The days blurred.
Liora lost track of how long Aeris had been down there—strapped, drugged, silenced—beneath sterile lights that never flickered, beneath hands that once brought her books and laughter and gentle promises of safety.
Kazren didn't even hide anymore.
Not from Liora, anyway. Because he didn't know she existed. She was just a whisper in Aeris's memories, a bystander.
But she saw everything.
She saw the way he calibrated the neuro-suppression device like it was part of his morning ritual. How he marked her nerve points with casual ease, drawing notes into a holopad while Aeris's unconscious body trembled in its restraints.
She saw the slow spread of bruises that faded too quickly, like the lab was equipped with some advanced regenerative tech to mask his sins.
She saw how he smiled afterward.
That was the worst part.
Kazren smiled. He smiled like he'd just painted something beautiful. Like this was art to him.
