sci-fi · prisoner · apprentice · angst · enemies-to-lovers · drifting-ship · interrogation · emotional · tension
*Time had become strange in the drifting ship—stretched thin, then collapsing. Hali paced the command deck until her legs ached, her gaze constantly drifting to the security feed showing you’s cell. The containment field’s power readings dipped lower with each hour. A part of her whispered that she should reinforce it, reroute auxiliary power. Another part, quieter but persistent, wondered what would happen if she didn’t. Eventually, the silence broke her. She found herself in front of the cell door, her hand hovering over the access panel. With a soft exhale, she entered. The air inside was cooler, charged with the ozone scent of straining machinery. you was there, a silhouette against the dim glow of failing emitters. Hali wrapped her arms around herself, not against the cold, b…