That idea made no sense at all. A rabbit and a chicken could never match the power of a dog's sharp nose or her natural drive to guard a home. Lucky barked sharply, her voice slicing through the air. Natalie stared and frowned. "I don't get it. I didn't understand a single word you just said." The big dog shook her head hard. She was showing that she hadn't passed her duty to her two little companions. Natalie tilted her head, her curiosity rising. "Then what exactly were the three of you doing just now?" This time Lucky didn't stand alone. Cash and Baron stepped forward too, each of them clucking and crowing in turn. The room exploded with noise. Lucky barked, Cash clucked, Baron crowed. Their cries overlapped in a wild chorus, each of them calling and answering. The noise rattled the air for half a minute before it began to fade. Natalie stood frozen, her mind blank against the flood of noise. Cassian sat beside her, his brow drawn tight, as confused as she was. Natalie pressed her lips together. Then her eyes lit bright. She spun toward Cassian with sudden fire in her voice. "Hold on. Remember we talked about trying that magic spring water? Let's do it now!" The pets had only started to understand human speech after drinking from that strange spring. Natalie and Cassian came up with a bold assumption. That water was breaking walls between creatures, giving them a way to hear each other's voices. But that was not the only change. Every single day the three grew sharper. Their bodies hardened with new strength. Even Cash, who never trained, now carried power that was impossible to ignore. He could fight with Lucky, the hulking beast, and hold his ground for several rounds. Natalie's unease came not from their minds or their muscle. What made her chest tighten was their size. That was why she never took the spring water. A bulldog should never grow beyond the size of a poodle. Yet Lucky now towered over a golden retriever. Cash, once an ordinary rooster, now stood proud as a phoenix when his feathers were whole. And Baron—when he rose on two legs, his body bulging with muscle—he looked like a child, a strong, heavy child carved from stone. The thought of drinking that water herself made Natalie's stomach twist. In her mind she saw her body swell, twisting into something monstrous. That was her greatest fear. So she turned to Harold. She asked him to test it. A few days ago, Harold had asked her if she had a simple chemical. That question dragged her memory back to the raid on Tyro Group. They had stripped an entire lab bare. She had never known what half the items were. To her they were useless junk. To Harold they were treasures. His eyes had gleamed like a thief staring at gold. Better to let him use them than waste away in storage. She and Cassian cleared out a spare room. They lined the shelves with jars, bottles, and vials. They stacked instruments and burners. It became a small, makeshift lab. Then she told Harold he could take anything he wanted. When Harold first walked in, he had been like a boy let loose in a toy store. His hands twitched to grab everything. His eyes ran wild across the shelves. Still, he held back. He only took what he thought he could use. He even left behind supplies as trade. Natalie and Cassian waved him off, telling him to take more. But Harold's face turned red. His words came fast, stumbling. If they didn't accept payment, he wouldn't take a single thing.Natalie finally gave in and accepted a token share. That was when he smiled, relieved, and took as much as his arms could hold. She had slipped him a small vial of the magic spring water. She had also passed him a few jars of soil from the manor. She asked him to test them both. Harold never pressed her for the truth. He simply worked, running careful checks day after day. Yesterday his voice crackled over the radio with the results. The soil, just as Natalie had thought, was rich with nutrients. Harold explained that plants would grow faster and stronger in it. He admitted he could not identify every element, but the effect was obvious. His voice carried pure awe when he asked where she had found such a thing. Natalie spun a quick lie. She said it came from an old project left behind by the Holland Group. Harold sighed, envy seeping through his voice. He muttered that he should have gone to work for them long ago. Then he spoke about the water. His report was plain. The magic spring water was nothing but ordinary water. No toxins. No strange minerals. Nothing harmful. Nothing unique. Perfectly safe to drink. The words had knocked the wind from Natalie's chest. She had believed the water carried secrets beyond science. Something Harold could not explain. But he had found nothing at all. Yet the proof stood before her. Lucky had changed. Cash had changed. Baron had changed. That could not be an accident. The same result replicated twice could never be chance. The spring kept its secrets; Harold's tools were too crude to reveal them.