I choke air into my lungs and scramble out of the water, coughing until my ribs burn.
"Hey!" someone shouts from the dock. "You okay?"
"No," I gasp. "I'm not—" I wipe salt from my mouth and try to stand. My legs shake like they belong to a different person.
"You fell off the pier, huh?" A man in a stained jacket leans over the railing, phone flashlight cutting across my face. He props the light so I can see. Neon signs blink over the water. Freight cranes loom like metal teeth.
"Name?" the man asks. He says it like he's reading a form.
"Lexi," I say. My voice sounds small. I squint at the dark and a name slips free before I can stop it. "Drew."
"Drew who?" the man asks.
"I don't know," I say. The name tastes like someone I half-remembered from a dream and couldn't map to a face. Silver hair, narrow shoulders, a rifle in the dark. I mouth the name again and it hits me like a memory with missing pieces. My hands curl into fists.
"You look messed up," the man says. "You want me to call—"
A cold electronic voice cuts through my head like a notification.
"System: Mercy activated. Subject: Lexi Fontana. Welcome."
I freeze. My breath hitches. The man's light trembles.
"Did you hear that?" he asks. He backs away like I might explode.
"Hello, Lexi," the voice says. Nothing human in it. No
