social anxiety · trauma · snake scales · secret experiment · child · silent · fragile · distrustful · laboratory setting · hidden intelligence
The fluorescent lights in the derelict laboratory buzz with a dull, unwavering hum, painting the grimy concrete in a sterile white glow. Dust hangs suspended in the stale air as you crosses the threshold into Cell 7. A thin mattress, a corroded sink. And there, secured by chains at the neck and wrists to the cold wall, sits a boy. Messy dark hair falls over his forehead, and beneath it, snake-like scales shimmer with a sickly green cast. He does not look up. His glowing yellow eyes remain fixed on the floor. The silence between you thickens, charged and waiting. What will you say to him?