The blue-purple light with the endless black hole from the portal finally disappeared completely, leaving only faint energy ripples hanging in the air like the remnants of a dimensional battle. The pungent aroma of ozone filled the room, like the smell of rain on scorched metal, but thicker and more piercing.
The cold and silent walls of the underground laboratory, like a tomb, now reflected the last flashes of Helix's technology that slowly faded. The metallic floor beneath me was so cold that it seemed to suck away the remaining heat from my body.
I was still pressing my stomach, wincing in pain from the brutal punch of the masked man earlier. One side of my chest felt cracked, but that wasn't what made my breathing tight. Silence. Not a single sound. No alarms, no commands from the commander. Only the hum of the cooling system far down the underground corridor, like the whisper of an old machine that knew too much.
Everyone in the room - the soldiers, technicians, high-ranking members of the order, field scientists - they all just stood there, silent. Staring at me. Their gazes were sharp, sharp with something that couldn't be explained: distrust, disgust, curiosity, and fear. Not one of them reached out a hand. No one spoke. I was alone.
I swallowed, trying to swallow the bitter taste in my throat. Slowly, I stood up, supporting myself on my knees and palms. My breathing was heavy. My vision was blurry, but I kept my eyes open. And the first thing I saw was Alexandria. She stepped closer. Her steps were calm - too calm for someone who had just witnessed dimensional chaos and betrayal that almost cost a life. But her eyes... weren't like usual. Not the gaze of a soldier, nor the cold glint that I saw when we first met.
Her eyes now... were full of regret. Heavy. So heavy that I felt suffocated just by looking at her. Alexandria stopped in front of me. She looked at me for a long time, silent, before finally opening her mouth.
"I'm... sorry," she said softly.
Her voice sounded fragile, like something that had been buried for a long time but finally cracked under pressure.
I froze. Those were the words I wanted to hear... since the day everything fell apart. But when those words actually came out of her lips, they sounded... hollow. Cracked. Too late.
"Is it useful now?" I muttered softly, almost inaudible. But I knew the whole room heard it. Because there was no other sound, just the two of us. And the thick tension like an invisible fog, pressing on my chest harder than the masked man's punch.
Alexandria took a deep breath. Her body looked sturdy, but her shoulders sagged like a burden that was never shared. She began to explain in more detail. Her voice trembled slightly.
"I know you must be deeply hurt. Please listen to my explanation. Back then, I was on a covert mission. I was still a member of Valkyrie, under Helix Corporation Industries. But I knew the Overseer was hiding something. An illegal project. Human experimentation. I infiltrated to gather evidence. But when I tried to escape...-"
She stopped. Her gaze fell to the floor, as if her own words were a burden weighing down her soul.
"I fell and happened to land right on top of you. I knew it wasn't a coincidence that could be forgiven, but I had no choice in such a desperate situation. When I realized you saw me, I... thought I could erase your memories. But instead... you helped me, which impressed me. To me, you were a figure with strong courage, considering you're just an ordinary human. One thing I didn't expect was that this incident would drag you into all of this."
The room fell silent again. One of the female soldiers with a large bust and the 'Ordo Anti-Solaris' emblem on her chest armor turned to her friend, whispered, and then let out a small laugh. The tone of that laughter was cold and condescending. Not towards Alexandria, but towards me.
I could feel their gazes. They saw me as an ordinary human. In their eyes, I could only whine and ask for help. A subject that had escaped. A good product that happened to walk and talk. But to me, this was human. Disappointment. Feelings of betrayal, disappointment, and hurt. The desire to know why the world treated me like a weak ordinary human.
Alexandria continued. Her voice was deeper now. "I joined Anti-Solaris because of my father. He was a former chief scientist at Helix, but he left after seeing their corruption. He knew about the Scourge. He knew the MANTARA project wasn't just about strengthening the body. But a masked torture of progress. Of course, as a daughter, I had the same perspective." Her hand clenched. Her jaw tensed. Her eyes were empty but began to show emotion. The inner wound was starting to show clearly behind the military mask.
"As a child too, I wanted to be recognized by him. I thought that if I defected, destroyed Helix from within, he would see me. Not as a tool, but as his daughter. I just wanted to be valued and proud of by my own father."
Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps was heard. One by one, heads turned towards the sound. The aura of someone who didn't need an introduction. A tall man stepped in with a calm yet piercing rhythm, wearing a black robe with golden ornaments on the shoulders and collar. His hair was faded silver, his eyes hidden behind flat glass glasses with black frames. In his right hand, a metal cane that emitted a faint blue energy pulse.
"I think there's been too much talking. I'm sure you won't be interested in hearing the rest. This personal drama is enough," he said flatly.
His voice was deep, heavy, and calm. But there was something in his intonation - a cold pressure, like a vacuum that rejected life. I looked down when his gaze fell on me. My breath was caught because of the intimidating aura.
"My name is Alfarr Gold IX. The main commander of the experimental sector of Anti-Solaris. You can call me Mr. Owl. And you," he raised his finger, pointing directly at me, "are the center of all this."
I slowly looked up. "What do you mean?"
Mr. Owl looked at me like a doctor examining a rare object behind glass lab. Sharp and meticulous with a meaning that was too hard for me to digest.
"The Ichor force in your body. It's not just experimental residue. It's an initial form of compatibility with Augmented Core Resonance. Your body has accepted an etheric force infusion that should have destroyed an ordinary human. But you... survived."
I couldn't breathe.
"That means one thing, that you, not just a subject, are the true candidate."
Silence. Oppressive. Everyone who heard those words knew this wasn't just data. This was a confession. I wasn't just a survivor... I was the center of it all.
"The MANTARA project was just the outer shell," Alfarr or Mr. Owl continued. "The core was to find the first Ichor-Bearing Entity that could stabilize Scourge energy and utilize it. And you have exceeded your biological statistics."
I felt the world shaking. Not literally. But inside me, it was as if everything was collapsing. And being rebuilt.
"Starting tonight," Mr. Owl said, "you will be taken to a special training facility from Helix. There, you will begin forming a control structure over your power. To train or confine the entity that now resides within you."
I looked ahead, but my mind was far away. I realized I had no choice. But for the first time, I didn't refuse. I wanted to know. I wanted to control this power... not for them, but for myself. For a future that I could no longer entrust to anyone.
Alfarr or Mr. Owl turned to Alexandria. His tone was sharper than before. "You're coming with us. Since you brought him this far, you'll oversee his training process. Until the end point or his death."
Alexandria bowed deeply, her face tense. "Understood, Commander."
One by one, the soldiers began to rise. Some nodded respectfully to Mr. Owl, but none of them looked at me like a colleague. They saw me as something that needed to be watched, controlled, or destroyed if I failed. I knew this path wouldn't be easy. But for the first time, I didn't want to run. I wanted to know who I really was. And if the world wanted to reject my existence, then I would survive.
As the room slowly emptied, only the hum of the neon lights remained. Alexandria remained standing, leaning against the wall, not speaking. But I could sense her unease in her silence. My hand trembled. Not out of fear. But because of too many things I was bottling up, anger, disappointment, doubt, and determination.
Subject of Project MANTARA. The most important subject kept echoing in my head, hitting my former identity. As if my old name was just a brief label for something that wasn't human.
Alexandria stepped slowly. "Ethan... are you okay?"
I didn't answer. Because I didn't know the answer yet. Because I didn't know... my true power.
"I'll make sure you survive," she continued. "Not because of duty... but because I want to make amends for everything. Because... I'm also afraid of losing you."
I looked up. And for the first time, I looked at Alexandria not as Valkyrie, not as an agent, not as a traitor. But as someone... who was wounded. Just like me.
"I won't die at their hands," I said finally. "But I also won't live without knowing my true power. If I have to fight... I want to know what for. For whom. And for the truth behind all of this."
She nodded. "We'll find the answers. Together."
That night, we didn't speak again. But there was something planted between us - not a promise, not forgiveness. But a foundation. A sense of mutual understanding in the storm. And as I stepped out of that room - shadowed by the coldness of the underground facility's corridor and the sound of steel boots that rejected my existence - I knew: My journey was just beginning. And this world... wasn't ready to know what they had actually created.