The woman's appearance in the engine room confirmed Kaelen's worst fears. She wasn't just a survivor from the original crew—she had become the signal. Her body was a vessel for it now, her eyes dark pools of emptiness.
"You need to leave," she repeated, her voice shaking with the weight of a thousand years. "It's already inside you."
Kaelen tried to move, but something kept him frozen in place, as if the air itself had thickened, trapping him in its grip. The signal was everywhere, in every corner of the ship, in the very walls.
Mira stepped forward, her hand reaching for Kaelen's arm. "We need to find a way out."
The woman's eyes flickered, and for a moment, Kaelen thought he saw a flicker of recognition.
"You don't understand," the woman said. "You are already part of it. The signal isn't trying to kill you. It's trying to make you whole."