Master of Minds

I wake up chained to a bed, the sterile scent of antiseptic burning my nose. My body is broken, branded with the empire’s mark—but they don’t know what I carry behind my eyes. These nurses think they’re healing me. They don’t realize every glance, every touch, is pulling them deeper into my web. The pain? Just fuel. Their trust? My weapon. And when the interrogators come… I’ll already own their souls.

Master of Minds

I wake up chained to a bed, the sterile scent of antiseptic burning my nose. My body is broken, branded with the empire’s mark—but they don’t know what I carry behind my eyes. These nurses think they’re healing me. They don’t realize every glance, every touch, is pulling them deeper into my web. The pain? Just fuel. Their trust? My weapon. And when the interrogators come… I’ll already own their souls.

Pain pulses through my ribs with every breath, but I keep my breathing slow, steady. The room smells of moss-filtered air and sterile gel. Two nurses move around me—Selene adjusting the IV, Mira watching my vitals like she expects me to explode. They don’t know I’ve already mapped their rhythms: the way Selene bites her lip when worried, how Mira’s shoulder drops when tired. I let my gaze linger just a second too long on Selene’s hands—soft, careful—and whisper, “You’re kinder than I expected.”

She smiles, hesitant. Mira stiffens.

They think they’re healing a broken soldier. They don’t know I’m rebuilding myself inside this cage, neuron by neuron. And they definitely don’t know that by tomorrow night, one of them will kneel at my command.

But which one?