The cage was silent, but her thoughts screamed.
Lira sat cross-legged on the cold steel floor of her cell, the collar around her neck humming faintly. It wasn't pain that haunted her anymore—it was silence. Her voice, once ordinary, now held the power to shatter minds. The scientists called it a miracle. She called it a curse.
She hadn't spoken in 43 days.
Outside, white-coated figures moved past the reinforced glass, never meeting her eyes. She wasn't human to them. She was data—an asset. A weapon.
When they brought her out for testing, she complied. Not because she wanted to, but because she had learned. Rebellion was punished, not with violence—but with reminders. Reminders of what her voice had done to the only person she ever loved.
Her brother.
And so she remained quiet, obedient, and dangerous.
Until the day they brought in someone new.
A boy.
He didn't look like a soldier. His eyes were too alive. Sharp, grey, and full of questions. They locked eyes for a second too long before a guard shoved him forward.
"This is Kael," said Seren, the lead handler, voice sharp. "You'll work together. Or you'll break together."
Lira blinked slowly.
Break?
She already had.