Tanya tilted her head back, squinting up into the broken jaw of the ceiling. Light filtered through dust and the web of exposed beams. Beyond it, in the room above, the corner of a fitted wardrobe hung half-suspended like a prize on a threadbare claw machine.

"There's more up there," Tanya said, voice low.

Mrs Eceer followed her gaze, one hand instinctively drifting to the chain of rings on her belt. "The structural integrity of that floor is—" She didn't finish. They all knew.

Assistant floated up there, checking it out. It did a thumbs down.

Fahad padded closer, squinting up into the gloom inside the cupboard. "Is that jam?"

"Could be," Tanya said. "Could also be somethin' that used to be jam. Could be blood. Could be melted vitamins. Take your pick, really."

He hummed, thoughtful. "I'd still eat it."

"Fahad!" Ishita exclaimed, laughing. She casually pulled him closer, hand tousling his hair.

Tanya raised her eyebrows. "Nah, you wouldn't."

"No, I wouldn't. I'm just hungry" he admitted, sighing.

The wardrobe creaked above them. Not loud—just enough to draw the eye. The side of it jutted out past the edge of the broken ceiling, one door slightly ajar. Inside, tins caught the light.

"What's in there?" Tanya asked.

Mrs Eceer looked up, making a mental inventory. "I moved all my tins and food that didn't need much preparation. There's lots of candles and a propane stove." She counted off on her fingers, "Hm… knives, clothes, first aid, anything that I needed to stay in there longer term."

"So it's a goldmine then," Tanya said, rocking backwards and forwards on her heels.

"Absolutely," Mrs Eceer replied.

Tanya leaned back, squinting into the gap. It was a strange scene, lit from the window above, the golden light giving it an angelic look. The door hung open, revealing tins glinting in the dust-thick light.

"Can you grab the stuff?" Tanya asked Assistant.

The hand tilted from side to side.

"It could grab the lighter stuff but some of it would be unsteady, and some is too heavy all together," Tanya said.

"You got all that from a hand tilt?" Mrs Eceer asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Oh yeah," Tanya said. "I guess I did."

She paced around, bent finger on her chin and her other arm wrapped around her like she always did.

"Looks like it's bolted to the wall," she muttered. "That or it's playin' chicken with gravity."

Mrs Eceer narrowed her eyes, mouth tight. "It's fitted—installed by the landlord. I'm not sure how well it was installed. If the rest of the floor goes, it may bring the wall down with it."

"Even if it doesn't, I imagine it'll collapse with all of the things inside," Ishita weighed in.

"Proper domino situation," Tanya agreed.

They all stared up at it for a moment. Tanya stepped this way and that, over a couple of bodies, trying to see more than just the outline in the gloom.

"I could shoot floor out," Olena offered from the doorway, raising her gun arm with something too close to glee.

Tanya turned in surprise, watching other heads in her peripheral do the same. Olena stuck her arm through the window.

"What? No more window. I hear," Olena continued.

Mrs Eceer considered it for a moment then shook her head. "No, too risky."

Tanya scratched her jaw, eyes still on the ceiling. "Right. Plan, then. Could stack somethin'. Get a table up. Build from there."

"Everything's broken," Ishita pointed out. "And heavy. And covered in monster juice."

"Valid."

They all stared up again as if willing it to solve itself. Nothing moved.

Assistant grabbed one of the tins and floated it down.

"Good thinkin'," Tanya said. "Grab what you can."

Assistant gave an "okay" symbol as it floated back up for its second trip.

"I'm gonna go round an' check it from above. Get the lay of it," she continued to the others.

Mrs Eceer looked like she wanted to argue but nodded. "Carefully."

"Always," Tanya said, then paused. "Alright, not always, but this time, yeah." She grinned.

Mrs Eceer rolled her eyes.

Tanya stepped back out into the dusty light of the street. She saw the others turn back to collect what they could from the bakery and Mrs Eceer's scattered belongings. It made Tanya feel like she could slow down more—take their time and do it carefully and relax.

Olena fell in behind her without being asked, the hum of her cannon arm increasing to match her stride.

"I watch your back," Olena said. "And front. Side if needed. I am like meat shield. Very sexy meat shield."

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Tanya snorted. "Using that sexy Ability yeah? What's it do anyway," she whispered.

The tone was light, but both of them were scanning one way and then another constantly, knees bent in case they needed to run.

"Heheh, I show you inside," Olena promised.

The outside stairs curled up along the side of the building, concrete crumbling underfoot. Plants had started to reclaim the corners—scrubby little things clawing their way out from cracks. It was all growing too fast. The bannister was rusted, and Tanya avoided it on instinct. Too many tetanus shots in her past already.

The mood was strange but nice. The fear that filled Tanya when they first stepped outside had faded into the knowledge they were in it as a group, and the calm of the street around them. Her heart still sped up, but she felt more in control.

They reached the flat's front door—wooden, painted green once, now faded to mildew-grey from cheap landlords. Tanya tried the handle.

Locked.

Olena didn't even bother with the gun. With a posed jab, she shouldered the door and the lock popped. It swung open.

Tanya couldn't help but think back to breaking her own back door. This one was far weaker, but even then, the ease with which Olena did it sparked a hint of jealousy in Tanya.

Man, she's so strong.

The hallway inside smelled like dust and old soap, with something sour lurking beneath. The narrow corridor opened out almost immediately into a living space, bright with the pale afternoon sun. Or it would've been, if not for the broken window and the blood smeared up the wall.

They both relaxed and Olena held over her arm. It had what looked like some kind of phone screen in it—or maybe an iPod. It flickered a little and Olena smacked the side with her other hand and it stilled.

"Woah," Tanya said. She leant in closer, steadying the arm with light fingertips underneath.

• • •

Ability: Oh No But Sexy Level 1 Unlocked from Achievement: Disaster Magnet

When you suffer a mechanical failure, emotional spike, or environmental catastrophe during combat, your mech arm activates an "emergency improvisation cascade." In short? You hotwire brilliance from disaster.

The next Module Switch is free and comes with an unexpected bonus (ex: plasma boost, chain extension, or recoil kick).

The bonus is influenced by your current emotional state and scene drama.

Cooldown resets faster if others are watching you or if the situation is "cinematically dire."

Yes, it is as chaotic as it sounds. Yes, it looks really cool. Yes, you might explode a little.

• • •

Tanya couldn't help but grin. She had a bunch of questions.

Even just from this strange interface, she could tell some terms like "cinematically dire" could be focused on for more information. Plus she was desperate to see the Achievement that caused it—and even more curious as to what Olena's power set was around it.

Tanya pointed at her with intention. "We should meet them through there but this is not over. I need more information. Scene Drama? Disaster Magnet? This shit is absolute gold."

Olena grinned back. "Deal."

She stepped inside, boots soft on warped floorboards. The living room and kitchen shared a space, split by a low counter. Dishes still sat in the sink, now furred over. A mug on the coffee table had half-dried tea in it. A thin film of mould spiderwebbed across the top. It felt very unlike her to have that mess. The rest of the space was spotless.

She must have been doin' it when they broke in.

It was strange realising that, like a small insight into Mrs Eceer's most terrified moments she should have asked permission to see.

There were two monster corpses sprawled by the fridge. One had crumpled inward like a broken insect. The other was still twitching faintly

How is that thing still alive?

Olena adjusted her arm cannon—turning a circular section on the end. It grew smaller and the bullet-shaped thing was small and quiet. There was a faint whoosh and it hit the monster's head with a thud.

Different modules, huh?

"Is nice if you ignore blood and guts and mould and ruin," Olena said brightly, stepping over the steaming body.

Tanya made her way to the bedroom door on the left. It was ripped open, exactly how she and Mrs Eceer had left it when the monsters tore their way in. She shuddered as an image of them breaking through the doorway flashed into her mind.

The floor was a mess of splinters, with only slivers remaining around the edges. The hole yawned straight down into the bakery. From here, the wardrobe looked closer. She could see the strain on the brackets holding it to the wall, one already bending, the metal groaning slightly under the weight.

Tanya stepped just to the edge and crouched.

"Oi!" she called down.

A chorus of replies answered her: "Yeah?" "What is it?" "You alright?"

"Hi!" came Fahad's voice.

"You okay?" said Ishita.

"What's it like up there?" Mrs Eceer called.

"It's bad up here," Tanya called back. "Most of the floor's gone. Only a lip 'round the edge. The wardrobe's hangin' on, but the boards near it are goners."

"Could we loop something over it?" Ishita yelled. "A rope maybe? These curtains could work."

"From where?" Tanya asked. "The ceiling's too high to reach from below, and I can't get close enough up here without fallin' in."

There was a beat. Then Mrs Eceer's voice: "Could you slide something underneath it? Brace it from the wall?"

"Doubt it," Tanya said. "Only open wall is the outside one. The rest's dropped away."

Olena peered into the bedroom beside her. "You could jump it. If you were parkour girl. You are not parkour girl."

"Cheers for the confidence," Tanya muttered, then louder, "We ain't gettin' it from up here, not unless someone can fly."

Silence.

"I can do it!" Fahad said.

All three women turned to him at once.

He grinned, wide and toothy. "I can go up. Through the shadows. It's bright down here, but there's a corner up there. Look."

He pointed. There was a sliver of pitch black where the wardrobe met the wall, surrounded by general shadow.

Tanya squinted. "You're not wrong, but you can't aim it, can you? You'll pop out wherever the dark wants to chuck you."

"Yeah, but I'm small. And the wardrobe's big. I'll land somewhere in it."

"That ain't comfortin', mate."

Fahad bounced on the balls of his feet. "We won't know unless we try. We're not leaving all that stuff behind."

"I could try to catch him," Ishita offered.

Mrs Eceer's face creased with a frown. "Catch him?"

"Aren't you the one who's supposed to say it's not safe?" Tanya said, peering down, incredulous.

"We need to learn to use our skills like all of you can. This way we get to watch him, choose precautions, make sure it's safe." Her face was even paler than usual as she blinked up at how high it was. "My class was made to keep others safe. If he falls, I can take the damage."

Fahad was already shrugging off his little ladybird backpack.

"I will prepare barriers and we can strip this curtain into something rope-like for Tanya and Olena to hold up there. Ishita can be the last port of call." Mrs Eceer announced.

Mrs Eceer and Ishita disappeared from view. Tanya heard snippets of the conversation as they found a blade and began to knot strips of the curtains together.

"You sure about this?" Tanya called to Fahad, peering over to meet his eye.

He beamed with his hands on his hips. "Yep! You trust me, right?"

"Course I do. I just don't trust physics."

The two came back soon after with the curtains and knotted them around him securely. It took a few tries to throw the other end up to Ishita but then they coiled it in ready. It was very long. They weren't sure how much would be needed to get him through the darkness.

Assistant floated up to beside the wardrobe, to be there when he arrived.

Fahad grinned again, and with that, he stepped into the narrow sliver of shadow cast by a fallen beam.

The world blinked.

Fahad was gone.

The purple velvet curtain flopped to the floor. He'd disappeared from within it and left it knotted there. Tanya stared into the cupboard and the air held its breath. Fahad appeared at the top of the wardrobe, falling and Crash!

That side was open from top to bottom with a rail there for clothes. He landed on a pile of things she'd stacked, about half way up the floor to ceiling internal wardrobe space.

Some notebooks slipped out from under him, along with cans of something. Mrs Eceer dashed to catch her notebooks, letting the cans clatter to the floor. He crawled further towards the back.

"I'm okay!" his voice called. Tanya could see the pride on his face.

They all exhaled at once.

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