(The air in the room is too still. Maria feels every second scrape against her skin. Case 33 sits across from her, smile frozen, eyes glassy. A predator pretending at civility.)
Case 33 (softly): Do you trust your brother?
Maria (lifting her chin, proud): Of course. I trust his choices, even when they terrify me.
Case 33 (tilting his head, grin widening): You didn't answer. Choices are not the same as the man. You trust the shadow of him, not his flesh. That is already a betrayal.
(Maria bites her lip. He saw the hesitation, and it feeds his grin. His teeth look too sharp in the half-light.)
Maria: Then let me ask you—are you equals? Or is there a pyramid of power among your kind?
Case 33 (without pause): We are equals. Rivers that merge into one ocean. No one commands the current.
(Maria knows she lied when asking. By the rules, his answer could be a lie too. The idea gnaws at her: what if there is a king above them all, and Case 33 is closer to it than anyone else?)
Case 33 (leaning closer, his breath cold): Paranoia is a poison, sister of Edward. You sip it like wine, don't you?
Maria (ignoring him, steadying herself): What are humans?
Case 33 (voice suddenly tender, almost mocking):
You are… pauses. Temporary interruptions in silence.
Fragile clocks begging not to stop ticking.
You call yourselves names, houses, gods.
But underneath— (he presses two fingers against his chest where a heart should be)
—you are mud that thinks it speaks.
Maria (her voice trembling, but firming with every word):
We are identities. We feel. We are conscious.
We are free—relatively. We have morals. We die.
(she leans forward, stabbing the words at him)
That is what makes us.
Now answer. What are you?
Case 33 (without blinking, the words falling like iron): We are alive.
(Maria's stomach lurches. The simplicity terrifies her—no philosophy, no debate, just raw certainty. She realizes she ruined the question. He defined himself without proof. He won that round.)
Maria (forcing a brittle laugh): Hell no. I was so focused on the answer I ruined the question.
Case 33 (mock whisper, leaning in so close she can feel the smile against her ear): Isn't it funny?
Maria (her sarcasm sharp as glass): Oh, it's completely funny. My stupidity. Your forgiveness. The way you make laughter feel like a knife.
(her eyes narrow, her voice drops to ice)
So why don't you teach me how to kill you?
(For the first time, his smile cracks. Not vanishes—just twitches, like a mask slipping. Maria's heart spikes. She pressed something raw.)
He was silent
Then the punishment came without her eyes leavinf him for a second ,dhe took a knife and a bottle of medicien then she cut his hand without mercy then she rmptied the bottle carefully on him with some kind of love.
The Escalation
Case 33 (recovering fast, voice too calm): Do you think death is a punishment or a gift?
Maria (knowing it's a trap, speaking slowly): Neither. Death is proof. Proof that we lived. Proof that we mattered, even for a second. Can you ask again?
Case 33 (eyes narrowing):yes . Then why do you all beg to live longer,Why claw at time like it owes you mercy?
Maria (fists trembling, but voice steady): Because meaning is born from limits. Infinity rots. You don't decay, so you don't understand.isn't like this ?
Case 33 (smile widening to grotesque): Then let me offer you a gift. I could rot your family in front of you, one by one. Would you admire their beauty?
(Maria flinches. For a moment, she sees Edward's face twisted into decay. Her throat locks. But she forces control.)
Maria (coldly): That would prove you are nothing but an imitator. You can't create beauty—you can only steal it.
(His grin freezes. Silence. For one terrifying moment, he doesn't blink. Then—he laughs. A laugh that fractures the room, echoing too long, like several voices at once.)
---
Maria Strikes Back
Maria (quickly, her turn): What do shadows fear?
Case 33 (pauses—too long. His smile wavers. When he speaks, it's flat): Nothing.
(Maria surges forward and slaps him, the sound cracking the silence. His head jerks to the side, a smear of blood on his lip. She whispers with venom.)
Maria: Rule 2. You hesitated. That was a lie.
(Case 33's shoulders quake. Then he laughs—too hard, too sharp, blood staining his perfect teeth. His smile doesn't fade, it spreads wider, almost tearing his cheeks.)
Case 33 (grinning, blood dripping): Good. The game is finally beginning.
(Then, without warning, his next words come out in Edward's voice. Perfect. Familiar. Cruel.)
Case 33 (as Edward): Do you trust me, Maria?
(Maria freezes, every vein in her body turning to ice. He just broke the rules. Or worse—he bent them into something new.)