ELDERS VOTE

The Elders meet and face the grim reality that water reserves are half gone after just one week on quarter rations, and every one of the 111 known villages is suffering the same fate. With every solution exhausted, they vote to order a village-wide slumber — putting the population into a deep dream state while search parties go out for water, buying months or even decades of survival time. The Head Nurse reluctantly nods her agreement. Back at the hospital, the slumber order rolls out: nurses administer dream drops to patients ward by ward while messengers carry the order through the village, and soon the streets fall completely silent. Lilix tenderly puts Felsik under last, apologizing for leaving him alone and promising she won't let him stay trapped forever, moved to tears when he manages to whisper a thank you. The cruel Nurse Rina, eager to escape, demands two drops against Lilix's warning — and gets exactly what she asked for, earning a quiet moment of shared satisfaction between Lilix and the Head Nurse. Finally, mother puts daughter under with the words "beautiful dreams," then settles into her own chair and self-administers the drop, and the hospital goes still.