Lena stepped forward, her hands still trembling from the night before. “I think it… it’s alive, in a way.”

“Do it,” Lena said, her resolve firm. “MIAA‑144, give us everything you have.”

AURORA displayed a rapidly expanding fissure. If it reached the pocket, the pristine water—and its fragile life—could be released into the chaotic ocean, possibly contaminating the entire moon.