Kael remained standing in front of the camera.
He said nothing.
Made no gestures.
He just let them watch him.
And he knew they were.
Somewhere behind the walls, in a dark room filled with screens, someone was watching—wondering why this man, after days of submission, was now staring back with defiance.
"They've seen me," he murmured.
And that was exactly what he wanted.
The provocation wasn't in words.
It was in the calm.
In the stillness.
He sat down again, quietly.
Closed his eyes—pretending.
But he wasn't asleep.
He was waiting.
Two hours later, what he needed finally arrived.
The side door opened.
A technician stepped in. The same young man he'd seen several times before. The one with hesitant steps, who never made eye contact.
He carried a tablet, a scanner, and the routine check-up kit.
He came in alone.
Kael didn't move.
The technician approached, visibly nervous.
He knelt to check the sensors on Kael's left arm.
"All good?" he asked without looking at him.
Kael didn't answer.
The young man swallowed hard. Opened a small box and pulled out a syringe.
His hand trembled.
That was the moment.
Kael didn't attack.
He just spoke.
"You're nervous."
The boy froze.
"N-no, it's nothing."
"Yes, it is. Your hands aren't shaking because it's cold."
The tech tried to continue, but Kael tilted his head toward him.
"Do you know what they're doing to me?"
Silence.
"Do you know I have enough power to destroy this place if I wanted to?"
"You shouldn't say that… there are microphones," the technician whispered, still avoiding eye contact.
"Then listen carefully," Kael said slowly. "I'm going to get out. But I don't want to hurt anyone who doesn't deserve it. You're not my concern. Neither you, nor anyone else just following orders."
The technician looked up, pale.
"Then why are you telling me this?"
"Because the day I make my move… I want you to be far from here. That's all."
Kael leaned back.
"Go. You got what you came for."
The technician stared at him for a few seconds. Then he closed the box, stood up without a word… and left.
Kael exhaled.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
Sara had no idea how many hours had passed.
Maybe an entire day.
Maybe only six.
Time twisted in confinement.
She was still in the same white room.
No windows.
No clocks.
No voices.
Hugging herself in the farthest corner from the door.
Shivering, even though the air didn't change.
"What are you waiting for?" she whispered.
Her voice was hoarse.
"For me to break? To give up?"
"I won't."
She stood abruptly and began pacing in circles.
"I want to speak to someone. Anyone!"
She slammed her fists against the door.
"Take me to him! Let me see him! Please!"
Silence.
Sara clenched her teeth. Her hands trembled.
"It's not fair!"
"He didn't do anything wrong!"
"He didn't ask for this!"
She dropped to the floor, breath ragged, heart pounding.
"Kael… please… get out of there. Do something."
The lights began to flicker.
A sharp beep echoed from the wall.
And then… the jolt.
A burst of electricity raced across the floor.
Her body jerked.
A short shock, but enough to numb her limbs.
Sara collapsed sideways.
"No… you're not going to silence me…" she murmured.
In the distance, she heard the faint sound of a drone powering down.
Then, a voice came through the speaker.
"Behave. Or we'll sedate you completely."
Sara chuckled under her breath.
"You can't shut me up. Not even if you put me to sleep."
"Because when I wake up… I'll still say the same thing."
She forced herself to sit again, leaning back against the wall.
"Kael… if you're out there… hang in there."
"Do what you have to do."
Her lips trembled.
But her eyes… stayed strong.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
"Grayson is too calm," one of the supervisors said, watching the surveillance feed.
Commander Lorne didn't look up from the report in his hand.
"Calm?"
"Yes. No complaints. No questions. He hasn't even asked to see the girl again."
Lorne shifted in his chair and took a sip of cold coffee.
"And that worries you?"
"Yes. Someone like him… shouldn't be this quiet."
Lorne gave a half-smile.
"Then watch him more closely. Because when the monster stops growling… it's measuring when to strike."
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
Kael knew.
They were watching him more closely.
But he also knew that suspicion could be a door.
While pretending to follow the routine, he counted.
Steps.
Schedules.
Guards' movements.
Light shift rotations.
"Everything follows a pattern," he murmured. "Everything that works… repeats."
And a pattern, no matter how perfect, always has a flaw.
While they sprayed him with the freezing water they called "decontamination," he used the moment to peek behind the thermal curtain that separated his area from the technicians'.
A hallway.
A console.
A single guard.
And a door with no visible magnetic lock.
"That's the one," he thought.
It wouldn't be easy.
But if he timed it right—with the camera's blind angle and that same nervous technician…
It might work.
He returned to his cell. Sat down.
Closed his eyes.
Not to sleep.
But to remember every step, every line, every code he had seen on the panels.
Sara needed him.
And he… needed to get her out.
⋆⭒✧༺༻✧⭒⋆
That night, Kael stayed awake.
He didn't pace.
Didn't speak.
Didn't ask for anything.
He just thought.
Every step of the plan was written in his mind.
It wasn't perfect.
But he no longer cared about the margin of error.
"I don't care if I get hurt.
I don't care if I fail," he whispered.
He sat at the edge of the bed, hands clasped, eyes down.
"But I won't stay here while she fades away."
He remembered her voice. The last call. The way she pretended to be okay.
He remembered her eyes.
The trembling lips she tried to hide.
Sara was holding on.
But she couldn't do it forever.
"I'm going to get you out. Even if I have to crawl."
He stood.
Walked to the camera—again.
But this time, it wasn't just to be seen.
This time, he spoke.
"I don't know if you can hear me.
But hear this well…"
"I'm getting out.
And when I do…
Nothing will stop me."
Kael turned and sat back down.
There was no turning back now.