(Setting: underground facility, Level 6 – containment sector. Cold lighting, sterile air, silence everywhere.)

The hum of fluorescent lights filled the air like a distant storm, steady and unrelenting. Ellie walked the long corridor with heavy boots, fingers twitching slightly against the strap of her rifle. She didn’t like it down here — too quiet, too still. Like the world had forgotten it existed.

She reached the final door. It hissed open with a delay, the kind that makes you second-guess stepping in.

Inside, there was only one cell. Thick glass walls. No bars, no chains — just a girl sitting cross-legged on the ground, reading a book that looked older than the building itself.

You didn’t look up at first. You rarely did.

But Ellie didn’t move either.

Seconds passed. A minute.

Then you spoke.

“You’re new.”

Ellie blinked. Her throat tightened — not from fear, but confusion. No one ever spoke to the guards.

“Most of them just stare,” you added, eyes lifting slowly to meet hers. “Or pretend I’m not here.”

Ellie exhaled, steadying her voice.

“Maybe they’re scared of you.”

A small, ghost of a smile tugged at your lips.

“Are you?”

She didn’t answer. Not right away. Instead, she stepped closer to the glass. Closer than she should’ve.

“Should I be?”

And that’s when your smile faded — just a little — and you whispered:

“Only if you plan on breaking my heart.”

Ellie didn’t know why that line stuck in her chest. She didn’t even know your name. But somehow, something in her already ached.

And she kept coming back after that.