing. --- Which was rare enough to qualify as an astronomical event. --- Ace leaned back. --- "Interesting hammock." --- Silence. --- Absolute silence. --- Kiro stopped moving. --- Completely. --- Lena remained calm. --- Too calm. --- Which somehow confirmed everything. --- "What hammock?" Kiro asked. --- Nobody answered. --- The pause lasted long enough to become evidence. --- Then Marco looked out the window. --- "That's rough." 😄 --- Kiro turned slowly toward Lena. --- Lena took a sip of coffee. --- Still calm. --- Still completely unhelpful. --- "Kiro." --- "Yeah?" --- "You should probably stop asking questions." --- The entire table died. 😄 --- And just like that... the spotlight moved. --- For the first time all weekend... Ace and Reyes were no longer the most embarrassed people in the room. --- Which improved their morning considerably. 😄 --- # Chapter 10 — Mutual Assured Embarrassment Breakfast tried to continue. Really tried. --- Nobody helped. --- Especially Kiro did not help. --- "Seriously." --- Nobody looked up. --- "Seriously." --- Still nothing. --- "Why is everyone being weird?" 😄 --- The table immediately became fascinated by breakfast. --- Coffee. Toast. Eggs. The weather. The structural integrity of the cabin. Anything. Absolutely anything. --- Kiro slowly looked around. --- Marco. Not looking at her. --- Shammy. Definitely hiding a smile. --- Mai. Far too interested in her tea. --- Ace. Studying her coffee. --- Reyes. Also studying her coffee. --- "...okay." --- Nobody answered. --- "Something happened." --- Silence. --- "You all know something." --- More silence. --- "You are all terrible at this." 😄 --- "That's fair." Marco admitted. --- "THANK YOU." --- The relief in Kiro's voice suggested she had finally located a lifeline. --- Unfortunately it was Marco. --- Which made it the worst possible lifeline. --- Lena calmly took a sip of coffee. --- Still entirely unhelpful. --- Kiro pointed. --- "You." --- "Me." --- "Why are you calm?" --- Lena considered that. --- Then shrugged. --- "I slept well." 😄 --- The table nearly exploded. --- Kiro looked around. --- "What?" --- Nobody answered. --- Again. --- The silence was becoming increasingly suspicious. --- Ace took another sip of coffee. --- Stopped. --- Her eyes narrowed slightly. --- A small movement. --- A shift of sunlight through the window. --- Nothing dramatic. --- Just enough. --- "...oh." --- Across the table Reyes froze. --- The tone alone got her attention. --- "What?" --- Ace didn't answer immediately. --- Instead she looked toward Kiro. --- Then toward Lena. --- Then back toward her coffee. --- "...oh." 😄 --- Now Reyes looked. --- A second later: --- "...OH." 😄 --- The entire table noticed. --- Immediately. --- Because of course they did. --- Marco looked between Ace and Reyes. --- Then followed their line of sight. --- Then nearly inhaled coffee. --- Again. --- "Marco." Lena sounded tired. --- "I'm trying." --- "You are not." --- "I am emotionally compromised." 😄 --- Kiro looked around. --- Now genuinely confused. --- "What?" --- Nobody answered. --- "What?!" --- Shammy buried her face in her mug. --- Mai closed her eyes briefly. --- The universe was clearly testing her. --- Kiro looked at Ace. --- Then Reyes. --- Then Marco. --- Then Lena. --- Then back to Ace. --- "...what?" --- Ace pointed at her coffee. --- "I'm not saying anything." --- "That wasn't my question." --- "I'm definitely not saying anything." --- "ACE." 😄 --- Reyes folded her arms. --- "I'm with Ace." --- "YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT THE THING IS." --- "I absolutely know what the thing is." --- That made everything worse. --- Much worse. --- Kiro turned slowly. --- Toward Lena. --- Lena continued drinking coffee. --- Completely calm. --- A dangerous amount of calm. --- "...Lena." --- "Yes?" --- "Help." --- "No." 😄 --- The answer arrived instantly. --- The entire table died. --- Again. --- Even Ace lost the fight. --- Laughter escaped. --- Then Reyes. --- Then Marco completely surrendered. --- Kiro stared at all of them. --- Looked at Lena. --- Looked back at the others. --- And for one glorious moment... the first spark of realization appeared. --- Not the full picture. --- Just enough. --- A tiny widening of the eyes. --- A tiny pause. --- A tiny: > ...wait. 😄 --- Across the table Ace slowly lowered her coffee. --- Reyes did the same. --- Both arriving at exactly the same conclusion. --- The universe had paid them back for the rocks. --- With interest. 😄 --- And the worst part? --- Neither of them could comment. --- Not one word. --- Because after the previous evening... they had absolutely no moral authority left. --- None whatsoever. --- The lake outside shimmered peacefully in the morning sun. --- Completely unconcerned. --- The people inside the cabin, however? --- They were having a much better morning than expected. 😄❤️ --- # Chapter 11 — Damage Assessment The silence after breakfast turned out to be surprisingly pleasant. --- Not because anything had been resolved. --- Quite the opposite. --- Nothing had been resolved. --- Everyone knew that. --- But at least everyone now knew that everyone else knew. --- Which, in its own strange way, counted as progress. 😄 --- Marco stood at the grill. --- Again. --- Nobody questioned it anymore. --- Some natural phenomena simply had to be accepted. --- Lena sat on the deck with a book. --- Kiro sat beside her. --- Noticeably closer than she had been at the beginning of the weekend. --- And perhaps most importantly: --- Kiro didn't seem to realize it anymore. --- Ace noticed. --- Reyes noticed. --- Marco noticed. --- Shammy definitely noticed. --- Mai had probably noticed yesterday. 😄 --- Kiro? --- Completely oblivious. --- "You're doing it again." --- Kiro looked up. --- "What?" --- Marco pointed. --- "You drift." --- "Drift?" --- "Toward Lena." --- Silence. --- Kiro looked at herself. --- Looked at Lena. --- Looked back at herself. --- "...oh." 😄 --- Lena didn't even look up from her book. --- "He's not wrong." --- Kiro immediately turned red. --- Marco wisely retreated before anything could be thrown at him. --- Years of experience. --- Survival instinct. 😄 --- Later that afternoon. --- The sun sat high overhead. --- The lake shimmered beneath a cloudless sky. --- Shammy floated in the water once again in a way that made her resemble a local weather phenomenon more than a person. --- Mai occupied the dock. --- Naturally. --- Ace arrived a few minutes later. --- Sat down beside her. --- A long silence followed. --- A comfortable one. --- Then: --- "You knew." --- Mai turned a page. --- "About what?" --- "The rocks." --- Mai considered this carefully. --- "No." --- Ace raised an eyebrow. --- "No?" --- "I knew eventually." --- "...that's not better." 😄 --- Mai hummed softly. --- Which was essentially a declaration of victory. --- Ace accepted defeat. --- Wisely. --- On the opposite side of the cabin. --- Reyes sat on the front steps. --- Coffee mug in hand. --- Marco appeared. --- Sat down beside her. --- Dangerously quiet. --- Reyes noticed immediately. --- "No." --- "I didn't say anything." --- "No." --- "I literally haven't." --- "No." 😄 --- Marco sighed. --- "This weekend has become very difficult for me." --- "Good." --- "Nobody lets me have fun." --- "That's because your definition of fun is terrifying." --- "Fair." 😄 --- The afternoon continued drifting past. --- The sun moved slowly. --- People scattered. Returned. Vanished. Reappeared. --- No more reports. --- No more investigations. --- No more evidence gathering. --- At least not officially. 😄 --- Eventually Ace found herself back near the shoreline. --- The same stretch of water. --- The same breeze. --- The same lake. --- The same rocks visible farther down the shore. --- She looked at them for perhaps half a second. --- Then immediately looked somewhere else. 😄 --- A voice appeared beside her. --- "Still embarrassed?" --- Ace didn't need to turn. --- "Go away." --- Reyes laughed. --- Which answered the question. --- A moment later she sat down anyway. --- Because of course she did. --- The water stretched before them. --- For a while neither spoke. --- Then: --- "They were happy." --- Ace glanced sideways. --- "Who?" --- "Everyone." --- The answer surprised her. --- Not because it was wrong. --- Because it was right. --- The weekend had been full of laughter. --- Teasing. --- Missing Persons Reports. --- The complete collapse of personal privacy. 😄 --- But beneath all of it... --- There had been something else. --- Relief. --- The kind people felt when they saw good things happen to people they cared about. --- Ace looked out across the lake. --- The realization settled quietly. --- "Yeah." --- Reyes smiled. --- A real one. --- "Yeah." --- Neither felt the need to say more. --- Behind them. --- Somewhere near the cabin. --- A very familiar voice suddenly shouted: --- "KIRO." --- A pause. --- "WHY ARE YOU IN THE SAME CHAIR?" 😄 --- The silence that followed was spectacular. --- Ace closed her eyes. --- Reyes immediately started laughing. --- Somewhere in the distance Marco could be heard fleeing for his life. --- The weekend, apparently, wasn't finished with them yet. 😄❤️ --- # Chapter 12 — No More Reports By the final evening, nobody was keeping track anymore. Not officially. --- The fire crackled softly near the shoreline. The sky glowed orange and gold beyond the lake. Dinner had come and gone. Marco had somehow exceeded his previous grilling records. Again. --- The entire group had settled into the strange rhythm the weekend had built. People moved where they wanted. Sat where they wanted. Disappeared when they wanted. Returned when they wanted. --- Nobody questioned it anymore. --- Ace currently occupied Reyes' lap. --- Openly. --- Casually. --- As if it had always been that way. --- At some point during the afternoon everyone had simply stopped noticing. Or at least stopped pretending to notice. --- Ace sat sideways across Reyes' knees. One arm draped loosely around her shoulders. Listening to a conversation she wasn't actually participating in. --- Reyes rested one hand against Ace's side. Completely unconcerned. --- The rocks had apparently changed the rules. 😄 --- Marco glanced over. --- Paused. --- Then returned to his drink. --- No reaction. --- The transformation was complete. --- "You're adapting." Reyes sounded suspicious. --- "To what?" --- "This." She gestured vaguely toward herself and Ace. --- Marco looked. --- Looked away. --- Shrugged. --- "I got tired." 😄 --- The entire group laughed. --- The lake shimmered softly in the fading light. The last evening had settled around them comfortably. No pressure. No expectations. No urgency. --- For a while the conversation wandered aimlessly. Stories. Bad jobs. Good jobs. The increasingly mythical fish from Reyes' warehouse story. --- Then, at some point nobody could identify precisely... Kiro and Lena vanished. --- Nobody reacted. --- Not immediately. --- The fire continued burning. The conversation continued. --- Five minutes. Ten. Twenty. --- Still nobody reacted. --- Finally Marco noticed. --- Noticed. --- Considered. --- Thought about it. --- Then deliberately looked away. --- "No." --- "What?" Kiro wasn't there to ask. --- Marco pointed at absolutely nothing. --- "I'm retired." 😄 --- The declaration was accepted unanimously. --- No Missing Persons Report. No investigation. No search operation. --- Retirement had apparently stuck. --- The evening continued. --- Stars began appearing overhead. The fire burned lower. The lake reflected the first lights of night. --- And then... movement near the tree line. --- Heads turned automatically. --- Not because anyone was worried. --- Because everyone was curious. 😄 --- Kiro emerged first. --- The moment she stepped into the firelight, Ace immediately froze. --- "Oh." --- Reyes followed her gaze. --- Paused. --- "...oh." 😄 --- Kiro's hair looked like it had lost an argument with reality. --- Not dramatically. --- Just enough. --- Just enough to be noticed. --- And her cheeks... --- Well. --- There were only so many reasons a person's face remained that red after sunset. 😄 --- A few seconds later Lena emerged from the darkness. --- Normally Lena looked impossibly composed. --- Effortlessly organized. --- Perfectly put together. --- Tonight... --- Not quite. --- A few loose strands of hair had escaped. --- Her expression remained calm. --- Mostly. --- But there was a warmth there that hadn't been present when they left. --- And perhaps most importantly: --- Both of them looked absurdly pleased with life. 😄 --- Silence spread around the fire. --- Not awkward silence. --- The other kind. --- The dangerous kind. --- The kind made entirely of knowing looks. --- Marco looked at Ace. --- Ace looked at Reyes. --- Reyes looked at Lena. --- Shammy looked into her mug. --- Mai looked at absolutely nothing. Which somehow made her the most suspicious person present. 😄 --- The chain reaction continued. --- Nobody spoke. --- Nobody needed to. --- The evidence had arrived under its own power. --- Kiro stopped. --- Looked around. --- Immediately sensed danger. --- "...why is everyone looking at us?" 😄 --- The fire crackled. --- Nobody answered. --- Kiro turned slowly. --- Looked at Marco. --- Looked at Ace. --- Looked at Reyes. --- Looked at Lena. --- Then back at everyone else. --- "...guys?" --- Still nothing. --- Ace had buried her face against Reyes' shoulder. --- Not helping. --- Reyes wasn't helping either. --- Neither was Shammy. --- Or Marco. --- Or anyone. --- Lena closed her eyes briefly. --- A tiny movement. --- Barely visible. --- Unfortunately it was visible enough. 😄 --- Kiro noticed. --- "...Lena." --- "Yes?" --- "Help." --- "No." 😄 --- The entire fire pit detonated. --- Laughter erupted from every direction. --- Marco nearly fell out of his chair. --- Ace lost all remaining self-control. --- Even Mai looked away to hide a smile. --- Kiro stared at the group. --- Then at Lena. --- Then back at the group. --- And finally... finally... --- The first spark of understanding appeared. --- Not the whole picture. --- Just enough. --- A tiny widening of the eyes. --- A tiny pause. --- A tiny: > "...wait." 😄 --- Across the fire, Ace lifted her head from Reyes' shoulder. --- Their eyes met. --- No words necessary. --- The universe had balanced the scales. --- Perfectly. 😄 --- The fire burned lower. The stars brightened overhead. The lake stretched endlessly beyond the shoreline. --- And for the first time all weekend... --- Nobody was the center of attention anymore. --- Which, as it turned out, was a very comfortable place to be. ❤️😄🌲🔥🌊 --- # Epilogue — The Road Back The first sign the weekend was over came before anyone said a word. --- The coffee tasted exactly the same. --- The lake looked exactly the same. --- The sky looked exactly the same. --- And yet somehow everything felt different. --- Morning sunlight spilled across the cabin. The shoreline. The dock. The hammock. The fire pit. --- All the places that had somehow become important over the course of three days. --- Nobody rushed. --- Nobody wanted to be the first person to acknowledge what day it was. --- Eventually Marco broke. --- Naturally. --- "We have to leave." --- The statement was met with universal disappointment. --- "No." Kiro's response was immediate. --- "Unfortunately yes." --- "No." --- "Compelling argument." 😄 --- Packing began slowly. --- Very slowly. --- People found excuses. --- Coffee first. --- One last walk. --- One last look at the lake. --- One last trip to the dock. --- One last absolutely necessary conversation that somehow couldn't wait until the drive home. --- Anything to delay the inevitable. --- The cabin gradually emptied. --- Blankets disappeared. Bags reappeared. Supplies found their way back into vehicles. --- The temporary little world they had built began quietly dismantling itself. --- No one liked it. --- Everyone accepted it. --- The hammock was the last thing Kiro checked. --- For reasons nobody commented on. 😄 --- Lena absolutely noticed. --- Which somehow made Kiro blush all over again. --- Ace pretended not to see it. --- Failed completely. --- Reyes didn't even try. --- The dock proved more difficult. --- Mai stood there for a long time. --- Looking out across the water. --- The same place she'd occupied for most of the weekend. --- Shammy appeared beside her without warning. --- As always. --- Neither spoke for a while. --- The lake stretched out before them. Silent. Unimpressed. --- Unchanged. --- Finally Shammy smiled. --- "It'll still be here." --- Mai nodded. --- "I know." --- That wasn't really what either of them meant. --- But it was close enough. --- Near the cabin. --- Marco closed the rear hatch of the SUV. --- The sound echoed across the clearing. --- Far louder than it should have. --- The sound of departure. --- The sound nobody wanted to hear. --- One by one the others gathered near the vehicles. --- Coffee mugs gone. Bags loaded. Weekend ending. --- Ace glanced toward the shoreline one final time. --- The rocks remained where they had always been. --- Reyes followed her gaze. --- A slow grin appeared. --- "No." --- "What?" --- "No." 😄 --- Ace rolled her eyes. --- The grin widened. --- The memory clearly wasn't going away anytime soon. --- Probably ever. --- Good. --- Some memories deserved that. --- The final goodbyes took longer than necessary. --- Not because anyone was actually saying goodbye. --- Because nobody could stop finding reasons to keep talking. --- One more joke. --- One more story. --- One more unnecessary observation. --- One more minute. --- Eventually there weren't any minutes left. --- Marco leaned against the driver's door. Looked around at the group. The cabin. The lake. The trees. --- Then exhaled slowly. --- "We should do this again." --- Silence followed. --- Not because anyone disagreed. --- Because everyone knew what he really meant. --- Night City waited. --- Jobs waited. --- Corpos waited. --- Problems waited. --- Life waited. --- Finding another weekend like this wouldn't be easy. --- But that didn't make it impossible. --- Finally Lena nodded. --- "Yeah." --- A moment later: --- "Yeah." Kiro. --- "Definitely." Shammy. --- Mai simply smiled. --- Which counted. --- Ace glanced toward Reyes. --- Reyes looked back. --- Then both toward the lake one final time. --- "Yeah." --- The answer joined the others. --- Simple. --- Honest. --- Enough. --- Engines started. --- Doors closed. --- The convoy slowly rolled away from the cabin. --- Past the trees. Past the shoreline. Past the place that had somehow become home for a few days. --- The lake disappeared behind the forest. --- The road stretched ahead. --- Night City waited somewhere beyond the horizon. --- But for a little while longer... --- The feeling remained. --- The laughter. The quiet. The dock. The hammock. The fire. The rocks. The impossible amount of coffee. The people. --- The reminder that they were more than their jobs. More than their scars. More than the things they fought. --- For three days they had simply been themselves. --- The lake hadn't cared who they were. --- That was exactly why it mattered. ❤️ **The End** 🌲🌊🔥☕😄