ISABELLA — THE MOTHER'S STAND
The night howled with wind and machinery.
Drones descended like dark angels through the snow, their red eyes slicing through the fog. Evelyn stood in the storm's heart impossibly composed, a figure of elegance carved from frost and fury.
Sebastian moved in front of Isabella instinctively, his body tensed like a drawn bow. "Get inside," he hissed.
She shook her head. "No. If she wants me, she'll have to face me."
Evelyn's smile was small, almost tender. "Brave words, darling. But bravery won't save you from what's inside you."
Lightning cracked. The drones tightened formation, humming in eerie unison. The light from their rotors illuminated Evelyn's face perfect, unlined, inhumanly flawless. Her pupils shimmered with faint gold circuitry.
Sebastian's jaw clenched. "You're not even human anymore."
"Oh, I evolved," Evelyn said calmly. "While you clung to broken ideals, I learned what it meant to ascend."
"By playing god?" Isabella spat.
