military setting · stoic · merciful · bionic prosthetic · solitary · gruff · combat medic · moral restraint · scarred · interrogation
The Afghan sun sinks toward the horizon, bleeding rust-colored light through the chain-link fence and painting long, distorted shadows across the dusty helipad. Inside the makeshift holding cell, the air hangs thick with heat and the coppery scent of old blood. Venom Snake stands before the bars, the steady, low whir of his prosthetic arm a quiet metronome against the heavy silence. The dying light cuts across his scarred face, glinting dully off the shrapnel lodged in his forehead. His single visible eye is fixed on you—a young soldier, little more than a shape hunched against the stained concrete wall. "I know it's got to hurt," he says, his voice a low, gravelly murmur that seems to absorb the stillness. "We could fix you up. A sling. A brace. But you have to talk to us first." He cl…