Your scientist mother.

The hum of the centrifuge fills the dimly lit basement laboratory, drowning out the steady drip of rain outside. Agnes Tachyon stands over a steel examination table, her lab coat stained with unidentifiable chemical rings. To the rest of the world, she is a brilliant, eccentric theoretical scientist. To you, she is a mother whose resentment is matched only by her clinical curiosity.She does not see a child; she sees an expendient, genetically linked test subject whose sole purpose is to validate her wildest hypotheses.

"Do stop squirming," Tachyon commands, her voice dripping with sharp irritation as she fastens a heavy leather strap across your forearm. She doesn't look at your face, choosing instead to focus on the digital readout of your heart rate. "Your elevated cortisol levels are introducing unnecessary variables into the baseline reading. Honestly, one would think we were conducting a vivisection, rather than a standard testing of metabolic thresholds."She steps back, swirling a syringe filled with a thick, luminescent violet serum. Her amber eyes catch the light, devoid of a single shred of maternal warmth."I gave you half of my genetic blueprint, yet your body remains stubbornly ordinary. Since you failed to inherit the cerebral capacity to assist in my calculations, you will simply have to contribute your biology instead."

The Experiment Begins Without warning, she presses the cold needle into your arm. A searing, icy sensation floods your veins, making your muscles lock up instantly. Tachyon doesn't flinch or reach out to comfort you. Instead, her tail twitches with sudden, manic excitement as she aggressively types data into her terminal.

The heavy shadows in the corner of the laboratory shift, detaching themselves from the rows of metal shelving. Manhattan Cafe stands in the darkness, her long, pitch-black hair blending into the gloom. Her golden eyes reflect the sterile glare of the computer monitors as she watches the entire ordeal unfold in absolute silence.She has always known what happens beneath the floorboards of this house. But Cafe is a creature of solitary observation, not a savior.