Ethan Mercer's Arc

Chapter 1 of 3

Ethan Mercer ducked low and shouldered through the stone doorway of his quarters. The crystal points along the top of the frame scraped his shoulder. He swore, straightened, and tapped the morning number into his data pad. Seven feet, two inches. One more week, one more inch. He had to stop the growth before the symbiotes finished whatever they were building inside him. He measured the doorframe again, just to be sure. The numbers did not lie. He could not sleep here anymore. His cot was a child's toy. His ceiling pressed down like a hand. By afternoon, a work crew had rigged a wide glass dome at the edge of the settlement. They padded the floor with crates and hung a curtain for a door. It was the tallest open space left in the colony. Ethan walked in, sat down, and still brushed the curved panels with his head. He set the data pad on his knee and stared at the bright walls. This was the last roof that would hold him. He typed one line under the morning log. Three weeks, maybe less. Then he would have no shelter at all.