OBEDIENCE

Serene stopped fighting.

Not with screams. Not with pleas.

She simply stopped being herself.

She no longer flinched when Roman touched her waist in the hallway. No longer stepped back when Lelo slid her hand into hers and called her mama. No longer hesitated when the maids pulled out her chair or fetched her slippers.

She became soft. Quiet.

She became what they wanted to see.

And it made Roman smile.

> "She's adjusting," he told himself in the mirror one night, fixing his cufflinks. "She's becoming one of us."

---

He still came to her room. Still whispered things into her neck as he pressed into her body. But now, she didn't look away. Didn't cry. Didn't resist.

That was worse.

He missed the fear. Missed the tension.

This… this silence felt hollow.

> "Are you happy now?" he asked her once.

She didn't reply. Just turned her face to the wall.

And he kept going.

---

At breakfast, Lelo fed her fruits. Wiped her lips. Rested her head on Serene's lap while Roman watched with a strange hunger in his eyes.

> "You belong here," he said.

Serene smiled.

And then stared blankly out the window.

---

At school, she said little. Sat in the back. Stopped answering her roommate's questions. She ate less. Slept more. Faked everything.

But each morning, before stepping out of the tram, she still took the pill.

The one thing they hadn't stolen.

Yet.

---