"T-Tanya?"

The sound was hoarse, disbelieving.

The words interrupted Tanya's circling thoughts. It had become a strangely meditative state, looking through her Interface and wondering what would come next. She looked down at the skin of her thumb, which she hadn't noticed herself biting. It was raw.

For a second, Tanya almost smiled, relief flickering through her like a match, but then she saw Amy's face. The way she was looking at her.

"You," Amy said, voice trembling with something that wasn't just fear. "It was you."

Tanya's stomach dropped. "Amy—"

"You gave me that thing." Amy's hands shook as she gestured weakly toward her back. "You made it, didn't you? You drew it on me and now it—" her voice cracked. "It lives in me. It kills."

Tanya's mouth opened, closed. She wanted to say no, to explain, but the words jammed in her throat..

"I didn't know this would happen," Tanya said finally.

"You expect me to believe that?" Amy spat. "You were the one everyone went to. You said you had the touch. That your tattoos meant something. You said this one would bring luck."

"No—no not like that," Tanya said. "I didn't have this back then. That was before the Interface. Before any of this. Back when it really was just a tattoo. I swear."

Amy stared at her for a long time. The anger faltered. "So you didn't choose it."

Tanya shook her head. "I got this Class in the middle of a tattoo, and then they were all alive. Every piece I ever did."

Amy's voice softened, still full of disbelief. "All of them?"

"Every one," Tanya said. "The first one after the Class almost killed me."

"Oh," Amy said. Her anger seemed to melt away into confusion.

Silence hung between them.

Tanya drew a slow breath, forcing a smile.

"Hey there," she said gently.

Amy's shoulders sagged. She winced as she sat up.

"Keep it slow, yeah? You've been through a right fight with that thing." Tanya nodded toward the tattoo.

Amy's eyebrows furrowed, her voice shaking. "I hope it stays there."

Tanya's friendly mask faded. "What's been goin' on with…" she looked around the room. "All of this?" She turned back to Amy and took in each pointed bone beneath pallid skin. She placed a hand on Amy's shoulder. "You hungry? Let's go get ya cleaned up and fed, yeah?"

Amy shook her head viciously. "I can't go out. It's too dangerous."

"You'll have me to defend you."

"No, not the monsters," Amy said. "Hǔ." She breathed the word as if a terrible secret.

"Hǔ?" Tanya asked.

With a shaking hand, Amy pointed to the tattooed tiger on her back.

"I remember now. Year of the tiger. You got it for your birth year."

Amy nodded.

"When does it come out?" Tanya paused. "Amy, do you have an Interface yet—a Class?"

Amy shook her head. "I heard people talk about the Classes, but…" Her eyes moved to the corner of the room where the body lay surrounded by dead flowers. Her voice softened. "My neighbour came in to check on me, told me he had this Class called Soldier." Her voice became more apologetic. "He had a lot of control over his level, levelled it slowly by killing the monsters and doing what the military said on the radio. I didn't realise others—"

"It's okay," Tanya said. Her mind latched onto the idea of the military. She hadn't heard much about them since they lost electricity.

"Military?" Tanya asked.

"Retired," Amy said. "There were a whole group of them, apparently. They had an old radio and seemed to be doing secret army stuff." She shrugged."He lived here for a while, guarding me and getting food. Then a monster broke in whilst he was out, and Hǔ appeared. He was so proud—wanted me to make it again to show him, but I couldn't work out how. It happened a couple more times like that. I would go to the front door when monsters were outside in case maybe killing enough of them would get me a Class like his."

She paused for a long time.

"He came in chased by this huge monster, and Hǔ appeared. He thought it was his salvation, but it just killed them both."

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Tears ran down Amy's face, but she showed no other expression of emotion and made no sound.

The flowers made sense now—the way he was posed.

"I'm so sorry." Tanya didn't feel like that was enough, but there was nothing more she could say.

Tanya bit her thumb again, reflecting on the story.

"What would you want? What's the dream?" Tanya asked. "If I could take it away? If I could help you control it?"

Amy was slack-jawed. She looked Tanya deep in the eyes for the first time. "You could get rid of it?"

"I don't know how yet, but if that's what you wanted, I'd try and find a way."

"Please," she begged. "Take it off if you can." The tears ran faster, and her face crumpled.

Tanya didn't know what to do, so she just hugged her while the girl's body shook with sobs.

How do I take it off?

She rubbed Amy's back and looked through her Interface. Passing the Mark felt like the only way. Maybe if she levelled it enough, she could take tattoos as well as giving them. But they needed a fix for now.

When the sobbing became quiet hiccups and sniffles, Tanya pulled back, holding Amy's shoulder with each hand.

"We need to get you somewhere else. I have a plan, but it means I'd have to give you another tattoo."

"Will it come alive?" Amy asked, sniffing.

Tanya was so thankful she'd brought her tattoo gun with her.

"Yes and no," Tanya said. "It won't be a living thing at all."

• • • • • • • • •

Getting Amy calm enough to get the tattoo was a long process. She instinctively responded to the pain of the tattoo gun with the morphing glow of the tiger on her back.

Tanya had to pull away, guide her through breathing exercises, then start again even slower.

The image of the cage came together bit by bit.

At first, Tanya wanted something that Amy could keep summoned that suppressed the tiger summon, but not only was she not sure that would work, it wouldn't stay summoned while Amy was sleeping.

She needed it to be simpler. That's when Tanya came up with the idea of the cage.

Tanya had planned to design the cage around the tiger—to combine them into one design somehow. But she decided that was too risky. Modifying tattoos was still a new process for her, and if Amy wanted it gone, she just needed some bridge while she worked out how to do that. She banished the thoughts of trying to get one to be triggered by another or linking them and went even simpler. The cage would be a separate summon that Amy could summon around it.

Tanya's intention was threefold.

It needed to be strong enough to hold the tiger.

It needed to be simple to aim and summon

Ideally, it needed to be as low Vitality drain as possible to give Amy the best chance of unsummoning it instead of passing out, which Tanya was sure wasn't good for her health to be doing as much as she had.

She was really glad she didn't need to worry about ordering these Intentions from least to most important anymore with her new design overlay.

Tanya fiddled with the overlay until the cage felt just right.

Aside from the breaks, it wasn't a long or hard tattoo, just a lineart barred cage similar to a dog crate on Amy's upper arm. Tanya hoped it being so visible would help her feel safe, but it was also a low-pain spot for doing the tattoo. Tanya didn't even bother summoning Assistant, deciding explaining that a creepy, bodyless hand likely wasn't worth it with Amy this spooked already.

The new lines gleamed faintly under the candles Tanya had scavenged from the kitchen—thin bars circling her upper arm, simple and solid.

"You remember how we focused on pushin' the tiger back, try bringin' the cage out that same way. Picture…" Tanya started, working out how to word it. "Like someone pinching the skin and gently pulling it out. Remember the slight sting of the new tattoo. Focus on out."

Amy hesitated, then breathed in. The cage shimmered briefly over her skin, a ghost of light. It flickered out again.

"That's good. Again."

They practised in short bursts, Tanya guiding her through each breath, each focus point. The tiger didn't show—thankfully—but the cage came easier each time, quicker, clearer, until Tanya could feel the response humming in the air.

"That'll do," she said at last, stretching her cramped shoulders. "Let's get back before it's dark."

They packed what they could and stepped into the cooling street. The air smelled of smoke and metal. It wasn't far to the shop—half an hour if they kept pace—but every shadow felt too deep. Amy stayed close, one hand over the tattoo.

They'd almost reached the roundabout when the monstrous shriek came from behind the cars.

Tanya spun, watching the tiger morph off her back.

"Amy, cage!"

Amy flinched, but the glow was already forming—the cage bursting out in front of them, bars of pale light snapping shut around the tiger before it could decide whether the new monster or Tanya were its next meal. It hit the barrier, growled, and fell still, the sound vibrating through the air like struck glass.

Tanya killed the prowling monster, leaving Amy to stare open-mouthed at the caged tiger.

"It worked…"

"Yeah," she said quietly. "It did."

They didn't speak again until the shop was in sight. The lights of the signage flickered weakly in the distance, and Amy's arm still glowed faintly, the lines of the cage warm under her skin.

Tanya cut down the prowling creature with a quick strike, then turned back to the cage. The tiger paced inside, furious and silent, stripes of light sliding along the bars.

"It worked…" Amy whispered, eyes wide.

"Yeah," Tanya said quietly. "Now see if you can send it back."

Amy blinked at her. "Unsummon it?"

"Try. I'll keep anythin' else off you." Tanya stepped ahead, scanning the street.

Amy nodded, though her hands shook. She pressed one against the tattoo, breathing fast. Nothing happened. The tiger just watched her, tail flicking.

Minutes crawled. Amy tried again. The air shimmered, the cage flickered—but held. She gritted her teeth and kept at it, whispering half-formed words, breath hitching each time the light faltered. Tanya stayed alert, pacing the edge of the road, eyes flicking from shadow to shadow.

The effort dragged on until sweat slicked Amy's face and her shoulders shook from holding focus. Each breath made the glow weaker, each tremor closer to collapse. Tanya wanted to tell her to stop, but didn't. The only way through was through.

Finally, the tiger gave a low, fading growl. The light stuttered, collapsed inward, and the bars folded into nothing. The street was suddenly too quiet.

Amy swayed, catching herself on one knee, breathing in ragged bursts. "It's… gone," she managed.

Tanya knelt beside her, steadying her.

Amy gave a cracked laugh that turned into a sob. "Didn't think I could make it stop."

"Now you know you can." Tanya helped her up. "Let's get back before anythin' else finds us."

They walked fast. The world had that hollow sound cities get after dark, wind echoing through broken windows. Amy stayed close, head down, but a quiet energy had replaced the terror. She even spoke a little—the way the rain on the pavement reminded her of Singapore, how strange London looked now that it wasn't constantly full of light and sound. Tanya let her talk. It sounded more like the girl she'd met long ago for a tiger tattoo.

By the time the shop's sign came into view, the night was deep and cold. Amy walked with her arms crossed, one hand tucked into her side and the other lovingly placed over her new cage tattoo, as if reminding herself it was still there.

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