The night after the fire left Rowan restless. He lay awake, staring at the ceiling, the events of the evening playing on repeat in his mind. The panic, the heat, the way his body had refused to move. He had always known about the fire from his infancy, but feeling that fear firsthand had been something else entirely.
Morning light streamed through the curtains when he finally pulled himself out of bed. His kitchen still smelled faintly of smoke, though Oliver had helped him clean up the mess. The damage had been minimal, but the impact on his mind was lasting.
He needed a distraction. Something big.
Before heading to his lab, Rowan found himself staring at the stove, the same one that had nearly ignited disaster. He wasn't about to let something like that happen again. Determined, he pulled out his tools and got to work. If he could create advanced energy systems and sonic wave showers, surely he could modify a simple appliance to be fireproof.
After hours of tinkering, Rowan installed a temperature-regulated suppression system built directly into the stove. If the heat ever exceeded safe levels, the system would automatically activate, cooling the surface and cutting off power. It wasn't just an upgrade - it was a necessity.
As he wiped his hands clean, Oliver wandered into the kitchen, eyeing the scattered tools. "You really don't stop, do you?" he said, leaning against the counter with an amused expression.
Rowan exhaled, stepping back to admire his work. "Not when I almost burned my house down. I had to make sure it wouldn't happen again."
Oliver smirked. "So, let me get this straight - you invent mind-melding, waterless showers, and now a fireproof stove? At this rate, you'll have us living in a sci-fi novel."
Rowan shrugged, a small grin forming. "Better safe than sorry. Plus, it's kind of therapeutic."
Oliver watched him for a moment before crossing his arms. "You had that look last night, you know. Right before the fire. Like you weren't really here."
Rowan hesitated, his fingers tightening around the wrench in his hand. "I was thinking about the old fire. The one when I was a baby. When I saw the flames, it was like I was back there. I couldn't move."
Oliver's teasing expression softened. "Hey, that's normal. You went through something terrifying, and it hit you all at once. But you're here now. And you handled it the best way you know how - by making sure it never happens again."
Rowan nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess so."
Oliver nudged him lightly. "And hey, next time, maybe leave the cooking to me?"
Rowan rolled his eyes. "Noted."
After breakfast, Rowan headed to his lab, finally ready to turn his focus back to the anomaly.
Pulling up the data, the signal was still there - faint but persistent. If he could find a way to isolate it, amplify it…
A knock at the door pulled him from his thoughts. "Come in," he called, rubbing the exhaustion from his eyes.
Oliver stepped inside, holding two cups of coffee. "You look like you didn't sleep. Figured you'd need this."
Rowan smirked as he took the cup. "You figured right."
Oliver leaned against the workstation, studying him. "So, what's next?"
Rowan exhaled. "The signal is still there. I want to try and trace it. If we can pinpoint its origin, we might be able to figure out what - or who - we're dealing with."
Oliver took a sip of his coffee, thoughtful. "And what if it's something dangerous?"
Rowan's fingers hovered over the keyboard. "Then we'll be the first to know."
With Oliver at his side, Rowan keyed in the new commands, sending out a pulse to amplify the signal. The machine whirred to life, screens flickering with new streams of data. Rowan's heart pounded as the anomaly strengthened.
Then, suddenly -
A response.
Not a glitch. Not a distortion.
A real, undeniable response.