For a moment, Hana thought the room was shaking.
Then she realized it wasn't the room.
It was her.
A low hum vibrated beneath her skin, rising from her bones like a warning siren. The air around her shimmered faintly, bending at the edges as if heat were distorting it. She pressed her palms to the floor, trying to steady herself—but the concrete trembled under her touch.
"What… is happening…"
The walls answered before she could finish.
Thin cracks spider‑webbed across the grey surface, spreading outward in jagged lines. Dust rained down in soft, trembling clouds. The metal door rattled violently in its frame.
Hana's breath hitched.
It was reacting to her.
Her power—her radiation—was no longer dormant. It surged through her like a second heartbeat, wild and unstable, spasming in bursts of heat and light.
She remembered the scratch. The blackout.
Her unstable radioactivity.
It was happening again.
Except this time, she wasn't helpless.
"It's not the old world," she whispered, voice shaking. "I'm not letting them cage me again."
The cuffs around her wrists flickered, their blue lights sputtering. The collar buzzed weakly, struggling to suppress the storm building inside her.
But it was too late.
Her power had already reached critical mass.
A pulse of energy shot through her chest, expanding outward in a shockwave that made the air crackle. The walls groaned. The cracks widened. The door buckled.
Hana staggered to her feet, every nerve in her body alight. She felt like she was burning from the inside out—but it wasn't pain. It was an awakening.
Freedom.
She raised her hands and smiled.
The room erupted.
A blinding flash tore through the cell, ripping the door from its hinges and hurling it into the hallway with a metallic scream. Smoke billowed outward. The lights flickered and died.
Hana stood in the doorway, chest heaving, skin glowing like molten metal beneath the ash.
The cuffs hung loosely from her wrists, their circuits fried. The collar sparked once, then fell silent.
She stepped into the hallway.
And froze.
He was there.
Haazi.
Leaning casually against the opposite wall, as if he'd been waiting for her. His expression was unreadable. His eyes reflected the faint glow radiating from her skin.
He didn't flinch. Didn't run. Didn't even look surprised.
He simply tilted his head, studying her with unsettling calm.
"You woke up," he said softly.
Hana's pulse thundered. Her power surged again, instinctively preparing to defend her.
But Haazi didn't move.
He stepped forward, just enough for the dim emergency lights to catch the edge of his face.
"You're stronger than they expected."
Hana swallowed hard, her voice rough. "What do you want?"
Haazi's lips curved—not quite a smile, not quite a threat.
"To see what you do next."
The hallway fell silent.
Hana's radioactive glow flickered, casting long shadows across the ruined doorway.
And for the first time since the apocalypse began, she wasn't sure whether she'd just escaped danger…
Or walked straight into it.