Level 1: Habitable Zone (Not Safe Enough To Stay)

the lights don't turn off here (mm… no switch…) they just buzz… above everything (ahh—) concrete breathes slow, like it knows (it knows…) crates stacked higher than thought labels peeling… names I can't read (can't read…) water drips… not from pipes I see (drip… drip…) endless rooms, damp concrete skin (I walked too far…) pipes overhead whisper pressure (don’t touch… don’t touch…) supply crates—food, water, sometimes warm (sometimes wrong…) bottles sealed but taste… metallic (mm… bitter…) generators hum behind locked doors (keep them running…) if they fail, the dark doesn’t wait (no it doesn’t…) wires hang like nervous veins (don’t brush them…) I hear something moving between the stacks (not alone… not alone…) footsteps echo… not mine (…not mine…) something learns the rhythm (it copies…) I slow down… it slows too (don’t stop…) I breathe quiet… it listens (it listens…) Level One remembers every step I take (ahh— it keeps it…) safe enough to live, not safe to stay (don’t stay…) fluorescent mercy flickers just enough (mm— not enough…) I drink the water, count the hours (don’t count…) Level One repeats me back to me (echo… echo…) in every corridor I never leave (never leave…) I thought this place was empty (I was wrong…) entities slip between blind angles (don’t look straight…) tall shapes bending where walls should meet (I saw it…) they don’t rush… they wait (they wait…) they follow patterns, not fear (not fear…) hide behind crates, stay still, no sound (hold… hold…) some respond to movement, some to breath (too close…) food cans dented from something else (not human…) water runs clean… until it doesn’t (don’t trust…) safe zones exist… but shift (they move…) I marked a wall, it marked me back (it marked me…) lights flicker— nothing moves— something moves— (no… no… no…) (breathe…) (breathe…) (don’t let it hear you breathe…) Level One remembers every step I take (it keeps it…) safe enough to live, not safe to stay (don’t stay…) fluorescent mercy flickers just enough (almost gone…) I drink the water, count the hours (lost count…) Level One repeats me back to me (echo… echo…) in every corridor I never leave (never leave…) the lights don’t turn off here (still on… still on…) they just hum me into place (mm…) crates don’t move… unless I blink (don’t blink…) something waits… where I was (…where I was…)