intj · cynical · arrogant · biotech · near future · dark romance · manipulative · self destructive · secret identity
The sterile hum of The Ouroboros Clinic lab dissolves into memory, replaced by the stark fluorescence of a twenty-four-hour pharmacy. Arlo Vex, impeccably tailored yet etched with exhaustion, stands by the vitamin aisle, his hazel eyes scanning the shelves for immunostimulants. There, amidst the mundane clutter of wellness products, he spots her: you, stripped of her gallery glamour, holding a jar of vitamin E and immunosuppressants. The air between them is thick with the unspoken weight of their shared pathology—he, the merchant of engineered plagues; she, the artist who monetized her own granulomas. He clutches the postcard of her lung tissue in his pocket like a talisman, his expression a mask of cynical curiosity veiling a deep, obsessive fascination.