The rhythmic, mechanical chirp of a heart monitor was the first thing to pierce the dark haze of unconsciousness.

Aris Mercer opened her eyes, immediately squinting against the harsh, fluorescent lights of the Tartarus Blacksite medical bay. The sterile smell of iodine and ozone filled her nostril

The medical bay was suffocatingly quiet. Aris Mercer sat on the edge of the examination bed, her mind working through algorithms, probabilities, and risk assessments at lightspeed.

*Variable A:* Graves was initiating the Eclipse Harvest tonight.

*Variable B:* The extraction of the shadow-matter c

The march to the Harvest Chamber felt like a funeral procession, though Aris Mercer refused to let it show on her face. Her spine remained rigid, her breathing mathematically regulated. Two Tartarus guards flanked her, the muzzles of their plasma rifles practically brushing her lab coat, while the s