CHAPTER 5
The Research Station
By the fifth morning, Elena had stopped noticing the time.
That was usually how she knew she was working too much.
The field station had its own rhythm: generators humming beneath the floor, radios crackling intermittently, keyboards clicking in the narrow data room, boots crossing the corridor at irregular hours.
Outside, Kaimana moved according to the sun.
Inside, Elena moved according to timestamps.
07:14.
08:03.
09:47.
11:26.
She had stopped at some point around noon.
She wasn't sure which day.
Her eyes burned.
On the monitor, a sequence of deformation readings filled the screen.
Elena leaned closer.
The newest measurements were consistent with the previous trend.
Small.
Real.
Not enough to change the operational picture.
Enough to matter.
She copied the values into the working dataset.
A chair scraped behind her.
"You know you're allowed to blink."
Elena didn't look around.
"I'm blinking."
"Once every fiscal quarter doesn't count."
Elena finally turned.
Sofía stood in the doorway holding two mugs.
She placed one beside Elena's keyboard.
"What is that?"
"Coffee."
"I didn't ask for coffee."
"I know."
Sofía took the other chair.
"That's why I brought it."
Elena looked at the mug.
Then at Sofía.
"Thank you."
"You're welcome."
For a few minutes, neither spoke.
Sofía opened the secondary dataset.
"Your timestamp is off by six minutes."
Elena looked over.
"Where?"
"Gas-flux array."
She pointed.
"Here."
Elena checked the raw file.
Sofía was right.
"Good catch."
"I have my uses."
"I never said you didn't."
"No. You usually just stare at spreadsheets until they confess."
Elena smiled faintly.
"That's an unfair characterization."
"It's extremely fair."
They worked.
This was easier than most conversations.
Numbers didn't require Elena to decide what expression belonged on her face.
They didn't ask whether she was sleeping.
They didn't ask what she thought of the island.
They didn't ask why she hadn't called anyone in three days.
Numbers simply changed.
And she responded.
Sofía glanced toward the clock.
Then at Elena.
Then back at the clock.
"You know you've been here for three days."
Elena continued typing.
"Yes."
"Have you?"
"Have I what?"
"Left."
Elena stopped.
Sofía gestured vaguely toward the door.
"The station. You've been sleeping here, working here, eating here."
"I've gone outside."
"To check instruments."
"That's outside."
"Technically."
Elena returned her attention to the screen.
"I've been busy."
"I noticed."
There was no accusation in Sofía's voice.
That somehow made it harder to dismiss.
Elena took a sip of coffee.
It was still too hot.
"You don't have to worry about me."
"I wasn't."
Elena looked at her.
Sofía smiled.
"Not yet."
That earned a quiet laugh.
Sofía turned back to the dataset.
"You're good at this."
Elena frowned slightly.
"At data processing?"
"At disappearing."
The words were gentle.
Elena didn't answer.
Sofía didn't push.
Instead, she pointed at the screen.
"Look."
Elena leaned closer.
A small cluster of measurements sat near the edge of the expected range.
"That's interesting."
"That's your version of excitement, isn't it?"
"Potentially."
Sofía laughed.
Elena enlarged the graph.
The numbers weren't dramatic.
But patterns didn't need to be dramatic to deserve attention.
She marked the observation for later review.
Then she sat back.
For the first time that morning, she noticed how tired she was.
Sofía noticed too.
"You should eat."
"I ate."
"When?"
Elena thought about it.
Sofía raised an eyebrow.
"Exactly."
"I'll eat later."
"That's what people say immediately before forgetting."
Elena looked at her.
"You always like this?"
"Only with people who look like they're trying to become part of the equipment."
Elena smiled despite herself.
Sofía stood.
"I'm getting food."
"You don't have to."
"I know."
She picked up her mug.
Then paused at the door.
"Come with me."
Elena glanced at the screen.
The dataset waited.
It would still be there in twenty minutes.
She closed the laptop.
"Fine."
Sofía nodded once.
Neither made anything of it.
But as they walked into the corridor together, Elena realized something she hadn't expected.
Someone had noticed she was disappearing.
And, for reasons she couldn't quite explain, she didn't mind being noticed.
Outside, the mountain remained quiet.
For now.