(Narrator : Lucas) [Intro] The city was still applauding somewhere below the glass. I had taken off the jacket. The smile. The posture they taught me. Vera stood by the window, reading the numbers our happiness had produced. “Good night,” she said. As if we had been somewhere together. [Verse 1] Helena introduced us like an accident. Vera Cross. Brilliant. Beautiful. Already three moves ahead of everyone in the room. I thought she chose me. Tonight she explained why the Council changed its vote. Too slowly. Small words. Soft voice. A hand against my shoulder at exactly the right moment. She said the decision had always been mine. I knew it hadn't. And while she kept talking, I understood something worse: she didn't think she needed a better lie. [Pre-Chorus] Later, in the dark, her mouth found mine. Her hands knew where to go. My body answered. That was the cruel part. For a few minutes we could almost pretend that wanting a body meant wanting the person inside it. Then she turned away. And I wondered which one of us she had touched— Lucas, or the Chosen. [Chorus] They put a mask on me and called it a face. Thousands know my name. Thousands raise their hands. I sleep beside a woman who can lie without blinking because she thinks I won't understand. Chosen by everyone. Known by no one. I wore their crown until I couldn't tell what was underneath. [Verse 2] Rex was waiting beside the bed. No Council brief. No cameras. No careful praise. I sat on the floor. He came closer before I called him. Put his head against my knee. I touched the fur behind his ears. He didn't know what Helena wanted. Didn't know what Vera had been promised. Didn't know whether I was useful. He only knew something was wrong. And stayed. [Chorus] They put a mask on me and called it a face. Thousands know my name. One creature knows me. No speeches. No strategy. No sacred title whispered into my skin. Chosen by everyone. Known by no one. Except the animal who never needed me to be chosen at all. [Bridge] I thought becoming the Chosen meant I had finally become someone. Look at me now. The apartment isn't mine. The clothes aren't mine. The schedule isn't mine. Even the woman in my bed arrived through someone else's door. And every time she lied, I helped her— by pretending I hadn't noticed. Maybe that was the last thing they still owned: my willingness to look stupid so everyone else could stay comfortable. Not anymore. [Final Chorus] Keep the mask. Keep the cameras. Keep the rooms where intelligent people explain my own life to me. Tomorrow I'll smile if I have to. I'll stand where they place me. Let Vera believe I still believe her. Let Helena believe the Chosen is under control. Thousands know my face. Rex knows when I'm lying. Tonight, that's enough. [Outro] Vera was sleeping. Or pretending to. The city burned quietly behind the glass. On the table lay the symbol they gave me when they gave me everything. Rex looked at it. Then at me. I put my hand on his head. For the first time since they chose me, I didn't feel chosen. I felt angry. And somewhere beneath the mask, Lucas opened his eyes.
