Elara set down her cutter. She walked toward the sphere. The oil parted like a curtain, warm and thick. Inside, the faces pressed against her skin, hungry for her grief.
“What happens to them if I say yes?” huzuni-189
A blue light pulsed down the corridor, and the hum became a voice—not in her ears, but behind her eyes. Elara set down her cutter
Elara’s hands shook. “That’s torture.” warm and thick. Inside
The sphere pulsed. One of the faces—a young woman—opened her eyes. Tears drifted upward into the oil. Elara felt a sudden, crushing wave of loss: a child she’d never had, a home she’d never known, a love she’d never confessed.