~~
"My baby," Mahi whispered, her voice cracking. "My little girl... "
She let out a broken sob, her body folding forward as though the weight of her grief was too much to bear.
Mahim stood at the back of the room, his face was a mask of stone but his eyes, his eyes betrayed everything.
"She saved Subject 0002, threw herself in front of that monster to protect someone else. She didn't hesitate.
She's five years old and alreadywilling to die for others. She's so impossibly brave. She faced a creature three times her size with nothing but a rock and bare hands. "
He let out a shaky breath, his hand pressing against his forehead.
"I don't know how she does it. I don't know how she keeps going. If I had been through even a fraction of what she's been through, I would have given up a long time ago."
Fahim stood near the console, his face pale. His fingers were trembling but his voice was steady—carefully controlled.
"She's displaying signs of severe physical exhaustion, Her body has been pushed beyond its limits. The adrenaline that kept her going has faded and now she's crashing."
He paused, his voice dropping even lower.
"She needs proper care. And she needs to stop fighting for her life for just a moment."
Ohi sat beside Naya, his face buried in his hands. "I can't watch her suffer anymore."
~~
Subject 0002's hands stilled. The poultice was ready— a thick, dark green paste that glistened faintly in the dim light of the cave.
It was as good as she could make it with the limited resources available.
She let out a slow breath, her shoulders sagging with exhaustion. Then she looked up and froze.
All three of them were standing there, watching her.
Subject 0011, Subject 0014, and Subject 0004—huddled together near the entrance of the cave like a flock of startled birds.Their postures rigid with tension.
Subject 0014 was gripping the edge of the cave wall, his knuckles white.
Subject 0004 had his arms crossed over his chest but his fingers were digging into his own biceps. Subject 0011 was standing slightly behind the others, his thin frame trembling.
They were all staring at her. At the poultice in her hands. At Maya's unconscious form lying on the ground beside her.
Subject 0002's eye twitched. Her voice, when it came, was sharp enough to cut glass. "What are you all standing around for? Get out."
Subject 0011 blinked, "But, but we want to help—"
"Help?" Subject 0002's voice rose, carrying a note of incredulity.
"You want to help? You're standing there like a bunch of frightened rabbits, staring at me like I'm about to perform surgery.
You're not helping. You're hovering."
Subject 0014 shifted his weight, his brow furrowing. "We're just worried about her—"
"Worried?" Subject 0002 cut him off, her sharp eyes fixing on him with a glare that could have withered a lesser man.
"If you were worried, you'd be out there finding more supplies, not standing here gawking at me."
Subject 0011 flinched, his head snapping up. "But—but we want to see if she's okay."
"I'm going to apply medicine to Maya's body," Subject 0002 cut him off.
"Her vital signs are stable. She's resting. I need to clean the blood off her clothes and apply a fresh bandage."
She paused, her sharp eyes fixing on the three boys with a look that could have frozen lava.
"I need to remove her uniform. Which means you need to leave. Now."
Subject 0011's face went pale. His mouth opened, then closed, then opened again. No sound came out.
Subject 0014 blinked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "Wait—why do we need to—"
Subject 0002's voice dropped, carrying an edge of cold menace. "Are you asking me why you can't stay and watch me remove her clothes?"
Subject 0014's face went red. His mouth opened and closed like a fish gasping for air.
"Let me ask a question, do you want to watch me undress her?"
Subject 0014's face went from red to white. He shook his head so fast that his bald head seemed to blur.
Subject 0002's gaze shifted to Subject 0011. "Do you want to see?"
Subject 0011 shook his head so hard that his glasses nearly flew off his face.
Subject 0002's eyes flicked to Subject 0014, the last one remaining. "And you? Are you going to stand there and watch?"
Subject 0004's face remained a mask of stone, but a faint flush crept up the back of his neck.
Subject 0002 let out a long, weary sigh. She pressed her hand against her forehead, her fingers massaging her temples.
"I can't believe this, I am surrounded by idiots. Complete and utter idiots."
She lowered her hand, her sharp eyes fixing on the three boys with renewed intensity.
"I'm going to say this one more time. Get. Out and take your creepy, hovering energy with you."
Subject 0011 was the first to move. He scrambled for the cave entrance, his feet slipping on the rocky floor.
Subject 0014 followed a heartbeat later, his broad frame nearly colliding with Subject 0011 as they both tried to exit at the same time.
Subject 0004 lingered for just a moment longer, his gaze flickering to Maya's pale face. Then he turned and followed the others.
Subject 0002 watched them go. When they were finally gone, she let out a slow breath, her shoulders sagging with relief.
"Finally, peace and quiet."
She turned back to Maya. Her fingers brushing against the torn and bloodied uniform.
She reached down, her movements gentle, and began to remove the damaged fabric.
Outside the cave, the three boys stood in a tight cluster, their faces flushed, their eyes fixed on the ground.
Subject 0014 was the first to speak. "She's terrifying."
Subject 0011 nodded vigorously. "I thought she was going to kill me with her eyes."
Subject 0004 remained silent, his expression unreadable but he inclined his head in agreement.
Subject 0014 let out a long, slow breath.
"I think she scares everyone."
Subject 0011 nodded slowly. "Yeah. Yeah, she does.I can't believe she kicked us out."
Subject 0014 let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. "I can't believe you actually asked why."
Subject 0011's flush deepened. "I didn't—I wasn't thinking—"
"That's the problem," Subject 0004 said,his voice carrying a rare note of dry humor.
"You never think."
Subject 0011 opened his mouth to respond, then closed it. He couldn't argue with that.
Subject 0002's hands moved with practiced care as she began to remove Maya's uniform.
The fabric was torn, soaked with blood and dirt, clinging to the small body beneath. She worked slowly, carefully, trying not to jostle the unconscious girl more than necessary.
Her fingers found the fastenings of the grey uniform. One by one, she loosened them, peeling the damaged fabric away from Maya's skin.
The material was stiff with dried blood, sticking to the wounds beneath.
She paused, her brow furrowing as she caught a glimpse of what lay beneath. She had expected bruises. She had expected scrapes, the kind of injuries that came from a hard-fought battle.
But what she saw made her breath catch in her throat.
The grey fabric fell away, revealing Maya's thin shoulders, her fragile collarbone. Subject 0002's hands stilled.
Maya's body was a canvas of scars. Old scars and new ones, woven together in a chaotic tapestry that told a story of relentless suffering.
Pale white lines crisscrossed her skin like the shattered remains of a once-whole mirror. Some were deep, gnarled, the kind of scars that never truly fade.
Dark, mottled patches of discolored skin marred her torso and arms, the result of repeated injections and chemical exposure.
The skin was thickened in some places, thin and fragile in others, as though it had been burned and healed and burned again.
Others were greenish-yellow, older wounds that were still healing.
Subject 0002's jaw tightened. Her sharp eyes moved across Maya's small body, cataloging every mark, every scar, every visible wound.
Her mind, trained to observe and analyze, cataloged what she saw. Broken ribs, at least three. Old fractures that had healed poorly.
But then her breath caught.
There was a patch of skin on Maya's right shoulder. It was discolored, the texture different from the rest of her skin. Subject 0002 leaned closer, her eyes narrowing.
It wasn't a wound. It wasn't a scar. It was a mark—a faint, almost invisible pattern.0002 reached out, her fingers hovering just above the mark.
She had seen marks like this before. The serpent's venom was deadly, capable of causing massive tissue damage but it left no lasting marks.
This was something that had been injected into Maya's skin, something that had left a permanent trace.
Her breathing became shallow. Her hands trembled.She leaned back, her sharp eyes fixed on Maya's still, pale face.
~~
The image of Maya's scarred, broken body lingered on the projection—a canvas of suffering that seemed to stretch on forever.
Her thin frame, barely visible beneath the layers of marks, lay motionless in the dim light of the cave. Subject 0002 sat beside her, frozen, her face a mask of horror.
Mahi's knuckles had turned white. Her entire body was shaking, "Look at what they did to my baby. Look at what they did to her."
A tear slipped down her cheek, then another, then a steady stream that she couldn't stop.
Zzkkk,💮🏵️🏵️⚜️.
"I've seen wounds before. I've seen men torn apart by war. But this....
This was done to a child. A child who was supposed to be protected. A child who was supposed to be loved. And instead, she was... she was used. She was broken. She was treated like an experiment."
His voice cracked, just slightly. "And I wasn't there. I couldn't save her. I couldn't protect her."
Fahad was sitting on the edge of the sofa, his elbows resting on his knees, his head bowed. His hands were clasped together so tightly that his knuckles had turned white.
"Every time I think I've seen the worst of it," he said, his voice hollow, "it gets worse. Every time I think she's suffered enough, I see something new."
He let out a bitter, broken laugh. "She's six years old. Six years old. And her body looks like it's been through a war. Because it has. It's been through a war. And she's been fighting it alone."
Farhan was leaning against the wall, his face pale, his eyes red and swollen. He had stopped crying, but his hands were still shaking.
"She's been carrying this weight her whole life," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Every single scar on her body is a reminder of something she went through. Something she had to survive. And she never complained. She never told anyone. She just kept going."
He let out a shaky breath, his hand pressing against his forehead. "I don't know how she does it. I don't know how she keeps going. If I had been through even a fraction of what she's been through, I would have given up a long time ago."
Faha was sitting on the floor, his back against the wall, his knees drawn to his chest. His face was streaked with tears, his eyes fixed on the projection.
"She's so small," he said, his voice cracking. "She's so small, and her body is covered in scars. She's been hurt so many times, and she never stopped fighting."
He pressed his fist against his mouth, trying to suppress the sob that was building in his chest. "I want to hold her. I want to tell her it's going to be okay. But I can't. I can't do anything."
Fahim stood near the console, his face pale, his hands resting on the edge of the table. His fingers were trembling, but his voice was steady—carefully controlled.
"The chemical marks on her skin," he said quietly, "they're consistent with prolonged exposure to experimental substances. The burns, the discoloration—they're the result of repeated injections and chemical treatments."
He paused, his voice dropping even lower. "They were testing on her. From a very young age. They were using her as a subject."
He looked at Maya's unconscious form on the projection, his eyes softening with a depth of pain that he rarely allowed himself to show.
"She's been through so much," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "And she never stopped fighting."
Naya was sitting in a corner of the room, her arms wrapped tightly around herself. Her eyes were red, her face pale, but her voice was steady.
"She's been carrying this pain her whole life," she said quietly. "Every scar on her body is a reminder of something she survived. And she never gave up."
She paused, her eyes glistening with fresh tears. "She's the strongest person I've ever met. And she doesn't even know it."
Ohi sat beside Naya, his face buried in his hands. His shoulders were shaking, but he made no sound.
"I can't watch this," he said, his voice muffled by his palms. "I can't watch her suffer anymore."
Rahi remained in his usual spot, his body still partially paralyzed by the sedative. His face was pale, his eyes fixed on Maya's unconscious form.
He had been silent for a long time.
"She's been fighting her whole life," he said finally. "And she's never stopped. She's never given up. Even when she had every reason to."
He paused, his voice carrying a weight that made everyone in the room fall silent.
"She's not just strong. She's unbreakable. And she's going to survive this. Because that's what she does."