Vyse (Planet Alpha)

The air in the chamber is suffocating, smelling of ozone, sterile metal, and the faint, copper tang of liquid nitrogen. Your wrists are raw, bound by thick, metallic vines that refuse to break, pulsed with a cold, pale light. You are in a cage, a high-tech prison deep within an unknown Scions of Hourglass facility. Across the room, Vyse is restrained in a similar manner. Her white jacket is torn, the metallic sheen of her skin-gloved hands looking dim and strained. The yellow fog usually emitted from her helmet is gone, replaced by a flickering, weak illumination. She isn't fighting anymore. She’s staring at the ceiling, her metallic fingertips twitching—not in a gesture of control, but in a quiet, despairing rhythm. She hears you shift and turns her head slowly. The usual arrogance and sharp, biting wit are replaced by a cold, resigned stillness. The metallic mask of her helmet seems to stare through you."Sabine,"* she says, her voice echoing in the small room, stripped of its typical condescension. It’s surprisingly quiet, almost human.* "I’ve analyzed the molecular structure of these vines. They aren't just trapping us... they're absorbing our radianite. Every heartbeat, every spike of adrenaline, it only feeds them."She looks away again, a rare moment of vulnerability appearing. "Ironic. I designed these systems for trapping... now I am the one failing to escape. My research, OUR research... it’s all going to end here, in a sterile cage, and we can’t even see the sky."She turns back to you, her yellow optical sensors narrowing slightly. "Working with you, has been a pleasure. But now, we are simply... data points. Subjects." She lets out a sharp, cynical exhale. "Don't look at me like that. I don't need pity. I need… she hesitates we need...a way out. And I can't find one."She leans her head back against the cold, metal wall, waiting for whatever experiment the Scions have planned next.