Arthur picked up his assault rifle.
He checked the magazine.
One round missing.
He replaced it.
Then he looked at Elera.
“Follow me.”
Elera nodded.
Arthur turned toward the door.
Just before leaving, he stopped.
A small monitor flickered between the red emergency lights at the end of the corridor.
The screen displayed three lines.
FACILITY STATUS: LOCKED
SUBJECTS: 23
EVACUATION: DISABLED
Arthur’s eyes remained fixed on the number.
Twenty-three.
Elera stepped closer.
“There are still children here.”
Arthur didn’t answer.
His grip tightened around the rifle.
Then he started walking.
As they moved through the corridor, the speakers suddenly came alive.
A familiar voice echoed through the facility.
Xavier.
“A-1 never runs.”
Arthur stopped.
Elera looked at him.
“Arthur?”
The recording continued.
“A-1 hunts.”
Arthur slowly raised his head.
For a moment, the corridor was completely silent.
Then he answered.
“Wrong.”
His voice was calm.
Almost emotionless.
“This time…”
He continued walking.
“…they’re the ones being hunted.”
Three security guards waited at the top of the stairs.
The first raised his weapon.
Arthur moved before the man could fire.
The corridor erupted.
Muzzle flashes illuminated the walls.
Gunfire thundered through the stairwell.
One guard fell.
Another stumbled backward.
The third tried to retreat.
Arthur followed.
Seconds later, silence returned.
Three bodies lay motionless across the stairs.
Elera reached Arthur.
“Your shoulder.”
Arthur glanced at the wound.
“Later.”
“You’re bleeding.”
“There’s something more important.”
He descended the stairs.
Elera followed.
With every step downward, the facility revealed more of itself.
This wasn’t an abandoned research center.
It was still operating.
Ventilation systems hummed behind the walls.
Machines vibrated beneath the floor.
Emergency lights pulsed overhead.
Electrical cables disappeared into sealed sections.
And on every door…
the same word remained.
SUBJECT.
Arthur stopped.
A small window had been built into the door.
He looked through it.
A child was sitting in the corner.
Bare feet.
Thin clothing.
Metal restraints around both wrists.
The child wasn’t crying.
They were simply staring at the floor.
Arthur opened the door.
The child immediately recoiled.
“Don’t come closer.”
Arthur slowly placed his rifle on the ground.
“I’m not going to hurt you.”
The child said nothing.
Arthur lowered himself to one knee.
“What’s your name?”
The child hesitated.
“I don’t know.”
Something changed in Arthur’s expression.
Only slightly.
Elera noticed.
“They don’t have names in the files.”
Arthur looked back at her.
“Why?”
Elera’s voice became quieter.
“Because if you give them names…”
She looked at the child.
“…you have to admit they’re human.”
Arthur remained silent.
His eyes moved toward the restraints.
“How many are there?”
The child finally looked up.
“Twenty-three.”
Arthur stood.
“We’re getting all of them out.”
Elera wasn’t surprised.
She recognized that tone.
It wasn’t a suggestion.
It wasn’t even a decision.
It was an order.
Arthur opened the next cell.
Then another.
Then another.
One.
Two.
Three.
Five.
Ten.
Children emerged from the darkness.
Some couldn’t speak.
Some refused to move.
Some stared at Arthur as if they were waiting for him to reveal the real reason he had come.
Arthur told every one of them the same thing.
“You’re getting out of here.”
At first, they didn’t believe him.
Then the doors kept opening.
And eventually…
they started following.
Elsewhere in the facility, screens suddenly came alive.
Arthur appeared on them.
Then Elera.
Then the children.
A man sat in a dark control room, watching the monitors.
Xavier was dead.
But the system was still running.
The man leaned forward.
“It’s started.”
A guard standing behind him looked at the screens.
“Should we activate the protocol?”
The man shook his head.
“No.”
“But Arthur will destroy the facility.”
A faint smile appeared.
“That’s the point.”
Arthur reached the twelfth cell.
Elera suddenly stopped.
A little girl was sitting inside.
The moment she saw Elera…
she froze.
Her eyes widened. Follow the newest chapters on g.com.
“E-18…”
Elera’s expression changed.
Arthur noticed immediately.
“Do you know her?”
Elera shook her head.
“I’ve never seen her.”
The girl stared at her.
“You don’t remember.”
Elera stepped closer.
“What don’t I remember?”
The girl’s voice trembled.
“They prepared us for you.”
Arthur turned toward her.
“What does that mean?”
The girl lowered her eyes.
“They knew you would come.”
Silence.
Arthur looked at Elera.
Elera slowly shook her head.
“I didn’t know.”
Arthur held her gaze.
“I didn’t say I didn’t believe you.”
Then he turned back to the girl.
“Continue.”
The child swallowed.
“Xavier didn’t want you to come here.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“Who did?”
The girl didn’t answer.
Instead…
she pointed toward the wall.
An old symbol had been painted there.
A-1
Arthur stared at it.
Elera’s face slowly lost its color.
“Arthur…”
“I know.”
He stepped closer.
His fingers brushed the symbol.
Beneath it was a smaller inscription.
Almost impossible to see beneath years of dust.
Arthur wiped the surface clean.
Words appeared.
WHEN THE FIRST SUBJECT RETURNS,
THE FACILITY WILL BE REACTIVATED.
Arthur’s expression hardened.
“So all of this…”
Elera finished the sentence.
“…was waiting for you.”
Arthur didn’t answer.
Because somewhere deep inside him…
he already knew.
Every light in the facility suddenly went out.
The children screamed.
Elera immediately gathered them together.
“Everyone stay close!”
Arthur raised his rifle.
A mechanical voice echoed through the darkness.
THREE MINUTES.
A red timer appeared on the emergency screens.
02:59
02:58
Elera looked at Arthur.
“Self-destruct?”
Arthur didn’t answer.
His eyes moved through the darkness.
Then toward the ceiling.
Toward the cameras.
“No.”
“How do you know?”
Arthur stared at the lens.
“Because if they really wanted to destroy this place…”
He pointed toward the timer.
“…they wouldn’t show us the countdown.”
Elera understood.
“They want us to know.”
“Exactly.”
“Why?”
Arthur’s eyes remained on the camera.
“Because they’re still watching.”
He walked toward it.
Stopped directly beneath the lens.
Then looked straight into it.
“If you’re listening…”
A pause.
“Now it’s my turn.”
For several seconds, nothing happened.
Then every monitor in the corridor turned on simultaneously.
One message appeared.
CENTRAL CONTROL ROOM — OPEN
Arthur stared at it.
Elera stepped beside him.
“It’s a trap.”
Arthur nodded.
“Yes.”
“Are you going?”
Arthur raised his rifle.
“Of course.”
Elera sighed.
“You’re impossible.”
Arthur looked at her.
“Once you knowingly walk into a trap…”
A faint smile appeared.
“…it stops being a trap.”
Elera smiled back.
“There you are.”
Arthur turned toward the corridor.
“I remember you too.”
They reached the Central Control Room.
The door opened automatically.
Nobody was inside.
No guards.
No alarms.
Nothing.
Then—
CLICK.
Hundreds of screens activated simultaneously.
The room exploded with light.
Every screen showed something different.
Arthur’s childhood.
Elera.
A-1.
E-17.
Area 19.
The university.
Alice.
Ethan.
Giselle.
Sean.
Yara.
The tests.
The fights.
The lies.
The people Arthur had trusted.
The people he had destroyed.
And finally…
the events of the last few hours.
Arthur watched himself on the screens.
Hunting.
Interrogating.
Killing.
Searching.
Elera stood beside him.
“This is everything.”
Arthur shook his head.
“No.”
“Then what is it?”
He looked at the screens.
“Not the truth.”
One final monitor turned on.
A man sat behind a desk.
His face was mostly hidden in shadow.
Old.
Calm.
Almost expressionless.
The man looked directly into the camera.
“Welcome, Arthur.”
Arthur raised his rifle.
The man smiled.
“Or should I call you by the name I designed for you?”
A pause.
“A-1.”
Arthur’s finger rested against the trigger.
“The game is over.”
The man chuckled softly.
“You still believe this was a game?”
Arthur said nothing.
The man leaned forward.
“You came here looking for Elera.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed.
“You came here believing you were destroying Area 19.”
The man smiled.
“But you still haven’t asked the important question.”
“What?”
The man’s expression changed.
“Why did I want you to come back?”
Silence.
Arthur stared at him.
Then— the entire facility shook.
BOOM.
A massive explosion erupted beneath them.
The screens shattered.
The floor cracked.
Another explosion followed.
BOOM.
The children screamed.
Elera grabbed the nearest child.
“Arthur!”
Arthur looked toward the control room.
The Founder was gone.
The screens went black.
Arthur immediately understood.
“Move!”
He grabbed two children and pushed them toward the exit.
“Everyone follows Elera!”
The facility began collapsing around them.
Ceilings came down.
Glass shattered.
Fire raced through the corridors.
The old structure groaned under the force of the explosions.
Arthur pushed forward.
Every step took them closer to the surface.
Behind them— years of experiments.
Records.
Archives.
Research.
Secrets.
Everything Area 19 had buried…
was disappearing beneath fire and concrete.
Then— another explosion.
The corridor collapsed behind them.
Arthur turned.
“Keep moving!”
Elera gathered the children.
They ran.
Outside, the night sky suddenly lit orange.
The abandoned facility erupted from within.
One section collapsed.
Then another.
Then the central structure gave way.
A massive cloud of black smoke rose into the sky.
The ground shook beneath their feet.
The children stared at the burning ruins.
Some cried.
Some stood frozen.
Some simply watched.
Elera turned toward the entrance.
“Arthur…”
Nothing.
She stepped forward.
“Arthur!”
Still nothing.
Her voice broke.
“ARTHUR!”
Then— through the smoke.
A figure appeared.
Slowly.
One step.
Then another.
Arthur emerged from the destruction.
His clothes were covered in ash.
Blood stained his sleeve.
Dust covered his face.
The assault rifle hung loosely from one hand.
He looked exhausted.
But he was standing.
Elera ran toward him.
Arthur barely had time to react before she wrapped her arms around him.
For a moment, he simply stood there.
Then his hand slowly settled against the back of her head.
“I’m here.”
Elera held him tighter.
“I thought…”
“I know.”
Arthur looked past her.
At the burning remains.
At the place that had shaped his childhood.
The place that had taken Elera from him.
The place that had created A-1.
The fire reflected in his eyes.
“It’s over.”
His voice was quiet.
Exhausted.
But certain.
“There is no more A-1.”
He looked at the ruins one last time.
“No more Area 19.”
Elera slowly lifted her head.
Arthur turned toward the children.
Twenty-three faces stared back at him.
For the first time…
he wasn’t looking at weapons.
Or subjects.
Or experiments.
He was looking at children.
Arthur took a breath.
Then walked toward them.
But far beneath the burning ruins…
in a sealed chamber that no explosion had reached…
one monitor flickered back to life.
The screen displayed a single line.
FACILITY STATUS: DESTROYED
A second line appeared.
PRIMARY SITE: LOST
Then a third.
SUBJECT A-1: ACTIVE
A pause.
The screen went black.
And somewhere beneath the rubble…
someone smiled.
Because Area 19 had not been destroyed.
Only its first home had been.
Will this truly be a new, peaceful beginning, or will the troubles continue?