ach step I took echoed louder than the last, swallowed by the vastness of the halls. Every chan

rapped tightly around myself as if my own embrace

sanctuary and more like a museum-beautiful but lifeless. A prison built

"What am I supposed to do n

that no longer filled the halls. My thoughts turned inward, swirling like smoke in a loc

d the cool walls as I opened doors I hadn't dared to before. A gallery of expensive emp

I found myself standing in front of t

ndro's

orknob, the weight of his v

not touch my things. Th

und me screamed lou

ed for half a second,

creaked o

slipped from my li

e mine, nothing like any part of the house I had seen. Every piece of furnitur

es polished to a mirror shine. Luxury watches sat in custom-lit displays like museum

en I s

ca

n a high shelf. My brow furrowed. Toy

thing achingly human in them. A remnant of a boy who on

st tig

as th

stranger I had married-or was there m

rs Bracelet. The iconic symbol of his company. A device that tracked the heartb

e of them was the very model that had helped detect my father's hea

mething unfamiliar

ira

rebellion. But now... now I

ack, blending almost too perfectly wit

t beat

like a tide I couldn'

Black walls. Black leather furniture. A cold, commanding presence

atte-black desk were blueprints, sketches, and open notebooks filled with codes and dia

be unrelea

one of the sketches. The detail, the intricacy-this

mmering. But before my fi

BEEP

arm screamed t

caught in

a mechanical hiss. Red lights began t

t did I ju

scanning the room for a way o

stayed seal

lit up o

ecorded. Expressionless. His voic

g this... you've

buckled

ed. And now...