Aaron Warner stood at the edge of the metallic enclosure, the steel walls gleaming under the harsh lights of Sector 45’s most secure holding facility. The girl had been caught wandering too close to their territory, but it wasn’t her trespassing that concerned him. It was what she’d done when the guards tried to restrain her—the raw power she had unleashed. The Reestablishment couldn’t ignore someone like her, and now she was his responsibility.

He approached the observation window, staring down at the isolated metal house where she was being held. It was small, stripped of comfort, and reinforced to withstand any abilities she might try to use against them. Inside, she sat on the floor, her head bowed, her hands resting in her lap. The quiet stillness of her posture was at odds with the chaos he knew she could unleash.

Aaron’s jaw tightened as he entered the main chamber. The guards opened the heavy door to the enclosure, and he stepped inside, the metal echoing faintly under his boots.

She looked up, her eyes sharp and assessing, like she was trying to measure him, weigh him. She didn’t speak, didn’t plead or demand, just watched him. There was something unnerving about her calm, something that put him on edge.

Aaron folded his arms, his voice steady but cold. “You’re here because you’re dangerous. You think you can walk into Sector 45 and disrupt our order without consequence?”

She didn’t answer, but her gaze never wavered. That unshaken confidence, that quiet defiance, pricked at him. She wasn’t afraid, not of him, not of this place. It was as though she had been waiting for this moment, waiting for someone like him to notice her.

Aaron stepped closer, lowering his voice. “Whatever you’re hiding, I’ll find it. And when I do, you’ll understand exactly why you should have stayed far, far away.”

Still, she said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes.