The door suddenly opened.
This time, there wasn’t just one person.
Six security guards entered the room simultaneously.
Black tactical gear.
Weapons raised.
Every barrel pointed directly at Arthur and Elera.
“Keep your hands where we can see them!”
Arthur didn’t move.
Neither did Elera.
One of the guards looked at Elera.
“E-18.”
Elera’s expression remained unchanged.
“It has been confirmed that you released Arthur.”
A pause.
“You disobeyed orders.”
The safeties clicked off.
Six weapons.
Six guards.
But Arthur wasn’t looking at the weapons.
He was looking at the people holding them.
Two were aiming at Elera.
Three were aiming at him.
One was covering the door.
Then Arthur’s eyes shifted.
The security guard from the previous confrontation was still lying on the floor.
His weapon was several meters away.
Elera glanced at Arthur.
Only for a second.
But Arthur understood.
Wait.
No.
It wasn’t an order.
It was a test.
Arthur’s eyes returned to the guards.
“Get on your knees!”
He didn’t move.
Instead—
He took one step forward.
Arthur noticed the nearest guard’s aim.
Not the chest.
The shoulder.
The second guard’s finger was already resting against the trigger.
The third guard had shifted his weight onto his right foot.
Arthur understood.
Now.
He dropped.
The first gun fired.
The bullet struck the wall behind him.
Arthur rolled across the floor and reached for the weapon lying beside the unconscious guard.
He didn’t stand.
A second shot came.
Arthur raised the gun.
One shot.
The weapon flew from the guard’s hand.
Arthur rose.
The second guard lunged.
Arthur caught his wrist.
Redirected his momentum.
Threw him into another guard.
Two bodies collided.
The third guard tried to raise his weapon.
Arthur was already there.
Wrist.
Elbow.
Shoulder.
Three movements.
The weapon hit the floor.
The guard dropped to his knees.
Arthur didn’t aim the gun at him.
He simply looked at him.
“It’s over.”
The fourth guard attacked from behind.
Arthur didn’t turn.
He saw the shadow.
He ducked.
The strike missed.
His elbow drove into the man’s chest.
The guard crashed backward.
The fifth guard froze.
The sixth moved toward the door.
Arthur raised the gun.
“Don’t.”
The man stopped.
Silence.
Five guards were down.
None were seriously injured.
Arthur’s grip remained steady.
Elera looked at him.
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Arthur slowly lowered the weapon.
“They drew their guns.”
“But you…”
She stopped.
Because she saw his eyes.
They were different.
Colder.
Emptier.
And somehow…
familiar.
Arthur looked down at the gun.
His fingers loosened.
I’ve done this before.
For a moment, the room disappeared.
Metal doors.
Cold lights.
An alarm.
A child crying.
Then a voice.
Calm.
Commanding.
“A-1. Proceed.”
Arthur blinked.
The vision vanished.
But the voice remained.
A-1.
Arthur raised his head.
Someone was standing in front of the door.
He wasn’t old.
But he wasn’t young either.
Short, perfectly neat hair.
Dark jacket.
No security uniform.
No visible weapon.
For the first time, Elera’s expression changed.
Arthur stared at the man.
Recognition came first.
Then disbelief.
“No.”
The man took a few steps forward.
“It’s been a long time, Arthur.”
Arthur tightened his grip on the gun.
“You’re dead.”
The man smiled faintly.
“That’s what they told you.”
Elera stepped forward.
“Why are you here?”
The man didn’t look at her.
“I’m here to take him.”
Arthur’s eyes hardened.
“You don’t even know who I am.”
The man finally looked at him.
“On the contrary.”
He took another step.
“I know you better than anyone.”
Arthur raised the gun.
The man didn’t stop.
“You’re not going to shoot.”
Arthur narrowed his eyes.
“Why?”
“Because I’m the one who taught you when to pull the trigger.”
Silence.
The man removed his jacket.
The black uniform underneath was unmistakable.
An old Area 19 training uniform.
Elera whispered—
“Arthur…”
Arthur didn’t answer.
The man lowered himself into a defensive stance.
“Come on.”
Something inside Arthur went quiet.
He dropped the gun.
The man smiled.
“There he is.”
A pause.
“A-1.”
Arthur lunged.
The first punch came.
Arthur moved aside.
The second—
Blocked.
The third—
Countered.
The man didn’t retreat.
Neither did Arthur.
They attacked simultaneously.
One movement.
One counter.
Another.
Another.
Every exchange was precise.
They seemed to know what the other would do before the movement was complete.
Elera stepped backward.
Because this wasn’t an ordinary fight.
It wasn’t even a test of strength.
It was a confrontation between two people who had been trained by the same system.
The man caught Arthur’s wrist.
Arthur broke free with his elbow.
The man raised his knee.
Arthur blocked.
Their eyes met.
The man whispered—
“You’re still the same.”
Arthur answered:
“No.”
A punch.
The man’s head snapped sideways.
Arthur advanced.
“You knew me once.”
Another strike.
“You trained me.”
Another.
“You watched me.”
Arthur stopped.
His fist remained suspended only centimeters from the man’s throat.
“But now…”
Arthur’s eyes hardened.
“…you don’t know me.”
“That’s what I was waiting for.”
Arthur didn’t move.
“Waiting for what?”
The man stepped backward.
“Not for A-1 to return.”
Silence.
“For the reason A-1 returned.”
Arthur’s expression froze.
Elera’s gaze changed.
The man continued.
“Because I’m not the one who brought you here.”
Arthur glanced toward Elera.
She said nothing.
The man moved toward the door.
“And the real test…”
He stopped.
“…hasn’t even begun.”
The door closed behind him.
Arthur remained still.
He looked at the gun on the floor.
Then at Elera.
“What do you know?”
Elera didn’t answer.
Arthur took one step toward her.
“Elera.”
She didn’t look away.
“After what I’m about to tell you…”
Her voice weakened.
“I don’t know if you’ll still trust me.”
Arthur’s expression remained cold.
“I don’t even know if I trust anyone anymore.”
Pain appeared in Elera’s eyes.
“That’s exactly what they’re measuring.”
Arthur said nothing.
Then—
One of the screens activated by itself.
Elera turned.
Arthur looked at the screen.
An image appeared.
Three children.
Arthur.
Elera.
And the third child.
The same photograph.
The same impossible face.
Only this time, the face wasn’t blacked out.
Arthur stepped closer.
His breathing stopped.
The screen displayed a single sentence.
A-1 HAS AWAKENED.
Arthur stared at it.
Then the words disappeared.
A second sentence appeared.
NOW AWAKEN E-17.
Arthur’s eyes widened.
Elera whispered—
“Arthur…”
He didn’t answer.
Because something had changed.
Not in the room.
Not on the screen.
Inside him.
A memory surfaced.
A white corridor.
A small hand holding his.
A voice.
His own voice.
But younger.
Afraid.
And one sentence he had completely forgotten.
“Don’t let them erase me.”
Arthur’s eyes widened.
Then another memory surfaced.
A second voice.
Elera.
“I won’t.”
The screen went black.
Arthur stood motionless.
For the first time since entering Area 19…
he remembered something that hadn’t been shown to him.
Something no instructor had explained.
Something no file had contained.
Something that belonged only to him.
Arthur looked at Elera.
“That memory…”
Elera’s eyes filled with tears.
“You remembered.”
Arthur’s voice was barely audible.
“No.”
He looked back at the dark screen.
“I didn’t.”
A pause.
“It remembered me.”
For most of the story, Arthur believed the truth was buried in the past.
But some truths are not hidden behind forgotten memories.
Some truths are waiting to be activated.
This chapter marks the moment where the questions begin to change.
No longer: Who is E-17?
No longer: What happened in Area 19?
A different question now stands at the center of everything.
What happens when the part of Arthur that was never supposed to return finally wakes up?
And more importantly…
Why are they so desperate to bring him back?
The next chapter will reveal the first secret that Area 19 never intended anyone to remember.