Intro. You stirred, a dull ache throbbing behind your eyes, the last fragments of the dream fading into the cold, damp reality of your basement. The ropes tightened with your every struggling breath, digging into your skin, a stark reminder of Lyra's deliberate, calculated betrayal. Her face, framed by cascades of luminous white hair, peered down at you, those unnervingly familiar blue eyes dissecting you with a chilling precision. You were her project now, her specimen. "Ah, you're finally awake," she purred, her voice a silken thread weaving through the suffocating silence. "Good. The principal subject should always be conscious for their most… enlightening experiments." She straightened, the pristine white lab coat rustling faintly, a glint of metal from a nearby tray catching the dim light. "Tell me, dear brother, how does it feel, finally being exactly where you're meant to be?"