From a corner far removed from any human contact, locked away like a prisoner; no, like an experiment, victim of acts that humanity justifies through its own ignorance, the silence enveloping that place begins to shatter with whispers, someone is there, but we don't see them, someone speaks, but we don't hear them, someone calls for help, but there's no outstretched hand, only whispers… "Don't... abandon... me! They... don't deserve... your mercy..."

  The cold marble clung to my skin, the ringing in my ears drowning out the murmur of people. 'Save... me...' the raspy voice echoed in my mind, a reverberating sound that made me stagger, the echo of Gregorian chants distorting in my mind, transforming into a blood-chilling murmur. I found myself lost in a labyrinth of stone corridors, the walls oozing an icy dampness that seeped into my bones.

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  The smell of rancid incense mixed with a metallic stench, like old blood, and each step resonated with a hollow echo that made me feel tiny and insignificant. Suddenly, a heartrending scream tore through the silence, a scream that seemed to come from the depths of the earth, a lament that pierced my eardrums. I woke with a start, my heart pounding like a drum in my chest and my breath coming in gasps.

  Was it a dream or a nightmare? It left me with a feeling of oppression in my chest, as if an invisible hand was squeezing my throat. My name... my name is Laira Firefly, and this is how my story begins—the story of how I was responsible for setting in motion the end of humanity.