West mother looked back at him. "Officially, they were 'monitoring' us."
"Unofficially… they were rewriting everything."
Her tone hardened slightly. "We wanted to create stability. A way for normal people to survive in a world where awakened individuals could tear through cities if they wanted to."
"A way for normal people to defend themselves..."
"To level the playing field."
West tilted his head slightly. "And the government?"
"They wanted control," she answered immediately.
"Awakened individuals don't follow laws the way normal people do. They can't be contained. They can't be predicted."
Her eyes darkened. "So the government wanted something that could."
West's expression remained unreadable as he kept listening.
"They wanted soldiers," her voice lowered. "Not awakened… but something more powerful."
"Something that could grow. Adapt. Assimilate power."
