Home2reality---11-03-2021--235246 - 229-31 Min File

Not from the cold—the climate regulator had held steady at 71°F. He gasped because of the smell . Damp earth. Pine resin. The faint, cloying sweetness of something rotting in the underbrush. After 229 days, 31 minutes in the Home2Reality immersion, his own lungs had forgotten how to process unfiltered air.

At minute 15, he stopped. A deer stood twenty yards away, head raised, ears rotating like radar dishes. It stared at him. Home2reality---11-03-2021--235246 - 229-31 Min

"Re-acclimation complete," said the Guide. "Please return to the pod for decompression and reintegration briefing." Not from the cold—the climate regulator had held

Behind him, the pod's speaker crackled once, then fell silent. Pine resin

Leo stared back.

"You have three hours," said the Guide's voice, tinny from the pod's speaker. "Re-acclimation walk. Stay on the blue-lit path."

He stood there for a full minute. Then two.