Signal Lost / Season 1, Episode 6
Silent Glass Barriers
The hum of the quarantine wing’s ventilation system buzzed like a trapped insect in Ben Nakamura’s ears as he leaned forward, elbows digging into the cold steel of the observation table. The glass partition between him and Dr. Katya Volkov was smudged with faint streaks—someone’s careless touch, maybe his own from yesterday’s fruitless session with Yara. Beyond it, Katya sat rigid, her pale hands folded on the table in front of her, the sleeves of her gray quarantine jumpsuit rolled up to reveal forearms crisscrossed with faint scars. Her eyes, sharp and gray as slate, didn’t waver from his. The air in the room felt thick, recycled, carrying the sterile tang of disinfectant that stung the back of his throat. “Dr. Volkov,” Ben started, his voice clipped, the way he’d learned to speak when capcoms went sideways during sims. “Let’s cut through the protocol dance. I’ve got seventeen days of nothing from your crew. No logs, no telemetry, no explanation. And now I’m supposed to accept that your medical data—data I’m legally entitled to as Flight Director—is locked behind encryption I can’t even identify. So, tell me. What the hell am I looking at here?” Katya’s lips twitched, not quite a smile, more like a muscle memory of one. She tilted her head slightly, the overhead fluorescent catching the streaks...