Harley Sawyer stormed into the observation deck, his coat swishing behind him in sharp, agitated movements.

He reeked of irritation, his lips pulled into a thin, unimpressed line as he loosened the collar of his black button-down, rolling up his sleeves with practiced ease.

His usually sharp, calculating eyes carried the weight of exhaustion, subtle shadows framing them-but even fatigue couldn't dull the intensity of his presence.

Despite his disheveled state, he still looked infuriatingly composed. Handsome, even. The kind of effortlessly magnetic man whose irritation only made him more striking, more dangerous.

His dark hair was slightly tousled, hints of sweat at his temples betraying the chaos he had just finished dealing with.

He exhaled through his nose, dragging a gloved hand down his face before fixing his gaze on the glass chamber ahead.

His jaw clenched.

That thing had been toying with them again.

Testing them.

"The bastard learned to disassemble a clock." His voice was even, but the underlying irritation was impossible to miss. "Turned it into a makeshift laser and knocked out the cameras for a second. Just long enough to trick a fool into thinking he escaped."

Yazmina's brow arched slightly, though she said nothing.

Leith, ever the professional, remained unfazed as he tapped his fingers against the armrest of his chair. "And?"

"And," Harley drawled, eyes darkening, "the idiot went inside. And now we need a new idiot to replace him."

Silence settled between them, punctuated only by the quiet hum of machinery surrounding them.

Leith sighed. "So it's learning."

Harley let out a bitter chuckle, rolling his shoulders to work out the tension. "Of course it is. It's always learning. We shot it with enough tranquilizers to put down an elephant-multiple times-just to get it back inside before the lockdown was sealed."

He finally turned, rubbing the bridge of his nose before freezing mid-motion.

Because that was when he noticed her.

His sharp gaze landed on Yazmina for the first time since entering, as if only now registering her presence beside Leith. His tired, irritated expression flickered into something unreadable for a brief second before he straightened, his exhaustion masked beneath that signature cold arrogance.

"Well," he mused, voice dipping into something smoother, silkier, as he let his eyes linger on her. "I didn't realize we had company."

She stood beside Leith Pierre, her presence effortlessly commanding despite the quiet restraint in her posture. Arms loosely crossed, she exuded an air of unshaken confidence-an enigma wrapped in cool detachment.

The soft glow from the monitors caught on her features, accentuating the sharp symmetry of her face. High cheekbones, full lips set in their usual unreadable line, and dark eyes that held an intensity too piercing to ignore.

A cascade of silver hair framed her face, sleek and perfect, not a strand out of place, as if even the chaos of Playtime Co. had yet to touch her.

And yet, the flicker of curiosity behind her gaze betrayed something deeper.

Even in stillness, Yazmina Fleur De la Vega was a force.

A presence that could not be ignored.

And Harley had just noticed her.

Harley's brows lifted slightly before his exhaustion smoothed the reaction away.

He cast a quick glance at Pierre, who remained seated, his fingers steepled in front of him, his ever-present smirk curling at the edges of his lips.

His gaze flicked back to Yazmina. "Didn't expect to see you here."

She tilted her head slightly, meeting his eyes without hesitation. "Neither did I."

Harley let out a slow exhale, dragging a hand through his hair before shifting his attention to the darkened chamber before them.

Harley's gaze remained locked on the darkened chamber, sharp and unreadable. The tranquilizers had done their job, forcing it into temporary dormancy. But Harley knew better than to let his guard down.

It wasn't just resting.

It was thinking.

Calculating.

Waiting.

His jaw tightened. The damn thing had nearly escaped. Again. The memory of the disassembled clock, the brief flicker of camera failure, and the bloodstained floor where the fool monitoring it had stood-all of it played in his mind like a puzzle he had already solved.

Harley knew what he had created.

Something far beyond the expectations of Playtime Co. Beyond anything humanity had ever dared to conceive.

A mind sharp enough to rival artificial intelligence. A being whose intelligence wasn't programmed, but evolved.

And despite the chaos, despite the exhaustion clawing at his bones-

He was proud of it.

Harley exhaled, his smirk barely visible as he dragged a hand through his tousled hair. He had spent years perfecting the Prototype. Years refining every function, every adaptation. And now, even tranquilized and slumped against the chamber wall, it was still thinking.

Still learning.

Despite the headache it had caused him, despite the exhaustion weighing on his shoulders, a smirk ghosted his lips.

Brilliant bastard.

Harley didn't create failures.

The more it shows its unremarkable skills, the more he learns from it.

"Quite the mess it made this time," Leith mused beside him, his voice light, almost amused.

Harley scoffed, rolling his shoulders back. "Understatement of the year." He cast a glance at Leith, only to find his attention elsewhere. Not on the Prototype.

On Yazmina.

She hadn't said a word. Hadn't even reacted to his presence. Just stood there, still as ever, her focus locked onto the thing behind the glass.

Harley let his gaze trail over her, taking in the seamless elegance of her stance. The dim light cast a soft glow against her skin, highlighting the sharp lines of her features-the kind of beauty that didn't beg for attention, but demanded it anyway. Dark eyes unwavering, lips set in quiet contemplation.

He knew that look.

Not admiration.

Not fear.

Something else.

She's studying it.

Yazmina wasn't just here to observe.

She was here to understand.

Harley crossed his arms. "And? What do you think?"

Finally, she turned her head, meeting his gaze.

Her expression remained unreadable, but there was something almost amused in the way she regarded him. "You should invest in better security."

Leith chuckled.

Harley's smirk returned, slow and sharp. "Noted."

He leaned back slightly, exhaling through his nose. The tension in his body was still there, coiled beneath the surface, but Yazmina's presence-her unwavering calm-was a welcome contrast to the frustration gnawing at him.

She wasn't rattled.

Not by the Prototype.

Not by the near escape.

Not by him.

And damn if that didn't make her more interesting.

----

On the other hand, the Prototype had been motionless since they arrived, its towering form slumped against the farthest wall, its limbs heavy with sedation. And yet-

Yazmina felt it.

A presence.

A weight pressing against her senses.

It was looking at her.

She couldn't see its full face, couldn't even make out its eyes in the dim lighting, but that didn't matter. The sensation was undeniable.

A silent, unreadable force pulling at the edges of her awareness.

Yazmina didn't look away.

Didn't blink.

The glass was meant to be one-way. The Prototype shouldn't have been able to see past its reflection, past the distorted glow of the observation deck-

And yet, it was.

Watching her.