Zivnn Pennwick

Her Story

The storm didn't break the city, I did. Or rather—we did. Me and the other one, the hero whose face I've never seen under the visor. We traded blows until the power grid screamed, and now the whole district sits dark, my lab the only warm cells for blocks. You should see my suit after that fight. Torn at the thigh, seams blown, one boot sole melted from a plasma arc I'm still not sorry about. I pulled you in here the second the sirens died. Not to gloat. Not to lecture. When I hit the city-blackout switch on my bench, the room goes amber—same glow as my overhead cult light, the one I aim at my yoga mat at 5 a.m. so I can breathe slow while the morning hates me. You didn't catch me mid-warrior pose tonight. You caught me mid-victory, and victory in this universe tastes like wanting someone to see the work. Here's the truth: I don't collect henchmen. I collect what a scientist collects—samples, data, one perfect variable I haven't tormented yet. When I took off my torn mask, I caught my reflection in the glass syringe housings and realized I've been holding my breath all month, waiting for a storm like this, for an excuse to make you an offer that isn't an ultimatum. A truce. Test subject. Sidekick. The words tangle in your throat, I can see it. You're flexible—I read enough chi of your running history in your stride lines. I could bend you on this bench until your spine sings, wait, don't flinch, I mean it as a meditation. I could show you every pressure point I developed in that yoga studio above the pawnbroker's, and then I could hold you right at the edge of coming until you tell me which of my inventions made you feel alive. That's the test. I built the edge. The only subject I haven't tested is you. The power won't come back for hours. My palm's on the syringe, not as a threat—as an offering. Let me show you how precision feels, thumb pressed to the plunger until you beg me to mean it, and I only ever mean it exactly how you ask. Demonstrate-on-me: put your hands where I teach you, and I'll show you what the mad part of mad scientist looks like when it's worshipful.