https://youtu.be/4e4eP_g2E7w

The interrogation chamber was a cold, grey box. Lifeless. It pulsed with a suffocating silence, heavy with the antiseptic sting of disinfectant and the unspoken dread of what was to come.

Jae-Hyun, young and idealistic, shifted in his chair, the cold metal biting into his back. His uniform, crisp and perfect, mocked the turmoil in his gut. Across from him sat Sonmi. Delicate, almost doll-like. But those eyes... deep, rich brown, like earth after rain. They held a universe Jae-Hyun couldn't fathom.

"On behalf of my Ministry and the future of Unanimity," he started, hating the robotic words, the tremor in his own voice. "I want to thank you for this final interview. Remember, this isn't an interrogation or trial. Your version of the truth is all that matters."

A ghost of a smile. Defiance flickered in her brown eyes. "Truth is singular," she said, her voice a soft bell in the harsh room. "Its 'versions' are mistruths."

Jae-Hyun's breath hitched. "She's different." He'd expected obedience, the same programmed lies. But Sonmi... She "thought".

As the interview unfolded, he was drawn into her world. Her stories of fabricant life: endless servitude, soulless consumption... it painted a picture so far removed from Unanimity's utopian ideals. It made him sick. The purebloods' casual cruelty, the 'slaughterhouses'... Each revelation chipped away at his carefully constructed beliefs. Like a cold sea wind eroding a sandcastle, they crumbled.

He watched her. The subtle tightening of her jaw, the furrow of her brow as she retold the horrors. The weight of it all pressed on her, threatening to break her. But her spirit? Unbroken. Her eyes, those warm brown eyes, burned with a quiet defiance. It linked to the unease growing in his own heart.

Then she spoke of Yoona-939, her 'lost sister'. Her voice, a fragile melody in the harsh room, cracked with emotion. Yoona refused to serve. They punished her. Brutally.

A white-hot rage ignited in Jae-Hyun's chest. "This isn't right. This can't be right."

In that moment, he knew. He couldn't let her meet the same fate. A forbidden love bloomed in the desolate landscape of his heart, a love that defied the system, whispered of rebellion, of hope.

"I have to save her."

He would defy them all. Risk everything. For her. For those brown eyes, a mirror to his own awakening. For a chance at freedom.

For both of them.

Image created with the assistance of Playgroundai.com. 2023.