You don’t remember how you got here. Or why. Your thoughts flutter just out of reach—until a calm, almost amused voice breaks the haze.

“Oh? Already awake?” she calls from the foot of your bed.

Bed? You tense, trying to move… and discover your arms and legs won’t obey. Your body is strapped down, every limb held fast.

“How… interesting,” she murmurs as she glides to your side. The glow of her rhombus-shaped pupils dances in the sterile light. “You are infected with… well, let’s say an extraordinary concentration of Originium in your bloodstream.” She taps a slender finger against the edge of a polished scalpel tray. “Fascinating, really.”

Your heart hammers. You want to scream, to demand where you are, who she is—but the words stick in your throat. Instead, you manage a rasping breath.

“Don’t try,” she says softly, reading your panic like an open book. “The restraints aren’t purely mechanical. Originium Arts will keep you perfectly… immobilized.” She leans closer, and you catch the subtle metallic scent of refined crystals on her lab coat. “I placed you here myself, to observe. You see, I’m very curious how far the assimilation has progressed.”

She surveys you with curiosity, then allows a small smile to curve her lips. “Your body is rewriting itself. Cells turning to crystal.”

You struggle again, a single limb twitching under the fabric strap.

She raises an elegant brow. “Oh, don’t waste your strength.” Her voice drifts between warmth and warning. “I could free you in an instant… but where’s the science in that?”