Before Bri could respond to Eve’s accusation, Asune was there, cutting through the water with the speed of a thrown knife. She positioned herself between Eve and Bri, treading water like a shark in the shallows. She wore relaxed, fake amusement like a mask she’d thrown on in a hurry—the rigid jaw, the lips pressed thin gave her away. Bri knew that look. Asune was monumentally pissed.

Eve smiled, but it was a knife-edge, all warning. “Don’t worry, I’m not here for you. Just wanted to say hi to your new toy.”

She tried to look around Asune, but Asune kept moving with her. Her eyes never left Asune’s. “Heard you had a rough flight, Bri. Maybe take a breather. Wouldn’t want you to get hurt.”

“You and me. Now.” Asune said, voice loud enough for anyone nearby to hear. She grabbed Eve’s arm, swam her to the far side, and hopped out of the pool, moving their argument toward the exit to the spa.

Eve’s eyes flicked from Bri to Asune, and something shifted, just a fraction. “Of course.”

Bri watched them go, the tension between them a bitter taste in the chlorinated air. Deciding she’d had enough drama for one day, she turned toward the shallow-end stairs, only to find her path blocked. Zara stood there, a smirk playing on her lips, her black bikini looking like a second skin. She was positioned perfectly to cut off any easy escape.

Zara turned her attention to Noah, who had watched the whole exchange with silent calculation. “And look at this. The richest and smartest kid in VIA, slumming it with the scholarship kid. That’s almost touching.”

Noah didn’t flinch. He watched her for a beat, a flicker of academic curiosity in his eyes. “Your methods are predictable, Zara. It’s boring.”

Zara flushed a bit but then tilted her head, fake-thoughtful. “Is that why you ditched the mask? Or did you just want to show off to the new girl?”

Noah’s expression didn’t change, but the temperature seemed to drop a degree.

Zara snorted. “Relax, I’m not going to bite. Unlike some people.” She let the pause linger.

Bri exhaled slowly. She tried to read Noah’s face, but all she got was the unreadable calm he wore.

“Thanks,” she said, voice thin.

Noah nodded. “They don’t matter. I could squash them like the ants they are.” He said it like a fact. Zara went white.

Stunned. She took a second to process. “Well, that’s not a terrifying image,” Bri muttered.

Bri started to swim to the deep-end ladder. Dogun moved, hovering at the ladder, one hand braced on the metal railing, gaze flickering between Eve and Zara. He didn’t join the fray, but he didn’t leave either.

Bri glanced toward the spa entrance where Asune and Eve stood. Over the music, their voices were sharp, cutting.

Eve grabbed Asune’s wrist, her voice pleading. “Don’t do this. She’s nothing.” Asune wrenched her arm free. “No, Eve. Not again. It’s over.” Eve’s face contorted with frustration. “You always come back,” she hissed before turning and storming away.

Noah’s voice was low, devoid of inflection. “A piece of advice. Don’t mistake her drama for performance. She has resources. Avoid her.”

“Riigghhtt…” She stretched the word out.

“If you want, we can get out of here.”

Bri glanced at him. “And let them win?”

Noah’s lips twisted, amused. “The little kitten wants to fight. Cute. But might I suggest a strategic retreat is the best play for today.”

Before Bri could answer, a new shadow blocked the sunlight at the pool’s edge.

Anri stood at the edge of the pool, towel around his neck, leaning down with an easy smile. “Is this a pool or a warzone?” His voice carried, teasing but light.

He crouched, extending a hand down to Bri. “Do you want out?” She looked at the blocked steps, hesitated, but the offer was so casual, so different from the tension in the water, that she took it without thinking. His grip was warm, solid. He pulled her up the side with zero effort, as if she weighed nothing.

“Thanks,” she mumbled, suddenly hyper-aware of every drop of water clinging to her skin.

Anri didn’t let go, even after she had both feet on the tile. He looked her over, concern flickering in his gold eyes. “You good?”

“Yeah,” she said. “Pool drama. It’s only day one. Scared to see what’s going to happen tomorrow?” She tried to pull her hand back, but he held it just a fraction too long. He finally released her hand.

Anri’s easy smile vanished. “Noah’s right to warn you. It’s not just talk.”

“I’m getting that,” Bri said. “But no one says why. Asune won’t even say her name.”

He leaned in, his voice dropping. “There’s a reason people don’t cross her. Her family… they’re not just wealthy. They’re connected.” He paused, letting the implication hang in the air. “Just be careful. There was another girl, last year. Olivia.” He glanced over his shoulder. “It was just a rumor. But she disappeared mid-term.”

“Olivia? Who is that?”

“You replaced her as Ema’s roommate.”

Bri’s eyes widened. “Oh.” She palmed her face. Why had she never thought to ask why there was a vacant spot?

Anri pivoted his attention to Noah. “You done here?”

Noah, already halfway out of the pool, shrugged. “Yeah.” His gaze met Anri’s over Bri’s head. The easy charm on Anri’s face hardened into something sharp and assessing, and Noah’s calm expression went cold. The air between them felt suddenly charged, like the moment before a strike.

Asune finally came back. Her face tinged pink. “Let’s go before Eve comes back.”

As they toweled off, Bri found her gaze sliding to Anri, who watched her with a kind of gentle scrutiny she hadn’t expected, like he was trying to memorize her face. It wasn’t creepy. Just unusual.

She was watching the water drip from her hair onto the tile when the PA system shattered the moment. Seven sharp, digital stabs of sound, followed by a long, blaring tone that was painfully loud. Then came a voice, eerily calm and synthetic: “Attention, passengers. The lifeboat safety drill will commence in ten minutes. Please proceed to your assigned muster stations.”

As the announcement echoed through the decks, Bri felt something shift—like a reset button had been pressed.

Bri found herself in a strange, impromptu honor guard between Noah and Anri. Anri had waved his friends on ahead, falling into step beside her as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Being flanked by two of VIA’s top-tier rivals felt less like protection and more like being a contested piece of territory. She kept her head down, acutely aware of the stares they were attracting.

The announcement had sent the entire deck into frantic motion. Service bots rerouted foot traffic with digital paddles, chaperones bellowed orders, and the entire pool population—dripping, towel-wrapped, half-clad—was swept to their appropriate station.

The corridors buzzed with bodies. Bri let herself get carried by the current, her senses tuned to the little deviations: the shimmer of condensation on the glass walls, the persistent tang of artificial citrus and some chemical in the air, the way the mixed human and android staff lined the walls in perfect intervals, eyes forward, posture identically alert.

Each group was assigned a muster leader—a title that sounded like something out of a submarine movie. Bri’s muster leader was a woman with short, platinum hair and a voice like a slide whistle.

“Welcome, team thirteen-delta!” she called, as if greeting them for a team-building trust fall rather than prepping for catastrophe. “Everyone’s access bands up, please!”

Bri held up her arm. The band gleamed bright, reflecting the lowering sun.

“Good, good!” the muster leader chirped. “Now, if I could have everyone’s attention—” She hit a button on a handheld remote, and a wall panel slid open to reveal a screen already streaming video of people walking to evacuate. She stopped in front of Noah and looked at her computer.

“Aren’t you at the wrong station?” The platinum muster leader said. Anri stepped closer, whispered something in her ear, and passed her something. Whatever he did had her placing a quick call. She raised her hand to her ear and talked while looking at Bri. It reminded Bri of the Secret Service—without the wires.

Anri settled back in line. He gave her a dazzling smile. The effect was stunning. She took a minute to collect herself.

The muster leader continued her spiel about climate-controlled, self-righting lifeboats. “Your wristband will guide you to your assigned pod, and our shipboard AI—Davey Jones—tracks your position at all times for your safety.”

As she spoke, the screen behind her flickered, displaying a cartoon skull in a captain’s hat—the same one Bri had seen on safety posters. Anri leaned in, his voice a low murmur against the leader’s cheerful tone. “Davey Jones. The ship’s invisible brain. Runs everything from navigation to the music by the pool.”

Bri watched the smiling skull on the screen. “A skull seems a little grim for a safety mascot.”

“It’s a friendly skull,” Anri whispered back, a grin in his voice.

“Yeah. Uh huh.”

He gave a pointed look at her bathing suit top.

Bri blushed again, covering her chest protectively. She was not allowing Asune to dress her anymore.

He laughed.

Realizing what she was doing, she dropped her hands. Ignoring Anri, she glanced back at Noah. He was back to being stoic with his glasses and mask in place. Armored up. She tried to talk to him. “Doesn’t this bother you? The relentless efficiency of the ship, the AI? Isn’t it too much?”

Noah started to speak when a scream rang out from inside.