X nods once, agreeing without wasting air, and ducks to the left. Eve's direct manner, her quick movements and total self-assurance, could not be more helpful in the situation they're in. X mimics the attitude nearly without thinking, and he's swept the short hall in due time without finding any evidence of anyone still trapped.

But the smoke's hard to ignore, and by the time X gets back to the stairs --

-- they're not gone, they can't be just gone --

He freezes, staring sightlessly at a sagging beam being gnawed by embers across the way. His eyes sting worse the longer he doesn't blink; his breathing grows hoarse the longer he doesn't cough.