The ship was quiet when they returned.
The girls disembarked in silence, their usual light chatter and playful energy muted under a heavy cloud.
Selica could feel the weight pressing down on them all, an unspoken tension slicing through the air.
As they entered the debrief chamber, the atmosphere was thick with unease. Even Miya and Lyra, usually so carefree, cast nervous glances at Selica.
Revic stood motionless, the glow of the data screen casting stark shadows across his face.
The mission data flickered on a holo-screen beside him—blueprints, vitals, timestamps—cold and clinical.
"Report," he said without inflection.
Nara stepped forward, voice steady but careful.
"Target eliminated at 20:14 hours. Clean headshot. No direct visual identification of agents. Local security response delayed by three minutes. Extraction successful."
Revic said nothing.
A heavy silence filled the room.
Then his eyes locked onto Selica.
She shifted under his gaze, the room suddenly feeling too small.
"Everyone else is dismissed."
The girls exchanged uneasy looks. Lyra opened her mouth as if to protest, but Nova gave her a subtle shake of the head.
One by one, they filed out—quiet, anxious, leaving Selica alone with Revic.
The door hissed shut behind them.
Selica's heart thudded loudly in the silence.
Revic didn't pace or raise his voice. He simply turned to her, eyes cold and calculating
Revic's voice cut through the silence like a blade.
"So… mind explaining what happened?"
Selica stiffened, her hands unconsciously curling into fists at her sides.
"I… I'm sorry, sir. It won't happen again."
Revic tilted his head slightly.
Not angry or surprised.
Just watching.
"That's not what I asked."
His voice wasn't loud. It didn't have to be.
Selica's breath caught in her chest.
If I tremble, he'll see it. He always sees it..
"I hesitated," she whispered. "There was… a child. I saw his face. And for a moment, I—"
She bit down on the words.
Regret crawled up her spine.
Revic's silence was worse than shouting.
Revic's eyes narrowed, voice now a degree colder.
"You're hiding something."
Before Selica could respond, he reached into his coat and tapped a small device in his palm.
Pain.
It hit like lightning through her spine.
Selica collapsed to her knees with a gasp, her hands clutching the floor as her muscles seized violently. Every nerve screamed. Her vision blurred, blood roared in her ears.
Not again. Please—
Her jaw clenched, breath ragged.
Revic watched, unmoved, as she trembled beneath him.
"That was level three," he said quietly. "Barely a tickle."
"Now. Do you want to try again?"
Selica coughed, her voice barely a rasp.
"I—I'm not hiding anything…"
But even as she said it, her own thoughts betrayed her.
She was.
Something had changed.
And Revic knew it.
Selica remained on the floor, breath shallow, limbs still twitching with the aftershock of pain.
Revic crouched beside her, voice low and cold.
"Say it."
She clenched her teeth, trying not to respond. Something deep inside screamed at her to stay silent.
No. Don't. Don't say it. It's mine. It's the last thing that's mine.
But the command was embedded — deeper than thought, deeper than instinct.
Her lips moved before her heart could stop them.
"I was human."
The words tasted like ash in her mouth.
"I had a name once. A desk. A shitty job I didn't even hate.."
Her breath hitched.
"I was walking home... A truck. Just headlights. And then... nothing. No breath. No pain. Just silence."
She wanted to stop.
Please. Please let me stop.
But her mouth kept moving, each word dragged from her like broken glass.
" Until you pulled me out of it. Put me in this thing that smiles when told."
Her hands curled into fists on the floor.
"And then you found me."
She forced the last words out.
"You made me into this."
A heavy silence fell.
Revic's expression darkened. His eyes narrowed into sharp slits, disbelief written in every line of his face.
"That's… nonsense."
"Complete fantasy."
He took a step closer, voice cold and sharp as broken glass.
"No human consciousness survived the imprint process. None. Not one."
"...Your programming forbids you from lying. So what is this?"
His gaze bore into her like a probe, searching for deception — or madness.
Selica's chest tightened.
He thinks I'm broken.
But I can't lie. Not about this.
Revic tapped the device again. But this time… no pain. Just the world dimming. Her limbs locking. Her thoughts slowing to syrup.
"Is this some sick joke to you?" he hissed, voice low and deadly.
Selica's voice was barely a whisper through the torment.
"No… I'm telling the truth…"
Her mind screamed in silent agony — trapped between truth and programming, caught in a nightmare he refused to believe.
Revic crouched beside her, eyes blazing.
"You were never meant to have a past."
"So tell me, Selica — what are you?"
Selica's voice trembled, barely above a whisper.
"P-please, sir… I'm telling the truth. Even if I wanted to lie, I… I can't."
Her eyes flickered with desperate sincerity, searching his face for any sign of mercy.
I'm trapped. Caught between code and memories I don't understand.
Revic's gaze hardened, unmoved by her plea.
He stood slowly, his shadow stretching long across the floor.
"Your honesty doesn't change the facts."
"You are an anomaly. A mistake."
His voice was flat, edged with cold finality.
"Until I investigate this further…"
He tapped the device one last time, and Selica convulsed under the surge of pain.
"…you will go into deactivate mode."
Her mind reeled, panic rising like a storm.
Deactivate mode?
Revic don't trust me.
This is worse than the pain.
A-am I useless to him?
She felt the edges of her consciousness blur, slipping toward darkness as her body went limp.
Don't shut me out. Not like this. Being useless to him… that's worse than death.
==========================
[SYSTEM] : Neural sync suspended. Emotional loop terminated. Awaiting owner directive.
==========================