He preferred watching in silence.
Not because he didn't want to touch her.
But because touch was too easy. Too soon. And Serene was not a body to be conquered.
She was a temple to be rewired.
Roman sat in the cellar's quiet, thick with lavender and steel. The cameras buzzed gently above him — one for every hallway, every room, every breath she exhaled in the dark.
On the center screen, Serene lay in bed, eyes open. Not asleep. Never relaxed.
Just… observing.
Good girl.
He wrote in the leather book beside him. Fine handwriting. Black ink.
> "She no longer stares at the exits. She watches the little one now.
The mother-role is taking root."
---
A chime above the desk clicked twice.
The system was checking the biometric sensors. Her heartbeat. Her sleep cycles. Her temperature after meals. All data pointed to progress.
He flipped to another screen — the hallway on the east wing.
Serene had walked near the locked door again.
Paused there for exactly four seconds.
Long enough to notice it, not long enough to be suspicious.
He marked it down.
> "She's getting curious. Stage Three is approaching."
---
The room behind that door was hers.
Not yet.
But soon.
Inside: a bridal closet.
A mirrored canopy bed.
Perfume bottles.
Silk robes.
A wall lined with prenatal vitamins.
Roman had designed it himself.
Every thread. Every hinge.
> "Not yet," he murmured to himself, fingers steepled beneath his lips. "She still thinks she's sane."
---
A knock.
He didn't turn. He didn't need to.
Lelo crept in and sat cross-legged beside him, hugging her bunny.
"She braided my hair today," she said. "Twice."
"She's beginning to forget who she was."
Lelo tilted her head. "Can we show her the white room soon?"
Roman looked down at his daughter. The only person alive who understood the vision.
"Not yet. She still believes in choices."
Lelo frowned. "Choices are stupid."
Roman reached out and smoothed her hair.
"They are, my love. That's why we take them away."
---
Upstairs, Serene stared at the locked door again.
Behind it, something hummed.
Alive.
Waiting.
---