Marrin stood by the floor-to-ceiling window of her apartment, gazing down at the sprawling city below. The morning sunlight painted the streets in a mixture of gold and silver, reflecting off the glass towers and shimmering asphalt. Cars moved like tiny metallic insects, buses groaned to a stop, and far below, the faint wail of a siren echoed. It was chaotic, alive, and utterly indifferent to the storm brewing in her mind. She wrapped her hands around a warm mug of coffee, feeling the heat seep into her palms, grounding her focus. Every movement outside, every flicker of light, every distant sound became part of her awareness, data to be stored and analyzed.
Her reflection in the glass caught her attention. The naive girl she once was, who trusted too easily and smiled too openly, had bee
