[Second… You've misunderstood what I'm offering.]
My voice didn't rise. It didn't need to. Each word carried its own gravity, like lead weights sinking into the silence between us.
[This isn't a leash. It isn't chains. What I bring you is choice. Freedom. A path beyond the walls this world has built around you.]
Alice's eyes flickered—hesitation for just a heartbeat, quickly buried under mockery. She tilted her head again, trying to play it off, but the way her fingers twitched against her shotgun betrayed the unease.
[You believe yourself strong. And yes—you are. But strength bound in the rules of this age, sealed and clipped by hands far above you… what is that worth?]
I let the words hang for a moment, long enough for her pride to bristle.
[You could burn a nation to ash, and still they would call you a tool. A calamity to cage. A disaster to control. That is the truth of their fear. They will never allow you to stand as you are.]
