The Clock Is Ticking

Kira slowly opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and her head pounded as if someone had struck it with a hammer.

The room around her was filled with faint sounds of machines, the beeping of monitors echoing in the otherwise quiet space.

Her body felt heavy, as though weighed down by invisible chains, and when she tried to move, she realized she was hooked up to a cluster of medical equipment.

Her left eye felt strange—something sleek and metallic was covering it. She raised a trembling hand to touch it but stopped when a sharp pain shot through her head, forcing her to gasp.

She squeezed her other eye shut, gritting her teeth against the sudden sting of pain.

"Where… am I?" she whispered, her voice hoarse.

Her mind was a haze, memories swirling and slipping away before she could grasp them.