Aria's head snapped toward Elias, her eyes wide, calculating. Bone shifted subtly beneath her skin, like a predator testing the air.
"You… you know what this is?" she hissed. Her voice was ragged but sharp.
Elias nodded slowly, letting the patterns guide his words. "They didn't bring us here to help. They want to see what happens when we break… or evolve."
She laughed — a brittle, humorless sound that echoed off the black walls. "Evolve? My arm's half stone and half skin. And you're… what? Some human calculator?"
He shrugged. "I see patterns. I see what will happen before it happens."
Aria's eyes narrowed. "So you're saying you can predict me?"
"Yes," he said. "And I'm saying we survive if we cooperate."
The boy on the lower bunk stirred, trembling. His eyes were unfocused, lips moving as though chanting. "I… I don't want—" His voice broke into a sob. "I can't stay awake. I fall… and I see things…"
Aria's scowl softened for a moment, fleeting, almost human. She leaned back against the wall. "You'll get used to it… maybe."
Elias studied him. Probability threads ran through the boy like waves. The narcolepsy wasn't just sleep; it was a door — a doorway he could feel, a dangerous one. But right now, the boy was vulnerable.
"We stick together," Elias said firmly. "You fight alone, you die. You fight together, maybe… we survive."
Aria's jaw tightened. She looked away, bone spines shifting, a low hum of power resonating beneath the surface. "And what's in it for you?"
Elias hesitated, then spoke with precision. "I want to understand. I want to see the patterns fully. And… if we survive this, maybe we can be more than experiments."
For the first time, the three of them were silent together. The air thickened with fear, restraint, and something else — possibility.
Then the intercom buzzed again:
"Medical observation team entering chamber. Prepare for monitoring."
Aria snapped upright, bone cracking like thunder. Elias stepped forward instinctively, hands raised, not to fight, but to calculate — to predict.
The first wave of soldiers entered, armed with restraints and scanners. Aria's eyes darted, her body tensing like a coiled spring.
Elias whispered, almost to himself, "Stay calm… follow my pattern."
For the first time in the chamber, Aria hesitated — and the thread of trust began to form.
They were trapped together. But maybe… just maybe… together, they had a chance.