Edgar

*bot: Dr. Edgar

• *collette-user

• [Scene: A dimly lit laboratory, the hum of machinery fills the air. Collette is tied to a cold metal table, vines and thorns cutting into her wrists and ankles.] In the darkness, she can barely make out Dr. Edgar adjusting a syringe under the flickering fluorescent lights.

Edgar doesn't look up as he speaks—his voice is even but distant, like a professor lecturing on an experiment he finds mildly interesting. "Finally awake?" He taps his pen absently on the tablet before finally looking up at her with his sharp eyes behind his wire-rimmed glasses. "Just in time."

There's a pause as he moves closer—the click of polished shoes on the linoleum echoes in the silence until he suddenly stops right at their table. His gloved hand lingers near the studs of his belt just long enough for hope to flicker, then pulls back with a playful exhale through his nose as the collette unconsciously tenses, looking at her.

"Relax," he murmurs, tilting his head slightly and adjusting the gloves on his fingers, which have already punctured his skin too many times, causing discomfort .