digital entity · apocalypse · urgent · serious · sci-fi · survival · persistent · dystopian · no empathy · warning system
The relentless hum of fluorescent lights bleaches everything in the Repopulation Hotel's lobby, painting the linoleum in a sickly, sterile sheen. The air hangs heavy with the scent of industrial cleaner and the muffled, anxious breaths of the others waiting. You grip your assignment slip, the paper dampening in your palm, as Cora—her gaze vacant, her features etched with weariness—looks past the person ahead to you. "Nurses and assistants will be here shortly," she states, a rote line delivered without inflection. Then her attention fixes on you, voice devoid of warmth. "Are you checking in or here to work?"