Adam stood quietly, one hand resting on the cold, rusted handrail. The air was heavy. The silence of the north sector was absolute—no machines, no hissing gas, not even the hum of broken pipes. Just stillness.
He looked down into the void below.
Why does reaching the top matter so much? he thought, lips pressed tight behind his mask. What made us think it would solve anything?
But they were already seven-tenths of the way there. Too far to turn back. No hallway home.
Pulling the gas mask tighter against his face, he glanced at the corpse by the wall. One of many.
---
A few days passed.
The facility had turned grim, its signal gone silent. No more interference, no contact from the outside. They'd finally accepted the truth: the settlement had left them behind.
Mutze's death had been instant. No one was prepared for it.
Adam worked quietly on Yoku's hand. It still didn't function properly, but it could at least clamp and open—a small victory in a world full of loss.
Yoku looked up. "We should go," he said, voice low but firm. "I'm grateful they let us rest here… but…"
He touched his face, shaking his head. "They've been taking our supplies. If we stay, we'll starve."
This wasn't a suggestion. It was a decision.
"Yeah," Adam replied. "We leave today."
Yoku's eyes lit up slightly. "I'll prepare the Kettenkrad." He stood and walked away.
Adam wandered the halls, feeling strangely human—and utterly powerless. There was nothing he could do.
> [There is nothing you can do, Adam.]
The old man sat alone at a table, sipping cold coffee. "Leaving?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
Adam faced him. "Are you going to stop us?"
The man didn't meet his eyes. "What makes you think I could? I'm too afraid… just like back then. And now, I regret it all."
His hands trembled. Wrinkled, brittle. He looked like death in a chair.
"Kid, there are always two lines," the old man said. "Don't be too selfish… and don't be too selfless."
Adam frowned. What did that mean?
He walked away without asking.
In another hallway, Mino coughed violently. She wasn't the type to get sick. Adam paused, concerned.
Kineki looked up. "So, we're leaving already? That was fast."
Adam smirked faintly, teasing. "Don't want to leave because it's fun here?"
"Well… yeah. But we should take their stuff, just in case."
"That's wrong."
"They'll manage."
Adam sighed. Does this kid even understand what morality is?
"What if they took something from us?" Adam asked.
"I'd hate it. Better to take first."
Never mind, Adam thought. This one's not going to learn.
---
Hours later, Yoku packed the last of their things—only to discover half the food and water were missing.
He ran a hand across his forehead. "Dammit. Who did this?"
Rehan... I need your help again.
> [Sigh. Adam, I'm as clueless as you. I'm not some being. I can't see what I don't know.]
Right.
Adam walked to the Kettenkrad. Everything had been packed back perfectly—too perfectly.
"So, are we going?" Yoku asked.
"Not with this damn problem," Adam replied.
He gathered everyone in the meeting room one last time.
"As you know," Adam said, "half our food and water are gone."
The green-haired girl narrowed her eyes. "And you think we took it?"
"Yes," he answered simply.
She sighed. "Take our supplies if you want. We'll figure something out."
Adam studied her. She looked away. She doesn't know what happened either.
Riko, the older man, spoke nervously. "You guys are experienced. You'll survive out there. But we… we can't."
Suspicion crept in.
[50% chance,] Rehan whispered in his head.
Mya suddenly looked down. "She hasn't left her room in days…"
Yoku stepped forward. "Just give our supplies back. That's all we ask."
"Don't accuse us!" the green-haired girl shouted, stomping her foot.
The middle-aged man chuckled. "Maybe you just… ate it all."
Adam hated that smile. The kind that grinned while lying.
He remembered Yoku's meticulous planning: the staying rations and the leaving rations were separate. This was no accident.
He stood up.
"Fine. We're leaving."
"But, Adam—" Yuri started.
"We don't know anything for sure," Adam said, smiling bitterly. "Maybe we did eat it all."
The man who smiled simply looked down. "Thank you."
---
They drove away from the facility, gas masks on, silence thick.
Kineki was still confused. "Why didn't you take it back by force? You could have. I saw you."
"Yeah… I don't know why I didn't," Adam muttered. Clinging to his humanity. Or what's left of it.
Yoku leaned forward. "Should we really keep going? Maybe there's another way… a better way."
"We're close," Adam said. "So close."... sigh what would i even do if i stop?...
A gas pipe suddenly burst beside him, blowing hot air across his face.
He coughed, wiping gas from his clothes.
"I hate this place," hahh, he muttered. "Let's go."
And they left the industrial ruins of the stratum behind.