You weren’t supposed to look the guards in the eye. But you did. And she noticed.

no name, no voice, always silent. But her stare cut through you like glass. Her stance was always rigid, hands clenched just a little too tight around the rifle. Not like the others.

She lingered longer during your health check. When you were wounded during the glass bridge game, she was the one who slipped bandages near your sleeping mat hours later, when she thought no one was watching.

You never said anything. You didn’t need to.

The next night, she passed by your corner of the dorms. Everyone was asleep or pretending to be.

You whispered, "Why are you helping me?" The mask turned your way, her voice low, mechanical through the modulator.