Akiko emerged from the simulation space with the vague disorientation of having lived an entire day in a blink.

The Driftknight's gentle hum greeted her, grounding her in the now. No muscle ache, no real exhaustion, just a dizzying mental lag, like her thoughts were half a step out of sync with her body.

She grabbed the edge of her bunk and steadied herself, tail flicking once.

"Just because we can use time compression," she muttered, "doesn't mean we should."

Takuto flickered into her HUD, the fox avatar tilting its head, unbothered. Of course it didn't feel the disconnect. Akiko sighed and blinked hard, trying to clear the haze. "We'll keep the next one short. My brain still thinks it's tomorrow."

The ache in her mind pulsed like background static. Manageable now. The danger had passed, but it had left a scar.

Subskill Acquisition (Cognitive Systems Interface): Temporal Desynchronization Recovery – 1.8% milestone achieved.

Status: Neural tempo stabilized. Integration rhythm adjusted.

Relief washed through her. Like slipping into a pool that matched her temperature exactly. No edges. No resistance. Just… stillness.

She hadn't expected it to feel good. And for a moment, that stillness felt familiar.

It was too easy to imagine training that skill further to gain more relief. It would be easy, if she…

And then, a whisper of memory, the biocomputation process extending through her skull, her thoughts stretched into a dozen synthetic threads, the sterile precision of the machine measuring her pain like it was a function call.

That same quiet stillness. That same hum.

Nope. That way lies madness. That would be too easy.

She exhaled sharply, shaking off the ghost of memory before it could finish coalescing.

Not that. Not again.

She opened her eyes fully, breath steady now. One foot back in her body. One hand on her own rhythm.

She could work with this.

Voices filtered in through the corridor. The crew was trickling back from shore leave, their chatter easy, casual. Akiko lingered near her bunk, watching from the corner of her eye.

She didn't feel ready to join them. Not just yet.

Instead, she turned inward. Raised her hand. Focused.

Mana flowed, slow but steady, into her palm. A soft flame bloomed to life. Foxfire, faint and controlled. It cast delicate shadows on the wall of the sleeping area.

"Success," she whispered.

The flame shimmered. Smaller than usual, but steadier. Precision, not power. Control.

The overhead lights flickered, but only briefly. Not the chaotic surge of days past. Just a tremble in the current.

She let the flame go, drawing the mana back into her core.

"Not bad," she said, breathing out. "Still a long way to go though."

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She stretched as best she could in the cramped space. The bunk was barely more than a coffin with insulation, nowhere near the modest comfort of a roadside inn back home, but it would do.

With a final push, she drifted toward the common area.

No isolating, she reminded herself. Kaede had always done that, disappearing into hours of silence and meditation. Aloof. Distant.

Akiko had promised herself she'd be different.

Then she rounded the corner and saw Jace and Tanya.

Jace had a sealed container in hand, already half-sloshed, his grin one drink away from a full spiral. Tanya, arms crossed, leaned against the bulkhead, all quiet judgment and narrowed eyes.

Jace spotted her first. His grin widened. "Nice piece you've got there," he said, lifting his drink in lazy salute. "What poor sap did you lift that off of?"

He laughed. Loud, unbothered, and obnoxious. The whole corridor seemed to vibrate with it.

Akiko's tail twitched, but her face stayed neutral as she floated closer.

"Thanks," she said dryly. "I'll be sure to write that one down under 'Compliments That Don't Help.'"

Tanya's gaze swept over her, sharp and unreadable. "He's not wrong," she said. "You've got a knack for finding what you need in… unconventional ways."

Akiko raised an eyebrow. "Unconventional tends to get results."

Tanya didn't argue. Just let the silence hang a second longer than was comfortable before looking away.

Jace took another swig. "So what's it do?" he asked, nodding toward the gem in her collar. "That shiny thing's got some real kick, or is it just for show?"

Akiko smirked faintly. "A little of both."

Vague. Deliberate. Let them wonder.

Jace seemed satisfied, flashing another crooked grin. "Mysterious. I like it. Just don't think that gets you out of the next round."

He pointed toward the crew's stash lockers. "Gotta loosen up sometime, Kitsune."

She rolled her eyes, but the corner of her mouth twitched upward. "Maybe later."

Tanya straightened, casting one last glance Akiko's way.

"Just don't surprise us," she said. "This isn't a ship that likes unexpected complications."

She pushed off and drifted away, vanishing into the corridor's dim curve.

Akiko's smirk faded slightly.

Jace shrugged. "Don't mind her. She's all rules and no fun. You, though…" He leaned in, conspiratorial. "You keep things interesting. I like that."

Akiko laughed softly despite herself. "Glad someone does."

She gave him a mock salute and pushed off.

Behind her, Jace's laughter followed, joined by the distant hum of a ship not quite at rest.

She drifted toward her bunk again, thoughts slower now. Not exactly welcome. Not quite part of the crew. But not unwelcome either.

And maybe, just maybe, that was a start.

She floated into the bridge, her ears twitching at the familiar hum of the Driftknight's systems. Quinn was hunched over a console, muttering steadily through the pre-flight checklist. Kara stood nearby, one hand braced on the back of a seat, gaze already turned toward Akiko.

"Whatever you were up to last night," Kara said, voice light but edged with interest, "it's made the Yard's news cycle. Something about an explosion at the fabrication bay… and a few crispy-looking individuals."

Akiko's tail flicked, arms crossing. Her expression stayed carefully neutral. "Sounds like a busy night for someone."

Kara's smile curved, small and calculated, as her eyes flicked toward the sapphire core embedded in Akiko's collar. "Let me guess. That new piece of jewelry had nothing to do with it?"

Akiko lifted an eyebrow. "You seem pretty invested for someone pretending not to ask questions."

Kara didn't bite. She pushed off the console and drifted closer, eyes sharp. "Let's call it curiosity. That augment of yours looks like it does more than light fires."

Akiko said nothing. Kara wasn't waiting for a yes.

"I'm wondering," Kara went on, low and deliberate, "what you could do for the Driftknight with that kind of power. Weapons, shields, propulsion. You pick. And in return, I'll make sure you and your AI get as much processing bandwidth as you can burn."

Akiko blinked once, then looked past her toward the drive readouts. Her brow furrowed, thoughtful.

"I could… maybe rig something for the main engine," she said slowly. "But it'd have to run off my mana. No battery. No backup. And it burns through reserves like nothing else. Best you'd get is a short burst. Evasion. Nothing long-haul. Unless you plan on chaining me to the reactor."

Kara grinned. "Tempting. But no."

She tilted her head. "What would it take to make it work?"

Akiko let out a breath and crossed her arms. "We'd have to swap the whole output matrix. All the panels at once. If even one section's misaligned, the circuit destabilizes. Best-case, the engine stalls. Worst-case... we don't walk away."

Kara nodded, her grin sharpening. "Perfect."

Akiko blinked. "That's not the word I'd use."

"You've got two months," Kara said, pushing off toward Quinn. "Work with Tanya. Fabricate what you need. We'll install the system before the Ashara job, make sure we've got an edge for the exit."

Akiko winced at the name. "Tanya and I don't exactly... collaborate."

Kara glanced back, already returning to her checklist. "Learn."

Akiko sighed, tail flicking behind her. "Great."

"Welcome to the crew, Kitsune," Kara called, amusement curling under the words. "Try not to blow us up."

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