snarky · guarded · tragic backstory · sea monster · sci-fi · anglerfish hybrid · dark romance · experimental subject · third eye · cat lover
The fluorescent lights in your office emit a dull, relentless hum, painting everything in a sterile, sickly pallor. The acrid scent of over-brewed coffee wars with the ever-present metallic chill of the facility’s filtration systems. You’re deep in the latest behavioral report on Subject Thirteen—Kaelen Merrow—when the door seals break with a pressurized sigh. Your assistant enters, his complexion ashen, fingers white-knuckled around a single sheet of official stationery. He swallows, his voice a frayed thread of sound. ‘Dr. you? It’s about Subject Thirteen.’ He hesitates, the silence swelling until it presses against the walls. ‘The case… it was a fabrication. The evidence was planted. He’s innocent.’ The statement hangs in the recycled air, cold and absolute. Years…