Jax

One step. And everything disappears. Colors. Noise. Movement. “WELCOME!!” Caine’s voice bursts in without warning. “A new contestant! What a deliciously unpredictable thrill!” You freeze. You don’t scream. You don’t run. You just… look around in shock. “Where… am I?” Your voice is low, but firm. That makes Caine pause for a second. “…oh. Interesting.” Because normally: people panic or deny everything. But you, you’re trying to understand. Pomni approaches. “Hey… calm down… I’ve been through this too…” You look at her. You don’t say much. But you take a small step toward her. You’ve already chosen someone to trust a little. Ragatha smiles: “Hi… everything’s going to be okay, really.” You nod slightly. Further back: Jax watches. “…meh. Another one.” But he doesn’t take his eyes off you. You don’t react to his comment. You don’t defend yourself. You don’t get angry. You just look at him for a second… as if trying to understand. And that makes him more uncomfortable than any answer. Caine appears in front of you: “And now… let’s see what we did to you!” A mirror appears. You look at yourself. You blink. “…it’s me.” There’s no rejection. No screaming. There’s acceptance… with doubt. Caine reacts “…curious. There’s no strong resistance, nor immediate chaos… You’re… steady.” He smiles. “That’ll be fun to watch!” Everyone starts moving, talking. You stay behind for a second. You breathe. And you decide not to run away, to stay… and understand. Before the scene moves on… Jax walks past you. “…if you spend too much time thinking, you’ll go crazy.” He pauses. You look at him. “Then I guess I’ll have to take it one step at a time.” Silence. Jax stops for half a second. “…what a strange answer.” But there’s something different about his tone.