EPISODE 5: THE COUNTDOWN ## CHAPTER 1: FOUR DAYS The maintenance tunnels of Neptune Eight were never designed for prolonged human habitation. You've been hiding for eighteen hours. The tunnels are cramped, dark, filled with the endless hum of machinery and the distant vibration of drilling that never stops. Your enhanced senses make the darkness navigable, but they also make every sound sharper, every vibration more intense, every moment of the entity's presence in your mind more overwhelming. Come to us. You belong with us now. "Shut up," you mutter, pressing your palms against your temples. "Just... shut up." The voice recedes, but it doesn't stop. It never stops anymore. Your body is changing. You can feel it—subtle shifts in your muscles, your reflexes, the way your eyes process light. Whatever the fluid did to you, whatever the entity imprinted on your neural pathways, it's accelerating. Adapting you. Making you something that will survive what's coming. Whether you want to or not. A sound in the tunnel ahead. Footsteps. You press yourself against the wall, reaching for the new senses that let you perceive electromagnetic fields and— "Harper?" A whisper. "It's MacLeod. I'm alone." She emerges from the darkness, carrying a small bag. Emergency supplies—food packets, water, a medical kit, a handheld radio. "They're tearing the platform apart looking...