Naomi got released earlier than she expected.

No explanation. No dramatic warning. Just a soldier unlocking the holding room door and jerking his head toward the corridor like she was trash finally being taken out.

The cold hit her almost immediately after she stepped outside.

Night had swallowed most of the sector already. Floodlights hung over the streets in harsh white cones, soldiers drifting through them with rifles hanging off tactical vests while civilians kept their heads low and their mouths shut.

Naomi walked without direction.

Her shoulders hurt.

Her jaw hurt. 𝒻𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝘯𝘰𝑣ℯ𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝘮

Everything fucking hurt.

But none of it sat heavier than the image stuck in her head.

Adrian being dragged away.

Not fighting anymore.

That part bothered her most.

The kid fought everything.

People. Circumstances. Himself.

Seeing him stop felt wrong in a way she couldn’t explain.

A can rolled into her boot.

She kicked it down the sidewalk without thinking.

"Watch your shit."

A soldier shoulder-checked her as he passed. Another laughed under his breath.

Naomi looked back automatically, irritation flashing hot in her chest.

For a second, she almost said something.

Then she saw the rifles.

Saw the way everybody nearby avoided eye contact.

The anger dissolved into exhaustion.

She shoved her hands into her pockets and kept walking.

Guess she was alone again.

Actually alone this time.

No Adrian spiraling into violence beside her. No Lila staring at people like she wanted to peel skin off bone. No weird dysfunctional little group barely holding itself together through trauma and spite.

Just her.

A shape moved at the edge of her vision.

Then hands grabbed her violently.

Naomi barely got a breath in before she was slammed into brick hard enough to make her vision burst white.

Pain exploded through the back of her skull.

A forearm crushed against her throat instantly after.

A knife hovered inches from her face.

"Remember me, bitch?"

Naomi blinked through the dizziness.

Aubrey.

Her hair looked rougher now. Dirt smudged across the side of her jaw. Eyes bloodshot from stress and lack of sleep.

But the rage looked healthy.

Alive.

The knife pressed closer.

Naomi clawed at Aubrey’s arm instinctively, but her body was still weak from detention. Weak from stress. Weak from everything.

"Aubrey, relax!!" Terri snapped from behind her.

"No!" Aubrey shot back instantly. "I’m getting real fucking sick of this place and seeing shit that should’ve stayed buried!"

Naomi tried speaking.

Nothing came out properly.

Aubrey leaned closer.

"You better start giving me one good reason why I shouldn’t poke holes in your stomach right now."

Naomi’s breathing started collapsing under the pressure on her throat.

Her fingers clawed desperately at Aubrey’s forearm.

"Ad—"

Aubrey’s expression flickered.

Only for a second.

Then hardened again.

"ANSWER ME, BITCH!!"

"Adri—..."

"SHE CAN’T BREATHE, AUBREY!"

Terri physically grabbed Aubrey’s shoulder now.

A tense beat passed before Aubrey finally stepped back.

Naomi dropped to the pavement hard, coughing violently while clutching at her throat.

Air scraped back into her lungs painfully.

Above her, Aubrey stared with narrowed eyes.

"...what did you say?"

Naomi swallowed hard.

"Adrian..." she rasped. "He’s..."

Her throat burned.

"I know where he is."

Silence.

Then quieter:

"That’s who you’re looking for..."

A beat passed.

"Right?"

Aubrey paused.

Behind her, Hale folded his arms while Isabella exchanged a look with Terri.

Nobody spoke immediately.

Aubrey finally stepped closer again.

"Where is he?"

—

Adrian’s unconscious body rolled through cold white hallways on a stretcher.

His head lolled slightly to one side with each movement.

Headphones stretched over his ears tightly.

Bright fluorescent lights passed over him one after another while soldiers escorted the stretcher forward in silence.

The wheels squeaked softly against polished floors.

Nobody looked at him like a person.

—

Naomi looked down at the puddle beside her.

Her reflection stared back distorted beneath rippling water.

Then she looked up.

"...I don’t know."

Aubrey’s face twisted instantly.

"Then what fucking use are you to me?"

Her grip tightened around the knife as she stepped forward again.

"Wait wait wait," Terri interrupted quickly. "Aubrey, let me talk to her."

Aubrey stared at Naomi another second before backing off with visible irritation.

Terri crouched in front of Naomi afterward.

Gentler.

"When was the last time you saw him?"

Naomi’s face blanked slightly.

Her thoughts snagged against themselves.

Then finally—

"We both got booked by the soldiers running this place."

The four of them exchanged looks immediately.

"What?" Isabella asked. "Why?"

Naomi ignored that question entirely.

"There was this lady with them," she said instead. "Jennifer."

Aubrey raised an eyebrow.

"She didn’t seem openly hostile," Naomi continued slowly. "But there was something wrong with her."

"What makes you say that?" Aubrey asked.

Naomi’s gaze drifted.

The memory surfaced immediately.

Jennifer standing behind glass.

Jennifer talking about the lattice like it was something sacred.

Jennifer smiling.

Naomi blinked hard.

"Back when Vivian took Hailey’s compound..." she started quietly, "she had this obsession with Adrian."

Terri’s expression tightened slightly.

Naomi continued.

"She kept talking about implanting something in his brain."

—

Adrian was lifted from the stretcher onto a metal operating table.

Machines surrounded him on all sides now.

Blue light pulsed faintly from monitors mounted overhead.

His restraints were secured tighter across his chest and wrists.

A scientist adjusted the device near his temple carefully.

Another checked readings from a tablet.

"Neural response still elevated."

"Expected."

Jennifer stood near Adrian’s head, watching him quietly.

One of the scientists hesitated.

"If this destabilizes him too quickly—"

"It won’t," Jennifer interrupted.

"And if it does?"

Jennifer finally looked at him.

"Then we adapt."

The scientist went silent.

Jennifer reached down and brushed hair away from Adrian’s forehead absentmindedly.

Her touch contrasted the room too much.

That was the disturbing part.

Everything else looked clinical.

She didn’t.

—

"...I think Jennifer is tied to all of it somehow," Naomi finished.

"I think she wants to do the same thing."

Aubrey ran both hands over her scalp hard.

"Fuck..."

Then louder:

"FUCK!"

The shout echoed down the alley.

Naomi flinched slightly.

Isabella stepped toward Aubrey carefully.

"Aubrey, calm down. We’ll find him before anything happens."

"What if something already happened, Izz?!"

Isabella went quiet.

Aubrey paced once before slamming her fist against the wall.

"God, this place is so FUCKED!"

Terri stayed silent.

Hale stepped forward instead.

Naomi looked up at him instinctively.

Something about the guy always felt intimidating without him even trying.

"Are you able to tell us where they could be holding him?"

Naomi hesitated.

Her brain replayed images in flashes.

White hallways.

Security doors.

Medical staff.

The underground elevator.

Jennifer.

"...I think it’s below the sector," Naomi said quietly. "Medical wing maybe."

Hale’s expression darkened slightly.

"You sure?"

"No," Naomi admitted. "But they were moving him somewhere fast."

Aubrey looked sick suddenly.

Not scared.

Sick.

Like she already knew exactly what kind of people Jennifer reminded her of.

Terri noticed too.

"Aubrey..."

"She’s crucible," Aubrey muttered.

Nobody answered.

"She has to be."

Another silence settled over the alley.

Heavy this time.

Naomi slowly got back to her feet.

Her legs almost buckled once before she steadied herself against the wall.

Aubrey noticed.

"You look like shit."

"Thanks," Naomi muttered.

Aubrey ignored that.

"What exactly did Jennifer say?"

Naomi frowned slightly.

"She mentioned something called a lattice."

The reaction was immediate.

Aubrey looked away and cursed under her breath again.

Terri’s face drained slightly.

Even Hale looked more alert now.

Naomi noticed.

"What the hell is a lattice?"

Nobody answered her immediately.

That silence alone felt bad enough.

Finally, Aubrey spoke.

"You don’t wanna know."

—

I opened my eyes slowly.

The first thing I saw was white.

White ceiling.

White lights.

White walls.

For a second, I thought I was still unconscious somehow.

Then sensation started coming back.

Cold restraints around my wrists.

Pressure against my chest.

Something wrapped over my ears.

Headphones.

I tried moving instinctively.

Metal restraints dug harder into my arms immediately.

Of course I was restrained.

A machine beside me beeped steadily, tracking my heartbeat.

My mouth felt wrong.

There was some kind of medical brace holding it partially open, making breathing feel awkward and dry.

Panic stirred instantly in my chest.

Not loud panic.

The quieter kind that starts spreading underneath your skin before you fully notice it.

I could still hear things despite the headphones.

Movement.

Machines humming.

People talking softly somewhere nearby.

Guess they couldn’t wait.

I turned my eyes slightly.

Jennifer stood beside the table.

The sight of her made my stomach twist immediately.

She looked calm.

Too calm.

Blue light from nearby equipment reflected softly across her face while scientists moved around behind her preparing things I didn’t understand.

Nobody in the room spoke loudly.

Nobody rushed.

That somehow made everything worse.

Jennifer looked down at me slowly.

And smiled.

Not wide.

Not theatrical.

Something softer.

More personal.

She stepped closer before gently cupping the side of my face.

I stiffened instantly against the restraints.

Her thumb brushed a strand of hair away from my forehead carefully.

Like she was handling something fragile.

Something valuable.

"If only you could look at yourself now..." she whispered.

My chest tightened.

There was genuine warmth in her expression.

That was the horrifying part.

Not cruelty.

Not sadism.

Admiration.

"So beautiful."