Leo lay on his back in the dark. The mattress felt cool beneath him. The day's weight pressed on his chest like a slow hand that wouldn't let go.
Sleep came slowly. It dragged at the edges of his thoughts like a current he couldn't quite fight.
The cold food sat heavy in his stomach. Fuel for the Primal Core that never stopped working. Every small shift of his body fed it. Breath. Heartbeat. The faint residual ache in his energy channels from the long evaluation drill that had pushed him through five consecutive matches without rest.
Then the new sense slipped in.
Not dreams. Something thinner. Half aware. Like a veil lifting between his mind and the world just enough to let fragments through before his conscious part could catch up.
He perceived the echoes before he could name them.
