[img]https://i.postimg.cc/vHTctnnw/BG.png[/img]
[hr][hr][center][h1]Panorama Part 2 of 2[/h1][/center]
[indent] Selene lifted her chin. 

“[color=fff79a]Such as?[/color]” she challenged, her voice carefully controlled to hide the unease coiling in her stomach. She braced herself for the inevitable list of transgressions, knowing her movements hadn’t gone entirely unnoticed, even if she’d hoped otherwise. 

Corvina’s response was completely factual. “[color=a0b5d1]You’ve visited the Grey Market far more often than you’d likely confess. You regularly spend time with smugglers, dealers selling illegal body modifications, and engineers who work outside the law. You’ve traded information off the official networks, found ways around council security posts, and, most recently, accepted a sealed, heavily shielded container from Krell.[/color]” She paused, letting the weight of each point settle. All the while, Selene remained silent, her face carefully blank. This surveillance wasn’t unexpected; they hadn’t needed Roach just to watch her. A small, defiant part of her clung to the certainty that she was safe with him, regardless of her mother’s obvious disapproval of the man. Still, knowing she was monitored occasionally was one thing, but the sheer detail of what they had on her still felt invasive and shocking. 

Her surprise, however, was impossible to fully mask when her mother continued.

“[color=a0b5d1]That container was marked with a hidden tracker long before it ever reached your hands.[/color]” Corvina’s eyes held hers. “[color=a0b5d1]Not by our people. By another party entirely. We only began following its signal once it reappeared in the Grey Market.[/color]” 

She allowed a pause, letting the implications sink in. 

“[color=a0b5d1]You’re not facing consequences for possessing it. Not yet, at least.[/color]” Corvina’s tone shifted, becoming almost thoughtful, which was somehow more unsettling than anger. “[color=a0b5d1]I simply found it…noteworthy that out of every smuggler Krell employs, the request to deliver it was specifically directed to you.[/color]” Her gaze focused intently on Selene. “[color=a0b5d1]It seems almost as though someone anticipated you would accept it. That you would choose to hold onto it, even knowing the risk.[/color]” 

The accusation was clear: she’d been played, predicted. But for what purpose, Selene couldn’t say. Neither could her mother, she realized then. 

“[color=fff79a]You don’t know what’s inside it, do you?[/color]” Selene countered quickly, grasping for control of the narrative, needing to deflect the idea that her actions were foreseen.

Corvina tilted her head, a minuscule movement that conveyed a cool assessment. “[color=a0b5d1]No,[/color]” she conceded smoothly, “[color=a0b5d1]but our analysts have confirmed it’s protected against standard scans designed to identify biological or chemical contents. I also know you haven’t passed it on to anyone else, and that it remains in that shoebox you call an apartment, unopened. Though I suspect that’s not for lack of effort on your part.[/color]” 

Selene swallowed hard, her mouth abruptly parched. Her mother seemed to know every move she’d made. 

“[color=a0b5d1]Regardless…I don’t require knowledge of the container’s contents,[/color]” Corvina stated. “[color=a0b5d1]I only needed to observe what you would choose to do once it was in your possession.[/color]”

“[color=fff79a]Is that why I’m here?[/color]”

Corvina studied her daughter, the faintest crease forming between her brows, so subtle that anyone else might’ve missed it. But Selene knew better. That was as close to hesitation as her mother allowed herself to show.

“[color=a0b5d1]You’re here,[/color]” Corvina finally declared, her voice regaining its absolute steadiness, “[color=a0b5d1]because it is no longer secure for you to remain elsewhere. With Vexler’s trial and your stubborn determination to keep him involved in your life, you’ve stepped onto a playing field whose rules and players you don’t comprehend. I refuse to let you become unintended damage in a conflict your pride prevents you from even recognizing exists.[/color]” 

The statement was final, seemingly leaving no room for argument. Selene was here for her own protection, whether she wanted it or not. Her shoulders slumped, and she looked at her feet, conflicted. 

However, as if having read her mind, Corvina grimaced. “[color=a0b5d1]You can leave whenever you like. I won’t stop you. But if you stay, I’ll know where you are, and more importantly, so will everyone else watching you. No one will try anything under this roof. For now, that’s a better guarantee than what Mr. Vexler, being free as he is now, can offer.[/color]” 

Selene’s head jerked up, her eyes wide and instantly alert, locking onto her mother’s face. 

“[color=fff79a]Wait, he’s [i]out[/i]?[/color]” She hadn't meant to sound so hopeful, but the news was utterly unexpected. Because Roach was free. After everything? The implications raced through her mind, a chaotic mix of elation and renewed anxiety for him. She searched Corvina’s impassive features, desperate for confirmation, her earlier sense of defeat momentarily forgotten in the wake of this revelation.

Corvina gave a small nod. “[color=a0b5d1]That he is. I was informed about it not too long ago.[/color]”

The information, delivered so casually, had an immediate, physical effect on Selene. Despite the vast, tiered expanse of the penthouse living area, the walls seemed to contract around her, pressing in with suffocating force. Her gaze darted towards the nearest wall, not a real window but the shimmering holographic panel displaying its endless, fake mountain sunrise. The serene, artificial light bled softly against the dark, matte panels, a constant, beautiful lie. Every inch of this view was manufactured, and now Roach was out there, somewhere in the real, grimy, dangerous world. He was probably battered, sore, and cursing the system with every other breath, just like always. But crucially, he wasn't trapped. He wasn't boxed inside a place he despised anymore. 

And yet, Selene found her feet rooted to the spot. She didn’t bolt for the lift, even though the knowledge of Roach’s freedom pulsed like a beacon in her mind. Instead, her eyes tracked her mother as Corvina turned with her usual controlled grace, moving towards the large system console embedded in the far wall. Corvina paused halfway, her own gaze lifting to rest on the slowly scrolling holographic mountain range. Her voice, when she spoke again, was softer, almost distant.

“[color=a0b5d1]You used to sketch that specific mountain range constantly when you were very young,[/color]” she murmured, the observation seeming to drift out of nowhere. “[color=a0b5d1]Do you recall? I commissioned this exact simulation because seeing it seemed to help you fall asleep.[/color]” Corvina’s head tilted slightly, still observing the false peaks. “[color=a0b5d1]You truly believed it signified something tangible, a real place you might one day experience. You talked about climbing those mountains.[/color]”

Selene didn’t answer. She couldn’t. Her throat felt strangled by too many feelings she hadn’t prepared to carry into this room. 

She had no memory of drawing that range. Maybe she had. Maybe the memory was real, or maybe it was just another piece of the myth her mother built around her: Selene the prodigy, Selene the daughter with a destiny. Selene, who used to dream of peaks she probably thought one day reachable. 

Her arms folded tightly across her chest. “[color=fff79a]Well, I don’t sleep much these days.[/color]”

Corvina didn’t turn to face her. Her gaze remained fixed forward, perhaps still on the mountains, perhaps already focused on the console ahead. Her next words were practical, dismissing the fragile moment of shared history as if it hadn’t happened despite having brought it up. 

“[color=a0b5d1]Regardless,[/color]” she stated, her tone reverting to its usual composed neutrality, “[color=a0b5d1]you remember the layout. Where things are.[/color]” She paused, then delivered her final line with chilling simplicity: 

“[color=a0b5d1]Nothing’s really changed since you left.[/color]”
[/indent]