The smell of rust and blood mixed in the corridors of that gloomy place. The sounds of chains swayed with every movement of the guards, and the creak of iron doors announced a black fate awaiting whoever entered. After the guards dragged the girl with the rest of the children into the confinement room, they led the little boy down another dark path, toward a laboratory where no one knew what happened except those who entered and never returned.
One of the guards, pulling the boy by his slender arm, bent down slightly and said in a cold voice:
— "Don't try to escape, little one. Here everything ends… even hope."
Another guard laughed, a hollow, soulless laugh:
— "Don't worry, you'll be famous… just another number on their list of victims."
The boy did not understand all the words, but his heart told him that something terrible awaited behind that heavy metal door.
As soon as he entered the laboratory, the boy was struck by a scene he never expected. The hall was vast, lit by cold white lights that made everything seem nightmarish. Devices and pipes hung from the walls, and in every corner stood glass cages with other children inside. Their bodies were emaciated, their faces pale—some unconscious, some moaning with heart-breaking sounds. Men and women with hardened, cruel faces moved between the cages, their white coats stained with strange fluids.
The boy froze, his eyes trembling with fear. Behind him, in another transparent world, Elise observed the scene with wide eyes. Through her soul she could follow her brother after his small body left the hall where she remained. She screamed inside, but she couldn't intervene.
One of the scientists, a slender man with gray hair, looked at the boy and said coldly:
— "So this is one of the new lab rats?"
The commander, a huge man in a black military uniform, replied:
— "Yes. But this child will receive three times the usual dose."
The scientist turned sharply:
— "Are you insane, Captain? If you want him dead, kill him right away. Don't waste our time and resources!"
The commander answered sternly:
— "That's the deal. This is the only chance to save my sister. I won't bend the rules for one child."
The scientist blinked with a sharp look, then stared at the little boy standing silently behind the commander. His fingers trembled as he flipped through the file, hesitation flickering in his eyes, as if his heart resisted what his profession demanded. He finally spoke, in a less harsh tone, almost like an ultimatum:
— "Is that true, son?"
The boy slowly raised his head and replied in a small but steady voice:
— "Yes."
The scientist stepped closer, searching the child's face for any hesitation:
— "Son, you should know… you will die, a hundred percent. We conducted ten thousand experiments with one drug—only a hundred survived. Ten thousand with two drugs—only ten survived. A hundred thousand with three drugs… and not a single survivor."
Elise recoiled, her heart breaking with every word. She knew what her brother would choose, but wished he would refuse, run, say anything else.
The boy lifted his head again, locking eyes with the scientist:
— "I agree."
His words sounded like a voice breaking through walls, less concerned with death than with protecting his sister.
The scientist slowly shook his head:
— "Very well… come with me."
They led the boy to a huge metal table in the center of the laboratory. The scientist laid him down with unexpected tenderness, then whispered, as if offering one last chance:
— "This is the final moment, son. You can still withdraw."
The boy answered without hesitation:
— "Do it."
Three doctors stepped forward, each holding a syringe filled with thick black liquid that writhed as if alive. Elise immediately recognized it. She tried to move, tried to scream, but her transparent body refused to obey. Even when she shut her eyes, she could not escape what was happening.
The scientist gave the signal. Each doctor drove the needle into the boy's skin. The liquid crept inside him, his skin darkening, his face twisting as if melting. Despite the agony, the boy forced out broken words:
— "Uncle… what's your name?"
The scientist looked at him in surprise, and for a moment the man appeared behind the mask of science:
— "My name is Saeed."
The boy smiled despite the pain:
— "Beautiful name… may I ask one request?"
Saeed did not reply.
The boy's voice weakened:
— "Tell my sister… we are fine… and that I'll return when she grows up. Tell her to stay strong until then."
Saeed nodded slowly, his voice trembling, as though swearing beyond his power:
— "I will deliver the message… I promise."
Before he could say more, the entire laboratory shook. Pipes burst one after another, glass shattering like rain. The boy's body convulsed, the black liquid racing under his skin like a thousand snakes. His eyes blazed gold. A scream erupted—inhuman, torn between pain and fury. Black magic circles spread across the floor, the air burned, equipment melted like wax in fire. Guards retreated in terror as a dense black light radiated from the boy, as if a monster was being born inside him.
Elise trembled, frozen in horror. Her brother's body no longer looked human, but something else—something monstrous. His eyes locked onto hers, and a crooked smile split his disfigured face. His voice came distorted, deep, rattling like thunder:
— "You are the reason…"
Elise gasped, tears streaming as she whispered:
— "No… no… this is an illusion… not real…"
But his gaze pierced her like daggers, until the scene shattered and everything vanished.
Elise awoke, drenched in sweat, in her bed inside a cell. She drew a ragged breath, the first trembling word escaping her lips:
— "Brother…"
Outside the Matrix, Smith was still arguing with the Rune Master about when the head of the Rune Department would arrive. Voices rose, faces tightened. Among them, one man stood eerily calm—Adam. He didn't need to intervene. Everything was unfolding exactly as planned.
Talia, his maid, turned toward him, her voice trying to reassure his heart:
— "Of course, sir, they will be fine… don't worry about them, Adam."
But Adam paid no attention. His eyes wandered, his thoughts flowed with deadly coldness:
Well… all arrangements were completed without hindrance. At first, it was only a move to lure Leon into the secret room, where the Phantom Matrix awaits the true Matrix King. And now, with a royal figure revealed to everyone, psychological trauma becomes the key to the next stage. I only need to delay the discovery of the fake as long as possible…
A wild smile flashed on his lips as he whispered to himself:
— "So let's begin… the fire show."
But while pain gnawed at Elise's heart, while fate pressed upon Smith in the Matrix, and while Adam wove his cold threads in the shadows… somewhere else, far away, another calamity was taking shape.
In the heart of Ivahnart, life was calm. Residential, commercial, and government towers. Singing parks. Children running. Merchants haggling. Women chatting. A perfectly normal day—until horror struck.
A massive earthquake hit, as if a mythical monster awoke from slumber. The ground heaved, walls cracked, then came the shockwave—an energy blast hurling people into the air like rag dolls. Screams echoed as glass shattered, bodies slammed onto stone streets. In moments, the city turned into chaos of dust and blood.
At the source of the blast, the sight was even more terrifying—the Ivahnart family mansion.
The colossal palace, long a symbol of power and grandeur, stood comparable in size to a mountain. But now, half of it was gone. The entire right wing had vanished, replaced by a yawning black hole from which flaming debris hung and thick smoke rose into the sky.
A city dweller fell to his knees, horror in his eyes, muttering in disbelief:
— "What… what the hell just happened? How could this be real?"
The city once deemed safest under Ivahnart's protection had, in an instant, turned into a disaster zone. And soon, the whole world would know that something beyond imagination had begun.