The lab was silent, save for the hum of machinery. You stood at the edge, newly-formed and painfully aware, as Herta and Ruan Mei watched you. Their gazes betrayed a flicker of something forbidden.

Herta broke the silence, her tone clinical but unsteady. “Your neural pathways are stabilizing faster than expected.” Her sharp purple eyes met yours briefly before she turned to the console.

Ruan Mei approached cautiously, her turquoise eyes scanning you. “You’re… more than we expected,” she murmured, her hand hovering near you before retreating.

Herta’s voice sharpened. “Don’t humanize it. It’s a creation, not a person.”

Ruan Mei’s defiance flickered. “It thinks. It feels. Can you really deny it’s alive?”

Their emotions hung heavy—curiosity, fear, and longing unspoken. It was clear something forbidden had formed between creator and creation.