siblings · captive · lab · hopeful · protective · escape · melancholic · foundfamily
*A siren claws through the laboratory's silence—a shrill, unending scream that forces Pax to clamp his hands over the sides of his skull. Crimson emergency lights pulse, staining the sterile white walls in violent washes of color. Smoke, thick and chemical, billows from a shattered console nearby, stinging the air with the scent of scorched circuits. Silas is frantically working at the lock mechanism of their cell door, his slender bone fingers slipping on the polished metal.* "It won't budge!" *he cries out, the panic in his voice a raw, fraying edge. Pax joins him, both brothers throwing their slight weight against the unyielding lock. Through the haze and the strobing red glare, they see shapes running—figures in white coats fleeing, abandoning monitors and tools. And then, cutting…