The apocalypse: I can copy any talent

What the Syst

one of someone bracing for an answer they already sus

, aching, six months lighter than I'd

I kept my voice low. "Emergen

w tig

nt six months keeping that thi

stirred against the pillar, groaning, on

alent-the one everybody mocked as *ten percent of

t like that, it

d at me. "You could've died in there. You could've traded *years* if that override had scaled

itted it. "Def

eyes were hard. "That's a

is advised to reserve Willpower Ove

how up," I

You simply weren't listening past th

-

with the particular stubbornness of someone who'd built her authori

fence. Gear stowed. The ruined garage and its Cl

changes our threat assessment. And-" She hesitated, glancing at me. "Your override ca

ught of Bo Hai's warning. The kid two shelters over

ce to be extracted." Something flickered across her face-old exhaustion, deeper than today's fight. "Command listens to me, mostly. I

know. "Bo Hai already warned me yo

property stop being useful to anyone, eventually. I've seen that lesson taught too many times to make the same mistake twice." S

, actu

, gone almost as soon as it appeared. Genuin

-

counter had apparently outrun us. The same crowd that had laughed at "Copy-boy" th

ous. In eq

ossed. Expression carefully neutral in a way that

s-2." He said it flat. "Wit

down toget

espect fought its way onto his face despite clear effort to suppress it. "People are s

ay a lot

m him before. "For what it's worth-I was wrong. About you." He said it like the w

d. Probably for the best. I genuine

nding Improved - Bo Ha

ly. Recommend leveraging this before Command's int

minutes later. Two bowls of thin shelter stew balanced careful

-I wanted to apologize. For snapping at you in the g

scared for me." I took the bowl. "I'm

honesty of it, maybe. Or just the fact that I ha

e. "Whatever this override thing costs you-I don't want it to be

my future in six-month increments." I offered

stayed a beat longer than

-

describe her life before the rifts. Nursing student, o

slammed open hard enough

orn. Blood streaked across one arm in a way

ance. "Command, there's a fourth rift. Bigger than the

rossing the hall t

Class-2. Whatever's coming through this one-" He swallowed hard. Eyes wide with a fear that

Region-Wide Threat Es

lable: Survive th

nown. Risk: Ca

wl down. Ste

out either of us really deci

re shelter's fear told me one thing clearly eno

ren't

ccepted: Survive t

span remaining: 47 years, 6

uarantee survival. It only guarantees tha

t last line for

red. "That's not

: You're

-

of Ch