One of the attendants pressed his hand against the door's surface. A soft hum. A series of clicks. The door slid open with a low mechanical groan.
The room beyond was vast, its walls lined with towering screens that displayed streams of data and surveillance feeds. At the center of the room stood a massive desk, its surface smooth and dark.
And behind the desk, seated in a high-backed chair, was the Instructor.
Her amber eyes fixed on Maya as she was dragged across the threshold. A faint smile touched her lips—
"Subject 17B. I see you've survived Level Three."
The attendants released Maya's arms. She stumbled forward, her legs barely able to support her weight. She caught herself on the edge of the desk, her hands gripping its surface.
"Good morning, Instructor."
The Instructor's smile widened, just slightly. "Good morning, Subject 17B. I see you still have some fight left in you."
Maya straightened slowly, "I'm still alive. That's all that matters."
The Instructor studied her for a moment,"Indeed. You've proven yourself... resilient. More resilient than most."
She leaned back in her chair, her fingers steepled in front of her.
"Your punishment is complete. You will return to your quarters. And starting tomorrow, your training will continue."
Maya blinked, startled by the words. "My training?"
"Code Blue. Level One. You will learn to separate logic from emotion. To think clearly. To act decisively.
The Correction Room was necessary. It taught you that disobedience has consequences. But now—it's time to build something stronger."
Maya nodded slowly, "I understand, Instructor."
The Instructor's smile widened. "Good. One more thing, Subject 17B. "
A Pause. "Your meals will no longer be served in the main hall 1. Starting today, they will be delivered to your room."
Maya blinked, startled by the words. "My... my room?"
"You have earned the privilege of privacy. Use it wisely."
Maya felt a strange warmth spreading through her chest. Privacy. She had never had privacy before. Not really. "Thank you, Instructor."
The Instructor inclined her head, a gesture that was almost, but not quite, a bow.
"You are dismissed, Subject 17B. Return to your quarters. Tomorrow, your training begins anew."
Maya turned slowly, her legs trembling beneath her. She walked toward the door, her bare feet pressing against the cold floor.
As she crossed the threshold, the Instructor's voice echoed from behind her. "Subject 17B."
Maya paused. She turned her head, her eyes meeting the Instructor's. "I look forward to seeing what you become."
Maya didn't respond. She stepped through the door, and it slid shut behind her.
[AFTER 5 MINUTES ]
The door slid open with a soft hiss. Maya stepped inside, her legs barely able to support her weight. The room was small but neat, its walls soft grey, its light gentle and diffused.
She collapsed onto the edge of the bed, her body trembling violently. Her hands pressed against the mattress, trying to steady herself.
But she couldn't stop shaking.
She looked down at her arms, covered in bruises and burns and scars. She looked at her hands, still trembling.
For a long moment, she simply sat there, her body broken, her mind frayed. And then a smile touched her lips.
She Had Survived. She Had Actually Survived.
She thought of Rahi. The boy who dared to promise her a beautiful, painful death.
"We'll meet again, Subject 0013A. And when we do... I won't just kill you. Killing is too quick. Too merciful."
Her dark eyes flickered open, staring at the ceiling—
"I will take you apart. Slowly. I will trace every scar they carved into your skin with the tip of my blade, just to feel the history of your suffering beneath my hands.
I will crack your bones open, one by one and drink the marrow from the hollows."
A twisted smile spread across her lips—
"You think the Correction Room was hell? You think Level Three was the worst of it?
Wait, Subject 0013A. I will make the Instructor's methods look like a lullaby. I will be the last face you see.
And when your heart finally stops beating, I will hold it in my hands—still warm, still trembling—and I will feel the life drain out of it.
0013A, we were forged in the same fire. And what belongs to me... I destroy. I unmake."
She let out a soft, almost dreamy sigh, her voice carrying an eerie calm.
"Because if I am the one who ends you, you will live inside my memory, inside my blood, inside the darkness I carry everywhere I go. "
~~
Fahan slowly raised his hand, his face caught between horror and reluctant admiration.
"Okay... I know I shouldn't say this right now... but I'm actually kind of proud of her?"
Fahad turned to him so fast his neck cracked.
"PR—PROUD?! Did you just hear what she said?! She's talking about unmaking people!
She said she'll turn someone's bones into—into—art! And you're PROUD?!"
"I mean... think about it. She's been beaten, starved, electrocuted, drowned and she's still sitting there talking about revenge like she's planning a weekend getaway. That's kind of badass."
Faha groaned, pressing both hands to his face.
"Badass?! She just described how she'll take someone apart SLOWLY. WITH HER BARE HANDS! That's not badass—that's a horror movie villain origin story!"
Ohi blinked rapidly.
"Wait—wait, wait, wait. I don't know what's worse—the fact that she said it... or the way she SANG it. Like it was a lullaby. She said it like it was BEAUTIFUL."
Farhan slowly turned to face the rest of the family, his expression utterly lost.
"I need to ask a very serious question. Is our sister... okay? Like... mentally... is she okay?"
Fahan snorted. "She just described murder as 'the only kindness she's ever known.' What do YOU think?"
Fahim adjusted his glasses, his voice clinical but barely holding back laughter.
"From a psychological standpoint... she's exhibiting classic signs of trauma-induced personality fragmentation, coupled with—"
Fahan interrupted. "Brother, PLEASE. Can you just say: 'She's scary now'?"
~~
The door slid open with a soft hiss.
A figure entered—silent, mechanical, almost ghostlike. One of the attendants. Her face was blank, her movements practiced and efficient.
She placed a tray on the small table near the door. Without a word, without a glance, she turned and left.
The door slid shut behind her. [Click]
Maya sat on the edge of her bed. The room was dim, lit only by the soft glow of the ceiling panel. Her exhausted eyes drifting toward the tray.
STEAMED RICE. A PIECE OF FISH.
But Maya wasn't looking at it like it was food.
She was staring at it like she had just seen a ghost.
She slid off the bed, she walked toward the tray as if approaching something dangerous as if the fish might suddenly leap up and attack her.
She knelt beside it. Her eyes were fixed on the fish.It wasn't moving. It wasn't alive. But she stared at it as if it might suddenly open its eyes and look back at her.
She reached out—hesitant, trembling—and poked it with her finger.It Was Soft. Cold.
She recoiled instantly, pulling her hand back as if burned. Her breathing quickened. She didn't understand why she was so afraid. It was just fish. Just food.
She stared at it. Then she turned and walked to the wall. She raised her fist and knocked.
[Thump. Thump. Thump]
Silence.
She knocked again. Harder. [THUMP. THUMP. THUMP]
Then—"WHAT IN THE ACTUAL—"
A voice exploded from somewhere beyond the wall. Loud. Sharp. Furious.
"—HELL DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! I WAS HAVING THE FIRST PEACEFUL MOMENT I'VE HAD IN.
I DON'T KNOW—YEARS! AND YOU—YOU—YOU JUST RUINED IT!"
Maya stared at the wall.
"SUBJECT SEVENTEEN! ANSWER ME!"
She swallowed. Her voice was small, almost apologetic. "I... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to—"
"DIDN'T MEAN TO?! SUBJECT SEVENTEEN. IF YOU'RE NOT DYING, BLEEDING, OR ON FIRE—I SWEAR TO THE GOD IN THIS HELLHOLE—
I WILL FIND A WAY TO REACH THROUGH THIS WALL AND STRANGLE YOU."
Maa's lips twitched—" There's a fish on my tray, it..... startled me."
A beat of silence.
"Startled you? What Could Possibly Startle You?" lFISH startled you."
"Yes."
"A DEAD FISH startled you."
"...Yes."
A long, heavy silence.Then—
"Subject Seventeen. I need you to listen to me very carefully.I am going to ask you one question. And I want you to answer it honestly. Have you... ever eaten fish before?"
Maya was silent for a moment. "No."
"Never?"
"Never."
Another pause. Then—
"How do you even know it's fish?"
"I recognized it from anatomy diagrams. Labeo rohita. Commonly known as rohu. It's a freshwater fish from the carp family.
Native to South Asia. The bone structure is quite similar to..."
"Stop."
Maya stopped.
"I cannot believe this. I am listening to a six-year-old give me a lecture on fish anatomy. "
"I just... I've never eaten it before. I don't know how."
"You don't know... HOW to eat fish?"
"No."
"How do you not know how to eat fish?!"
"I've never been given food like this before. In the basement, the woman gave me god knows what. In the facility, they gave me nutrient paste and soup. Never... whole fish."
"..."
A heavy silence.
Then—
"Alright. I'm going to tell you how to eat it. But I'm only doing this because I can't stand the thought of you being defeated by a piece of fish. That would be embarrassing for both of us."
"Okay."
"First. Pick it up."
Maya looked at the fish, she hesitated. Then, carefully, she picked it up. She held it at arm's length.
"Stop holding it like it's going to bite you. It's dead."
"I know."
"Now. You're going to take the bones out. Layer by layer. Just like you described."
"Layer by layer?"
"Yes. The spine, the ribs, the small pin bones. You take them out one by one. Then you eat the flesh. How do you not know this?"
"I've never done it before."
"Well, now you're doing it. So start taking it apart, little scientist."
Maya looked at the fish, her fingers moved. They were slow at first, careful. She found the spine. Her thumb pressed against the soft flesh, tracing the line of the backbone.
Then—she began. She didn't just remove the bones.She extracted them. The spine came out first—one clean, fluid motion.
The ribs followed next. Then the tiny pin bones, each pulled free with surgical precision.
Her fingers moved with the same detached grace she would use to handle tools in the training room. Like she had done this a thousand times before.
~~
Fahim suddenly shot up from his seat, his face a mix of shock and barely concealed indignation.
"Did you all see that?! She—she just—"
He gestured wildly at the blank screen, his voice cracking with something between disbelief and professional offense.
"She just dismantled that fish like it was a—a—textbook diagram! She separated the spine, the ribs—cleanly! Perfectly! Like she's been doing dissections for years!"
Fahan blinked slowly, a smirk creeping onto his face."Uh....yes, Fahim. We all saw it. It was kind of the whole point of the scene."
Fahim whirled toward him, his eyes wide with desperation. "SHE'S FIVE YEARS OLD!
I have been studying anatomy for YEARS! YEARS! I have performed countless dissections! I have taught medical students!"
He pressed a trembling hand to his chest, genuinely offended.
"And she—a traumatized, malnourished, barely-educated child—just performed a more precise dissection than some of my senior students!"
Faha leaned back in his chair, folding his arms with a smug grin."So... what you're saying is... your little sister is better at anatomy than you?"
Fahim opened his mouth, closed it, opened it again.
His face went through several shades of red—embarrassment, reluctant acceptance, and finally, a kind of stunned admiration, "...Yes."
~~
From the other side of the wall—
"See? You're doing it. You're deconstructing a fish like it's an anatomy class. I'm oddly impressed."
Maya smiled. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"For teaching me how to eat."
"..."
A pause. Then— "You're welcome, Subject Seventeen. Now eat the damn fish."
Silence।
"Subject 0016 A?"
She waited. Listened. The usual sharp, sarcastic, slightly irritated voice did not respond. "Subject 0016 A... are you still awake?"
Nothing.
Maya's brows furrowed. "Sixteen A? I... I wanted to thank you. For the fish."
Still nothing.
She knocked gently against the wall [Knock.... Knock] A hollow sound echoed through the silence. No response.
Maya's lips pressed into a thin line. A flicker of something, disappointment? worry?—crossed her face before she pushed it away.
She leaned her forehead against the wall and whispered, barely audible: "Are you sleeping?"
Silence.
She waited for what felt like an eternity.
Then, slowly, she pulled back. Her hand slid down the cold surface, her fingers tracing the cracks in the concrete.
"Goodnight, Subject 0016 A, sleep well."
A single thought drifted through her mind,
She's probably just tired. It's late. She's been through so much too. I'll talk to her tomorrow.
[AFTER FIVE MINUTES]
The fish was gone.
Every last piece of flesh had been consumed, every bone carefully extracted and placed in a neat, anatomical arrangement on the corner of the tray.
Maya sat cross-legged on her thin mattress, her back against the cold wall, For a moment, there was peace.
Then — A faint, almost imperceptible cramp deep in her stomach. She ignored it. But the whisper grew into a murmur. Then a roar.
Her hand flew to her abdomen, pressing against the fabric of her uniform.
Her breath caught. Her eyes widened. A wave of searing, white-hot agony tore through her insides like a blade being twisted. She doubled over.
Her vision blurred. Her jaw clenched so tightly that her teeth ached. A low, guttural groan escaped her lips—the only sound she could force out.
Her body betrayed her. It twisted, rebelled against the poison that had been placed inside her.
She couldn't speak. Couldn't cry out. Her throat had closed, sealed by the sheer, overwhelming force of the pain.
Her trembling fingers fumbled blindly for her collar. The small, cold device was her only connection to the outside world.
She pressed the emergency beacon — a tiny, almost invisible button that would summon the Instructor. A low hum. A click.
The Instructor's voice, cold and sharp, sliced through the silence."Subject 17B. This is an unscheduled communication. Explain."
Maya's mouth opened. No sound came out. She gasped, choking on the pain. "...Subject 17B. I require a verbal response."
Maya forced the words out, each one a knife scraping her throat. "P-Pain... stomach... please... I can't..."
A long, deliberate pause on the other end. Then,
"Ah. Yes. I was wondering when this would happen."
Maya's blood ran cold, even through the fire in her veins. The Instructor's voice was calm. Almost... satisfied.
"Your evening meal was laced with a highly concentrated dose of industrial-grade poison.
It was Dr. Veyron's idea — a little experiment to test your resilience. He wanted to see how your body would react under extreme duress."
Maya's eyes widened. Her hand pressed harder against her stomach, as if she could physically hold herself together.
"I will not be assisting you. There is no cure. No antidote. You will endure it or you will die. Either way, Dr. Veyron will have his data."
A cold, clinical pause.
"And one more thing, Subject 17B: I expect to see you in the training hall tomorrow morning, sharp at 08 : 00 AM. Do not be late. Don't make excuses."
Maya could barely breathe, but she managed to whisper, "I... understand... Instructor."
"Good. Also, I do not want to see a single drop of blood on your uniform tomorrow. Keep yourself presentable. Dr. Veyron detests disorder."
Maya's voice cracked. "Yes... Instructor..."
"One final matter: tomorrow evening at 07 : 00 PM, you are to report directly to Dr. Veyron's private laboratory.
He has requested your presence personally. Do not keep him waiting."
Maya's breath hitched.. The pain was no longer just in her stomach—it was everywhere. Burning. Consuming. She couldn't think anymore.
"I... understand..."
"I trust you will not disappoint me, Subject 17B."
A faint click. The line went dead.
~~
Mahi let out a sound that was not quite a scream, not quite a sob—the cry of a mother whose child was being torn apart.
"POISON?! THEY POISONED HER?!"
She was on her feet,
"She was FIVE YEARS OLD! She was barely recovered from Level Three! And they—they—
THEY MADE HER EAT POISON AND THEN TOLD HER TO SHOW UP FOR TRAINING THE NEXT MORNING!"
Mahim's jaw was locked, his eyes blazing with a fury that made the air around him feel heavy.
"That's it. I am going to find this facility. I am going to tear it down with my bare hands.
And I am going to make every single person who touched my daughter—I am going to make them BEG for death."
Fahad was pacing, his hands pressed against his temples, his breathing ragged.
"She was alone. She was SIX. She was lying on the floor, writhing in pain, and that MONSTER—told her to clean her uniform and show up on time."
He let out a choked laugh—brittle, full of rage. "Like it was a SCHEDULED Appointment. Like she was late for a MEETING!"
~~
Maya collapsed onto the cold floor, her body curling in on itself.
Her fingers clawed at the concrete, leaving faint, desperate scratches as she tried to hold onto something—anything—to anchor herself to reality.
The poison was relentless. It tore through her like a wildfire, consuming every nerve, every cell, every fragment of peace she had managed to hold onto.
She couldn't scream. She had no voice left.
She could only endure.
[FEW MOMENTS LATER]--
Maya lay curled on the cold floor, her body still trembling from the waves of agony that had torn through her. Her breathing was shallow, ragged—each inhale a battle, each exhale a prayer.
She had survived. Somehow, against all odds, she had survived. Her vision was still blurred at the edges. Her stomach still twisted with dull, lingering pain.
But the fire had receded. The poison had done its worst—and she was still breathing. She let out a shaky, exhausted breath.
I'm alive. I'm still alive. I made it.
Her fingers, still trembling, pressed against the cold concrete. She tried to push herself up, to find some semblance of strength.
And then—[ BEEP ]
The familiar, sharp tone cut through the silence like a blade. The Instructor's voice, cold and clinical, echoed through the small room.
"Subject 17B. I realize I forgot to mention one small detail.Starting tomorrow—and continuing every day thereafter—
You will be served the exact same meal. Poison included."
A pause. A beat of terrible, suffocating silence.
"It will be your new daily rations. Consider it part of your training. Consider it a test of endurance. Consider it whatever you like—but you will eat it. Every single day."
Maya's vision swam. Her stomach lurched.
"Dr. Veyron is particularly interested in your body's long-term response to repeated exposure.
He wants to see how your system adapts or fails to adapt. This data is invaluable to his research."
Maya's lips parted. No sound came out.
"I trust you understand the importance of compliance, Subject 17B. I will see you in the training hall at 0800 tomorrow. Do not be late."
[ CLICK ] The line went dead.
Maya's body was still trembling but now, it wasn't from pain. It was from fear.
Cold. Absolute Soul-crushing Fear.
She pressed her forehead against the cold floor, her hands curling into weak, shaking fists.
Every day. They're going to poison me. Every single day. And I have to eat it.
Because if I don't then—She couldn't finish the thought.