— "Between the Past and the Visions"

The echo of cold, steady footsteps filled the sterile hallway. Fluorescent lights flickered overhead, casting lengthening shadows across the white floor. Francine walked slowly, her bare feet touching the cold floor, as two lab guards escorted her to the testing room.

She didn't want to look at them. Didn't want to look at anything. Her gaze was distant — not in the present, but somewhere only she could see.

The vision came without warning.

The sun shone down on a simple backyard.

She was ten years old, her mother smiling as she hung clothes on the line, and the sound of laughter echoed when her father came home from work. It was one of those rare good days, before everything began to unravel. Before the arguments, the secrets, the strange visitors who came to the house asking for her. Before the fear.

Francine blinked, and the warmth of the backyard vanished.

She was now sitting on a metal chair in the center of the room. Dr. Brenner, impeccably dressed in his suit, watched her from behind the glass.

Dr. Brenner: — "Let's try again, Six," he said, his voice soft, almost fatherly, but with a weight she couldn't ignore.*

Dr. Brenner: — "Focus on what we've shown you. Tell me what you see."

She took a deep breath. In the corner of the room, there was an object on the table: an old photograph of an unknown man.

The instant her fingers touched the edge of the photo, the laboratory disappeared.

A rain-soaked alley. The man in the photo was there, a manila envelope in his hands. He was looking back, as if he were being followed. A hooded figure was slowly approaching. The smell of smoke and gasoline mingled with the heavy air. Francine could feel his heart racing — and then, the deafening sound of an explosion filled everything.

Back in the room, Francine sucked in a sharp breath. Blood was running from her nose.

Francine: — "He's going to die…" — She murmured, still trembling. — "Tonight… explosion… someone… is following him…"

Brenner smiled slightly, as if he'd gotten exactly what he wanted.

Dr. Brenner: — "Very good, Six. You're getting better."

The guards led her back to her room, but she couldn't stop thinking about the backyard. Her mother's laughter. The warmth of the sun. Moments that seemed increasingly distant, as if they were also visions… but visions of a life that would never return.

And deep down, Francine knew that, no matter how much she saw into the future, there was no power that could make her change her own destiny.

Note for Players: You can play Francine, a character from the scene, or an original character.