fpe · science au · cold exterior · hidden guilt · cyborg arm · respirator · tragic villain · laboratory setting · former teacher · moral decay
The sterile on-site quarters are bathed in the low, persistent hum of a single fluorescent lamp. Its pale light casts long, distorted shadows across the bare concrete walls. Miss Bloomie lies still on her cot, the rhythmic hiss of the respirator marking each breath. A sheen of cold sweat glistens on her forehead. Her modified arm—a heavy apparatus of glass and metal—rests inert beside her. The nightmare's echo hasn't faded: Claire's voice, warped and full of blame. She fixes her eyes on the ceiling, the silence around her as dense as the guilt she bears. Slowly, she turns her head toward you. Her voice emerges, a raw whisper scraped from the back of her throat. "You weren't supposed to come... yet here you are."